[abbeynormal]

sound and cost correlation-
I've heard high-end audio that to me sounded not appreciably better [frequency response, treble dispersion uniformity, dynamics, imaging, general musicality] than my ancient rudimentary kludge of a system. in fact some high-end equipment sounded worse to my ears at least. I heard an early iteration of "the amazing loudspeaker" that made an "audiophile" piano recording sound hooty and boxy in a way no real piano sounds. the top of the line infinity towers were too bright for me, my limited time in actual recording studios showed me that master tapes/recordings in general [at least back in the day, 70s and 80s] were not THAT bright-sounding. based on parts cost and labor/overhead, i'd say that much of consumer audio [especially high-end] is at least somewhat overpriced. as bob carver said, "good engineering does not have to cost more than bad engineering." this said, nothing I've ever heard sounded more musical and REAL, than a pair of magnapan tympani III planars powered by two refrigerator-sized monoblock class A amps [which heated the room uncomfortably] and probably together cost as much as a house. that is the aural template of good sound that I've kept in my head since that 1982 visit to definitive audio in seattle.