Quote Originally Posted by Feanor
The law of diminishing returns no doubt works in case of hi-fi systems.

I've noticed that many very expensive (e.g.) speakers mainly provide the capability to play loud in large spaces -- thus the rich (or whoever) who have such large spaces to fill are penalized without necessarily getting more exquisite sound.
I don't see that much difference with entry vs mid priced systems. The main difference between a $300 pair of entry level speakers like Paradigm Atoms and a $3,000 pair like Studio 100s is the ability to fill a much larger room with sound.

Quote Originally Posted by Feanor
As person of limited means the whole duration of my audiophile hobby as been focused on finding value rather than ultimate performance. Yes, unfortunate, though I have achieved excellent sound for the buck, IMO. The worst part is that I can feel self-victimized when I discover that a less expensive component is as good or better than a more expensive one. E.g. my $500 Class D Audio SDS-258 amp sounds better (in most respects) than my $2300 Monarchy SM-70 Pros. Or my $50 ALPS 'Blue Velvet' pot-base attenuator sounds as good as (though different from) my MSRP $3000 Sonic Frontiers Line 1 preamp.
Some audiophiles look for bang for the buck others just want the absolute best they can afford... IMO, most differences (other than scale) are relatively subtle, so it's possible to put together a system that sounds great, at just about any price level...