A lot of review mags obssess over state of the art products and A lot of audiophiles attend shows to hear state of the art gear. But does state of the art (SOTA) have any relevance to the average audiophile?

NOTE: by 'average' I mean someone who can't/won't ever own any SOTA equipment.

I know some members here listen to SOTA gear to hear what the best available is and see how close their setup comes... Others claim we should all attend HiFi shows to pick a technology based on hearing the best examples of each category (e.g. best high powered solid state, best SET, best Vinyl, best CD, etc)...

Suppose I have a budget of $2K for a 2 channel setup... I go to CES and the 2 best sounding systems are a pair of massive horns driven by a 5 watt SET and a pair of garage door sized electrostats driven by a high powered tube amp... Does that mean that I should look to purchase a SET/horn or stat/tube combo for $2K? If I find that the best sounding gear within my budget is a 50 watt solid state amp and a pair of traditional cone speakers, then what's the relevance of SOTA to my purchasing decision?

When I have to choose between buying a Honda Civic and a Mazda 3, why should I care what Ferrari or Bentley are doing? Even assuming their SOTA tech will trickle down to my price range, it won't be anytime soon...

Just my 2, 3 and 4 cents, but I think the only thing that really matters is what is the best sounding gear, to me, in my price range....