A true believer

If you own the business, it will work best if you know something somebody don't. In this business I know a lot. Therefore my tweaks and wires are less than $400 in total for $800 amp, $600 pre, $400 CD-player, $2,000 analogue, $2,000 speakers.
Total $5,800 component value and near $400 wires and tweaks value including an audio stand. I should invest more for the room treatments which might not be that super-expensive. Thinking of getting pieces of fabric at any bulk fabric retailer to build roll-down curtains that would clamp to the floor so I'll be able to lift them back up when I need more light from the windows(just like screen for projection TV).
Music collection overheads rig by nearly 3x.

I like Marakanetz's system philosophy. It makes sense and I'm sure it makes nice music.

These days putting big bucks in a CD player is, dare I say, foolish, and putting insane money into the audio cables is probably alright -- provided you own the company.

The sad thing is that a lot of these big-buck systems often fail to please and don't connect the listener to the music.

It does seem that many audiophiles have a particular part of their system that they concentrate on, whether that be power cords, (seems to be a popular one lately) other tweeks, or turntables, preamps etc. I find that I have a never ending curiosity about different speakers, so I have tried as many as I could afford, and I have learned a lot along the way. To you or me it may seem that the member you are speaking of has spent a wildly disproportionate amount on accessories, but that's just his area of focus, and he must find it worthwhile.