I think the assumption here is that an educated consumer isn’t going to just buy any $200 piece of junk that calls itself “high end”. They are going to listen to it themselves and/or do research to figure out who is providing true value at any given price point. In that context, your $50 AKG 240’s will definitely sound 2nd rate compared to options at a higher price point (HD6xx series and a couple hundred milliwatt amp would be my favorite example at a $300 price point). I do agree that other features (wireless, vanity, etc) may factor into the decision, as I myself enjoy the decent sound provided by the AirPods Pro given their convenience.