So how much do you think the placebo effect impacts our listening preferences?

Real Audiophiles are too smart and special to be affected by any placebo effect. 

I am very tired of the use of "placebo effects" by some...

The most powerful placebo effects in audio threads are induced by costly gear upgrades debate and marketing...

Not so much in a strings of hundred ongoing CUMULATIVE listenings experiments for a long time period with the same gear....My case....Placebo plays in my case also but not so much  only and always in the same  singular negative way ....

Placebo dont explain mechanical, acoustical electrical noise floor controls by itself only, by the way....

And placebos effects are not only negative"illusions" to eradicate, they can be linked to LEARNED positive biases, like a direction of flow in a road...It is a COMPLEX concept....

If the complexity of ANY concept exceed your processing brain dont use it to insult in a free manner all a category of people indiscriminately...

Thanks....

I am not averse (see, didn't include anyone else in my pronouncement) to finding those quality pieces for less money; sometimes it pans out, most times I realize that something is not quite right for whatever reason, and I am ultimately dissatisfied with it.  SO you need to look yourself in the eye and be honest with what kind of person type are you - the kind who listens for yourself and can be happy with a "good deal" or "giant killer", the kind who says "It's got to cost $$ or it's no good", or possibly "I can't tell the difference between A and B, but if so-and-so says it's good, that's good enough for me".   You will save yourself a lot of time and money and heartache in acknowledging what type you are.  Coming from a musical background, I would initially buy a cheaper model guitar and tell myself that it was just as good as the more expensive model but then spend lots of money and time upgrading parts, and still ending up getting rid of that guitar and buying what I really wanted in the first place.  I now try to catch myself before I go buy the "Junior" version of something and ultimately spend more money in the long run.  Understanding that sometimes you just can't swing (insert appropriate amount of money here) right now but if the one you really want isn't too too far out of reach, hold off until you can get it (maybe used).

Have you ever worked in studios, with audio professionals, or even spoken to industry leaders?

for those who don’t know, @soix has been in and around the high end hifi industry for many many years, in fact wrote professional equipment reviews, has terrific ears, thus has broad and deep experience and knowledge in this field, and actively shares it with other users seeking guidance on this board

just sayin...

@soix doesn't call out others' statements often, nor whimsically, and when he does, most readers here take notice

IMHO the placebo effect happens more for subtle possible improvements than big ones. When something hits you obviously when you listen for the first time, that is when you know you have something. Unfortunately (or fortunately) many changes happen, many records get played, and it is very hard to know what or how much happened when.

Also, it is very hard to remember how something used to sound.