I'm surprised to see many people considering this $10,000 speaker system not expensive?
I get that this is a system, combining speakers / amplifiers / DSP in one. The thing is most of us in the real world can't spend this sum of money in one go on this hobby, even if we wanted to?
My current system (DAC / disc player / amp / speakers / sub) is touching £8000, and it took 4 years to put together through incremental upgrades from my old £1000 system. Financially I don't think i will feel comfortable dropping $10k on a nearly complete system (just add DAC / preamp).
Don't get me wrong, I will love to give an active speaker system a try, just not at that price point. When I daydreamed about an active speaker system I ended up wanting a pair of Focal Trio6 Be, which is under £4000.
This site goes on about the Benchmark ABH2 amplifier, but a pair of those (for decent power) costs $6,000 / £7,000 (i.e. $9,000 in the UK), and you still need source components and speakers, which starts making the Dutch & Dutch 8c look good value for money.
Using either an all-in-one system and passive speakers or a complete active system like 8c is generally overall cheaper (both my systems are speakers and an all-in-one) and removes the temptation to consider any change. They can easily be an end-game solution. The only change I've made in 5 years is to add a Roon server.
Consumer attitudes vary in different countries. For example, Germans tend to be averse to credit and only buy with free cash, whereas in the USA credit purchases for luxury items are almost standard. There was an article on CNN showing Americans in a food-bank line in expensive Mercedes that are likely to be repossessed very soon. The amount of credit in the UK is less, but may people live pay check to pay check.
I once refused to sell an amplifier to someone because he said he had to borrow money for it and he indicated it would be a struggle. I refused to live with the guilt.
People also have different concepts of status. Many Germans rent property long-term, but cars have high status value. In the UK housing is mostly owned and high status, cars much less so.
I can afford an expensive car, but drive a very cheap one, because it has no status value for me. My wife's car cost me three times as much. My audio system cost slightly more than my car, but I get a lot more pleasure from my audio system. We spend about that amount of money on live performance each year, because that is our main spending priority and gives us a huge amount of pleasure. As
@Frank Dernie said, it is an age thing. I went to around 200 shows a year when I was a student, but got last minute tickets for £2 or sat behind a pillar at the opera with little or no view for £5. I still got to hear, if not see, the world's greatest performers. The Proms used to cost £1 to stand in the balcony at the RAH. In those days I did not lust after top price tickets, just as I didn't lust after audio I couldn't afford, but it's nice to enjoy when eventually you can.