I think we're off on the wrong track with the price fixing thing, and the car comparison is also adrift. The EU car companies are price gouging - selling for as much as they can in different markets and blocking cheaper imports - that's what they got fined for.

Consider a perfect market (as my economics teacher used to say). If you have a single manufacturer making a $1000 dollar widget and sending it to many retailers, who each apply a perfectly competitive mark-up, then the resale price at each retailer will be the same. That's not price fixing, that's proper market economics when there is a single source of supply.

The real issue is not even the level of dealer mark up, which is around 100% on Meridian (and almost all other high-end brands, let's not kid ourselves that Chord, Pass, Linn, Wilson, etc is being sold for cost-plus-5%). It takes a lot of cash and capital to run a properly stocked, properly set up, properly trained dealer outlet.

No, the real issue, which seems to be going in several threads simultaneously at the moment, is whether that 100% markup represents good value for money for the level of support and expertise the average dealer provides to the customer. The verdict on that appears to be no in the majority of cases.

Regards

Mark