Does hearing the best in high end audio make your opinions more valid?

True. It depends on what you like. I actually like acoustic music. I enjoy a lot of it myself. I listen to a lot of jazz without voices. It depends on what you listen to as well.  I like extended cymbals and open midrange. A lot of us want different types of sounds. I also believe that there is more than one great sound. There are many different really good sounds. I’m glad that my system keeps me happy after hearing the really good expensive stuff. Tells me I’m doing smthg right. Now I did spend a good amount but I think I did pretty good. 

"It’s even better when they tell you that although x costs only 10% of y, it actually sounds just as good, or even better!"


Every now and then, I read similar statements. I may be unlucky one, but have never heard a system that sounds same or better than one costing much more. It does not have to be ten times more expensive, it can be less than that, but it seems that, overall, more expensive does mean a bit better. There can be a lots of listener bias in that, but still. Of course, there may be some overlap on the edges of price categories and different people may have different experiences. Does anyone have any example of gear that is as good as something costing so much more?

Many reviews describe gear as "punches way above its price" and similar. What it means to me is really that better sound became cheaper. It is not that it is better than it should be, but that others are too expensive.

calvinj,


That is all that really matters. I think it does not even matter if it sounds natural (I am not implying yours does not) as long as you like it.

If it sounds good to you, what else matters?

I think matching is really important as well. If you put the wrong high priced gear together it can sound like crap. If you match the rogh5 equipment with the right cabling in the right enviorment wammo you can have a system that sounds better than gear that a lot higher priced.