I feely admit that it could be the case my anecdotal evidence hasn’t any bearing in objective reality.
One thing I would like to add is that people refrain from buying intrusive stuff. I.e. more crap on the floors. No thanks. Specially if the telly is 10cm from the front wall, hanging in the vesa mount, while the loudspeakers need to be, like, in the crotch of the aficionado in order to avoid the poles and zeros of the room. I mean; seriously? It is 2021. WTF.
I think the industry is doing itself a disservice by pandering to an elitist crowd with their obnoxious boxes, amps, cables and DSP’s instead of trying to squeeze the max out of the room in which they are intended to be in.
I’ve got zero brand loyalty. Non intrusive, well engineered and sounding gear is good by default.
IMO.