At the top of the line is it really all that different?

First of all, system are different. What makes one system sound better may not produce the same results in another system.  We have a listening room and I cannot tell you how many times a person has brought something over to put in the system with not the same results.  Many times that is because the components we manufacturer have such great power supplies that power cables, etc., don't have the same impact in our system.  That is why you need to hear something in your own system to see if that change is worth it to your ears only.

Happy Listening.

It is a very useful skill....learning how to fix recordings...

You're outta luck if you are spinning vinyl. But, it's doable on the digital end if you learn some software and a few tricks.

If some mastering technician got a lil too high before he worked on it, it shouldn't be the reason an artist got doomed forever.

However, after a certain level major limiting factors are recordings and room acoustics. Hard to change the former, right ?

@yesiam_a_pirate .....*G*

After all the above....feel free to indulge oneself into that which interests you.

The only one you need to please is you. regardless of room and the selections that make it work for you.  That search is frustrating, given the variables....

One's local Nirvana will likely conflict with others; pay no mind.

I have had the privilege of listening to several very high end systems where the owners were happy to do A/B comparisons of various cables, amps, and DACs and often the differences between equally high end components are startling.  In my more modest, but still very good system, I hear those differences but they are often less dramatic.  So the resolution and quality of the rest of the system does matter.  Based on my personal experience, I have come to believe that the "audiophiles" that deny cables can make a difference or claim that all normally function amps sound the same are simply factually wrong.  But hey, maybe all of us that hear clear differences are simply suffering psycho-acoustic delusions. 

@ghdprentice

Nailed it ! Point, set, and match in tennis jargon.

Some drive Fords, some drive Chevys, some drive Range Rovers, Porsches, and Jags.

i mostly wear an Apple Watch on a daily basis, but still enjoy a smile of appreciation provided with my EBEL, ZENITH, or PANERAI