In general my wife and I prefer to buy quality products, spend a little extra to get something better, and most of the time buying quality does indeed pay for itself. However more expensive does not always mean the best quality.
Case in point, we one time bought a really, REALLY expensive coffee machine (my wife had to have it)... a Krups machine; the dang thing was $2500... it worked well for a while, maybe a year or so, and then it went to hell in a hand basket, so to speak. Ridiculously how bad it was for what was paid for it. We replaced that with a not cheap but not ridiculously priced Krueger. It has been an amazing machine, for a fraction of the price, but still a high quality product.
However in audio components many high quality built pieces are reasonably priced. Sound preferences and performance may not necessarily cost over the top prices. Also, one person's "the best" may not be and probably is not the same as my "the best".
In an ideal world the amount one spends on something would equate to some added benefits. But in this world we live things are not as they should be. I remember I had a $200 dollar Panasonic DVD player. I remember Some company took it, stuffed it in a aluminum case and charged $4k. Different company did the exact same thing 4 years later with Oppo.
Look at Devialet they where in my opinion making real tech, real gear. I know the marketing was always vapid and insane, but, marketing. But now just price increases.
I can name a lot of companies who just stop, they just get to a point and coast. Look at Mcintosh I know people who dream their whole life for gear they never heard. When In my opinion an M33 will make the MA9000 suck on it's bolts like it wished it could become it.
Now my beef is with all this is simple. Just be honest, I know a guy, 2nd cousin actually. Who owns a MA8000 with some 803D1s. The Amp is ass, he can trade straight up for better amps. But he is honest, people come over see the green gauges and melt. People see that color and name and think it's $100k, that makes him feel good. I have no beef with that, I respect it.
I once took my 220 (200 at the time) to his house. The Devialet played better than the Ma8000 in every way, I mean shredded. He could of got a 400 at the time and, put $2 or $3k in his pocket. He looked me dead in the eye while listening to The Boxer by Paul Simon. "boy that sure is the sound, but who in the hell in their right mind is gonna feel the Big D!CK Energy looking at gold food scale" I laughed because I understood, I got him
So many times, when talking to people I fear the discussion going into audio. So many people say they are audiophiles but the sound is secondary to them. It's really all about that Big D!CK Energy. The saddest thing on Earth is when I have to listen about Bose for 15 minutes.
I mean imagine someone telling you for 15 minutes BDE stories about Bose. I can't I am polite I am nice, but I can't F**cking humor them.
You like your Bose, I am happy for you. But it's a convenience and lifestyle thing. Not a, high end audio thing. It's always followed up by anger when they hear other cheaper brands that I do consider audiophile. The answer is the same, the other brands are about the sound.
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