I think that we've all here at some point decided that �x'000 or $y,000 was justifiable...once upon a time.
The irony is that most people (certainly >98%++ of the population) would think that the $3,000 for the F80 as being completely Looney Tunes money, never mind D5200 or D8k money. Think of the way most people on this forum laughed at the apparent insanity and ravings of the Greek Audiophile society video that was posted here a few months ago.
THAT is exactly how most of our Wives, Friends, Workmates and other people perceive US

With that in mind, if the premise of a Meridian SB being available for e.g. �1,500 was palatable to most people on this forum, then they would still need to sell TEN times as many SB+++ as Meridian CD players, just to stand still (revenue wise)
Remember that most people won't spend that money as they already think that an iPod and Bose Wave radio is more than "great sound". Even going on most of the sentiments expressed here, many people don't think that there is much room for improvement over the standard SB.
Not easy business decisions for Meridian IMHO