AUDIO PRICE INSANITY PRICE VS. PERFORMANCE WORTH IT?

True price is not a guarantee. I had some toy Sonus Faber and a kst150 amplifier and for under 4K I had a pleasing sound. 

My Lyngdorf 2170 powered dac and room correction piece is miles ahead of gear made 20-40 years ago.  It’s fine to like vintage gear and I get that, but to say there have been no advances is certainly not accurate. Room correction as developed by Lyngdorf is a game changer and just one example of sound improvement not possible years ago.  

I’m out after I add my rel 212se subwoofer to my current system next week I’m out. I’m out of the chase. I found out that it can be more of the chase and less of the music. I’m only in it for  the music now. Life is short. R.I.P TO MY BEST AUDIO FRIEND EVER CHARLES THREAT. Without him I wouldn’t have my system. But I learned to live listening to and not chasing gear. Today could be our last!

@grannyring technology has improved. My gato FM6 have scan speak drivers and ring radiator tweeters and specially designed crossovers that definitely are cutting edge and allow for vast sound improvements to be heard. My Dac is made by the inventor of the ess Sabre chip. My integrated is niche tube KR audio out of the Czech Republic. I have a great mix of new and old. However technology has made big steps in the last 10 years.

One of the big changes has been how accessible great sound is at bottom-basement prices these days.  Something like a pair of the new Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2s, an Emotiva A-100 integrated, and a Chromecast Audio will give you a great sounding little system for just over $500.  Inflation-adjusted I'm not sure we've ever been able to get that kind of performance for that low of a price. 

As far as the other end of the spectrum goes, a lot of the truly insane systems really need tons of room to breathe.  The Von Schweikert VR11 Ultra system with VAC and Esoteric electronics at AXPONA was breathtaking, but you'd need a listening room with the physical volume of many entire houses to really get the most out of it.  

In a modestly sized listening room a pair of nice stand-mounts, a subwoofer or two, an preamp or integrated with bass management and solid room correction software, and some judiciously applied room treatments could easily outperform a pair of huge towers fed by a stack of extremely expensive electronics.