Changing to less expensive gear.

I have never done it, but I have demod some very expensive (by my standards) gear in a dealer while waiting for the stuff I had purchased to be boxed, and also because it was quiet at the time and the staff enjoyed showing it off.

I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was some Martin Logan speakers with two huge mono block amps and a big silver CD player ... again I did not look at the label. I did not ask the cost, but it was the shop's statement system.

I was shocked. The $1000 speakers I had just bought, driven by a $1000 integrated amp with a $500 CD player sounded better than this statement system. Better in EVERY way. Imaging, dynamics, treble extension. The expensive system sounded BIG, but that was about it. In every other way it failed.

For the record my own comparison system was
Heybrook Sextet 3 way (ribbon tweet) speakers ($2000 new, $1000 used)
Mission Cyrus 2 with PSX power supply ($1000 new)
Marantz CD63SE CD player. ($500 new)

Many find that the "cheaper" gear is more forgiving and doesn't throw its' main defiency in the listeners' face.
I have "down-sized/graded" and found more enjoyment from my system.I was awefully proud to own the Burmester 001,but found I wasn't enjoying listening to it.The Gamut with a few well placed mods yielded more satisfaction and quite a bit of change in my pockets.Same situation with the VSA VR-6s,though I still wish I owned a Walker table.With the economy and "state of affairs" in two channel audio,I no longer felt that I wanted to spend every last dime on my system.This is a hobby,not the be-all ,end all of our lives.Many forget that the gear is in our homes to help us enjoy music,not the status symbol-nor the reason for this gear/hobby in the first place.
Down size and don't worry about what isn't there.The equipment will change and improve faster than the computers we use to monitor AudioGon with.Spend your extra money on the software and see what develops down the road.As in every other field,the latest technolgy trickles down and becomes more affordable,just like CD players,computers and flat-screen TVs.
Don't sweat the little things.

Nrchy,

I used to have a set of Wilson WattPuppy5s. I was driving them with a Mark Levinson front end, with top-end AQ cables throughout

I since replaced these with Radioshack speakers and a cheap kenwood HTIB with 22ga 3$/100ft cables with a few cheap rca interconnects. Honestly, the cheap setup kicked the wilson/levinson collective ass. In every single Aspect.
I challenge any of your high end systems to my system any day, i think we ALL know what the outcome will be.

Any of you non-believers can just kiss my hairy baboon butt.

P.S. I am a complete and total liar in every aspect except i DO own radioshack speakers... but i hate em....

I decided to start upgrading after six years of having the same system about this time last year. Being a computer programmer, I figured that the best place to start was on the digital end.

I began with the digital cable, replacing my old MIT Digital Reference ($325.00) with a Stereovox HDXV ($75.00).

I then listened to a used Conrad-Johnson D/A-3 ($500.00), it had a fixed power cord and was single-ended. The only single ended interconnect that I had was an old Nakamichi(?) oxygen-free copper interconnect ($45.00). That c-j DAC and Nak. interconnect sounded so much better than my balanced Theta Gen. III ($3500.00) with a Synergistic Master Coupler power cord ($200.00) and Magnan Type Vi balanced interconnect (700.00), that I traded the Gen. III even for the c-j D/A-3.

I found out later that my Gen. III's used value was $1500.00 and the c-j's was $500.00. I never once regretted making that swap. Technology has made great advances forward.