Can you hear the luxury? Understanding quality, luxury and price in the high-end audio market

This article explores the high-end audio sector, elucidating its attributes and audiophiles’ attitudes. It ventures into the contemporary luxury landscape, aiming to furnish ideas for focused, in-depth investigations. Employing sociological and historical analyses, the study first delineates key conceptual issues in high-end audio analysis, setting a foundation for exploring audiophiles’ consumption motivations and attitudes. Subsequently, it examines the modern luxury market of high-end audio from varied perspectives, intending to characterize today’s luxury scene. Predicated on the analysis of sixteen in-depth interviews, the complexity of the market is revealed. The article concludes by suggesting avenues for future research.