As audiomagnate asked earlier: "How many people on this board have actually purchased a pair of Mr. Timber's speakers at retail? I would guess a handful if that."
I suppose the Studio 580/590's I've bought direct from JBL count as that, but for the street price of two 1400's one could get eight (!) 590's. I'll bet anyone here that I could make a truckload of those sound better in many ways than a measly pair of Arrays, or a truckload of Arrays sound better than a pair of Everests. ...or...well, you get the point.
We didn't have the internet in the '70s-'80s that makes it so easy to sell or find used gear like today. I think that accounts for a lot of it. But also income vs. the retail prices, most of which in the "high-end" for years have been completely into unreality as many of us here know. Roger Skoff has written an article on Part-Time Audiophile about some of this silly pricing.