How good is good enough?

The answer/answerS aren't so utterly defined by the gear as they are defined by the room, + the actual recording.

Now if I had a room with bang on acoustics that was 18-20ft wide at the front wall and 26-28ft wide at the rear wall. 36-40ft long, with a coffered ceiling 14ft high, then the law of diminishing returns could run hog wild.

One could justify up grading that Denon DL-103R cartridge for a Dynavector TE Kaitora, because in the described environment the expenditure would be clearly audible.

In a room where most of us pee-ons reside (mine is 12x26x8), the above expenditure would be indicative of an individual that has more dollars than sense.

Ya can't make a canon sound good going off in a phone booth, anymore than you can make a pop gun sound impressive going off in a corn field.

How good is good enough? When one has optimized their system to their applicable room!

Enjoy the voyage.

In order to enjoy your system after you’ve found out what’s “good enough” you have to establish that as your base line. After that, you can judge the quality of each recording based on its own merits, and not obsess that any problems are caused by defects in your system. It’s very easy to go down the rabbit hole if you listen for defects instead of listening to the music.

rvpiano OP: That is very true and also applies to most thing in life.  It's all based on personal experiences.  Some are content with a pair of rubber sandals as opposed to going barefooted, while others aren't content with a $1500 pair of shoes.

OP,

You bring up a really important issue. Once you upgrade, then you play music.

If you have a detail scraping system… you end up hearing the worst possible rendition of any recording… only the very best recordings sound great. If your system is musically oriented then most recordings sound great and the ones that sound great on a hyper detailed system sound extraordinary.
 

You have to be very carefully on the criteria you use to evaluate potential components. If it is the most details you can hear, then it is likely to end up, bringing out the shortcomings of every album and not it’s strengths.

@rvpiano It’s very easy to go down the rabbit hole if you listen for defects instead of listening to the music.

Agree with this statement by rvpiano. Also, I'm observing once again why its important to give a new system or new components time to settle in.  Its not always  about 'just getting use to it". There can be change that occurs, given the chance. 

Patience helps from jumping out of one rabbit hole to another rabbit hole.