Dave.......Yes, I hear you, but to perform at its purported performance level the Lyra Atlas will need a $20K phono stage preamp, a $20K turntable, and at least a $10K tonearm, all installed on a minimum of a $10K isolation rack. So the true cost of getting the Lyra Atlas to make it's first note of music is in the range of $72,000.00. Then you get to spin vinyl, a considerable portion of which is recorded and pressed poorly. Yippie!
The premise of my original point was not so much the actual cost of any particular audio component in general, but more along the lines of the disparity that exists in pricing between specific items. Pointing to my original example, the amount of engineering expertise, bill of materials, hand assembly expertise and manufacturing technology that goes into a high-end amplifier far exceeds that that goes into building a moving coil cartridge of any caliber, yet in my example both command a $12K price. It leaves me wondering if the actual value of the items have parallels that shed light on the price.