I was at a party here in Bellingham, wa, and my neighbor said his good buddy makes speakers. sure enough, up in ferndale, a solo speaker builder. no idea of prices, but it’s got to be a lot. i was not aware there were small-shop speaker makers like this, building one at a time by hand.
www.daedalusaudio.com
I have an NAD amp and preamp from the 80s (well matched to my M&K satellites from the same era) that I bought on Craigslist. When I asked why he was selling, he said, well, I make and sell my own amps, seemed inappropriate to keep using someone else’s. Kinda blew my mind. (This was 10+ years ago. Early in my journey.)
we talked a bit, and he was making everything he used, and selling it to others. Nothing like the quality here, but seemed like solid stuff, if not much finish work.
and a close friend started buying and assembling kit speakers.
all this helped demystify the space, which I much appreciated.
so yeah,you can get great stuff from people down the street. Experts exist, but they‘re not the only ones able to make great kit.