I saw your answers yesterday, but for me it was time to go to bed!
I never made a bad choice at the moment of the purchase.
I did the right thing given the information i had, and the size of my pocket.
Most of time, is when some new gear is in place, that i think maybe the old one wasn´t so good at all!
First of all, thank you for the complete answer.
Now I know that you are a true audiophile, and deserve my sincere respect.
For me, your answer was very important and clarifying. This is because there are too many so-called "audiophiles" who share an opinion similar to yours, but when we ask them for their experience, became obvious that they have experienced almost nothing and indeed have a very limited view, which is certainly not your case. In fact, i´m in a clear disadvantage because I have never had the possibility to have something similar to what you already had. What a journey!

That said, it seemed to me to catch some disenchantment with the audio, result of so much money spent to finally find satisfaction with a much more modest system in terms of price. I think several factors may have contributed. Starting at the end, I would say that although high-end prices are increasingly prohibitive, the truth is that evolution has also come to allow more widespread access to quality audio. That is, today, for less money and with a careful choice, we can have access to a quality that a few years ago was only obtained at a very high cost. If ultra high end prices are justified today is another conversation. I agree with you in the sense that probably a lot of equipment is not worth the money they cost. But, and this is where my opinion differs from yours, it's far from a matter of personal perception and mind tricks because I think that actually everything sounds different. Of course, at some point in our choices, our personal taste interferes and the same with the size of our pocket. If it is deep, what´s the problem?

In audio it is not easy to define well the path that we want to go. I think I have already said it on another topic, but many years ago I was looking for a sound with maximum silence in the background, believing that from this black limb would emerge, full of timbre and well differentiated, all sounds. When I "opened my eyes" I had a dull and lifeless sound, with high frequencies almost erased. Is it easy to fool ourselves? Yes it is. But we do not buy audio gear by mistake of the senses, or because we are fools easily manipulated, imagining listening to things where they do not exist.
Let's forget about expensive things, full of little lights. I will give an example where the differences heard can hardly be related to perception induced by price, brand, luxury and ownership. If I put some bases under the speakers, I will have a completely different sound depending on whether they are made of wood, glass or stone. But then, to my surprise, if i try granite or marble, the sound will be different again. So I hear differences because I like granite better?

opcorn:Because it is more expensive? It's certainly not your case, but many audiophiles who do not hear differences when they introduce something new into the system, have sofas and all kind of furniture in front of the speakers. :weird: Sometimes they do not even notice differences in sound when the speakers have the grills set or not. The speakers are tuned to hear with the grills, they say. Seriously? Bad project, I say. As so many recognize, changing the position of the speakers can dramatically change the sound. The humidity can also be terrible and obviously affect a good performance. Just as light does not penetrate the fog, the sound does not pass in a humid environment. Mind Suggestions? Certainly not. So why is it that, when it comes to cables, we're just talking about suggestion and error of perception? Even in theory I find it easy to accept that the signal may suffer various interferences along the way. Do we hear them? Of course, yes. If some of these differences occur in the right sense of fidelity that is sought and justified the price? That's another conversation.
Agree. Bad terminations can kill a good cable.
That´s when I disagree with you.
Like Mike says, it depends on the speakers. I remember my Infinity RS 6001 were not very sensitive to showing differences in cables. Already the Sonus Faber reacted to any different cable connected to them.
That´s my point too!