USR211, you should have been a cost accountant, based on this question. However, cost accounting does not take the entire economic and sociological picture into account. The parts don't really cost a lot, but that's not where the value is. In fact I hope the parts cost very little, so ML can make as much profit as they need, part of which they would revert back into R&D for other great products.
If a tornado were to sweep through Kansas and the ML plant were to be blown away, ML can probably rebuild the factory in a couple of months and produce the same quality products. The knowledge is in people's heads. It is also embedded in the social networks between employees and their suppliers.
I do not know, but I sure hope that the price ML charges is based on value, not on a markup of cost. (It is not for most manufacturers.) If I want a house on the beach by the ocean vs. 20 miles from the ocean, I pay more for the same house on the water because of the extra value of I receive living near the ocean. It should be the same with speakers and other audio equipment. How much difference is there between the Vantage and the Summit? Costwise, there is probably not much. But for someone with a big room, the value difference is huge.
