Recent equipment you hated, thought overpriced

i assume that if you hated a component , you wouldn't have bought it.
so too, if you liked a component, but thought it was overpriced, you wouldn't buy it.

either way, you have asked a rhetorical question.

i suspect most people , in principle, would not buy something that is overpriced, as it violates a basic principle in economics:

the value in use = the value in exchange.

I've borrowed Bybee, Shakti, Tice and other tweeks from a friend that used to be in the audio business, and I'll take a Rolex any day. Even he admitted that they made little if any difference in sound. They just cost a lot that's all. You'll get a lot more in return for a Rolex than any of that other crap, but it's to each his own with His or Her money. I choose not to be foolish enough to waste mine. I'm glad I was able to try out the tweeks since most don't get the oppertunity to do so first.

Actually more than a few people laugh at Rolex and their wearers. In every hobby there's a pecking order.

Rotel. I'm passed that phase now.