Where do you draw the line???

Maxxc, if one were to randomly choose 10 audiophiles and give them two budget amounts, say $10,000 and $30,000, I suspect that the more expensive system would sound better than the less expensive system in every individual case. I would also suspect that one or two of the ten lower cost systems would sound better (at least to somebody) than one or two of someone else's ten higher cost systems. If someone would like to test that theory, I stand ready to spend their money ;-)

Why is it beyond belief or beyond a reasonable doubt that someone might find a less expensive piece of audio gear or system more to their liking (or even better sounding to them) than a more expensive one?

For example, I've listened to different speakers at different audio retailers (most around these parts won't allow home auditions) and I've found some (usually the smaller stores) to have fairly well set-up listening rooms. I have also found differences/preferences going both ways in terms of lesser/more expensive gear.

Most of us have limitations in a financial sense and so that also plays a big role in our audio experiences. Most of the time I probably won't even bother to listen to equipment that is more expensive than my upper budgetary threshold (don't want to let the genie out of the bottle). I recently listened to a $5,000 pair of speakers and a $4,000 pair. I preferred the latter. I mention this because its not a huge difference in price, although some might say that 25% is considerable. I could probably stretch the budget if I really preferred the more expensive speakers, but I didn't.

The good people at the 'Gon are frequently suggesting/recommending to newcomers that YMMV, listen with your ears, make up your own mind about what sounds best to you, etc... Why shouldn't this also apply in relation to the $$$'s one spends on gear?

I dont think anybody is stating for a definate fact that every piece of gear with a higher price tag sounds better than a piece of gear with a lower price tag.

But the fact remains that it is perfectly appliable as a general rule, that more expencive usually sounds better than less expencive gear.
And it looks to me like everyone who defends that point accept the fact that there are always exceptions.

Not many people on the Gon have a Cost-no-issue wallet, and im sure many people on the gon have heard 5,000 speakers that sound better than some 8,000 speakers. its all preferential, and a matter of taste and opinion.
But i would have a hard time believing that aa $500 pair of speakers would ever sound better than a $30,000 set of speakers. If so, im with NRCHY. Lets all sell the expencive gear because we must have all been idiots to buy it in the first place right?

People who pay alot of cash to buy gear that sounds terrible usually dont even KNOW about alot of the brands that audiophiles love. Usually they buy Bose.
Whats the point of buying a Krell because it is a Krell? Nobody would have any idea what the hell a "Krell is"
People who buy krell do so because they like the level opr preformance offered and prefer the sonic charicteristics of it.

personally from the forums ive read and interactions ive had on this board, i believe that most philes, at least on the Gon and Audio Asylum have the gear they have because they liked the way it sounded. Not because it was the biggest and baddest. And if the equipment they liked had a high price tag, Who cares?

Maybe a $1000 speaker fits a purpose better than the 30,000 set, but i would doubt they sound better.

And what is "Sound better" anyway?
Thats a very personal thing. What sounds better to one person sounds like crap to another.
Just because these guys pay 18,000 for a set of speakers somone thinks sound like crap doesent make them an idiot or have poor choice in thier gear, it means that thier needs might not be the same as yours and those 18,000 speakers will fit better than the 2,400 that sound oh so much better.

I'm sitting here with the cheapest ghetto system on the Gon, but you dont see me sitting here calling Nrchy a fool for having a 30,000 system and praising TWL for having a system under 10k. Nrchy has a rig he likes and gives him a sence of satisfaction, and so does TWL.
I garauntee that TWL's Lowther Voight Pipes are not what would please Nrchy. And im sure Nrchy's more expensive Sonys are not what TWL would prefer.

Taste in audio gear performance is as diversified as taste in music.

So to sum it all up,
there is no BETTER speaker, the one YOU like might be $20, or $200,000. Personal taste determines what you buy.

Believe me, if I had $30k available for audio, I'd sure be able to spend it in a hurry! I didn't stop at $10k, oh alright, now it's $13k, because I wanted to. I did it because I ran out of money. Walker Proscenium and Aesthetix IO and Loth-X Bards are calling me, like a siren song.

Anybody got a spare $65k they don't know what to do with?

Slappy - good comments, pretty much on the mark I think. Maxxc's comments effectively define his mind set and to my way of thinking make him sound like a jealous "have not" who has insufficent experience to make any judgments of value of interest to anyone but himself.