Changing to less expensive gear.

I've done it over and over again with cables, amps and preamps. Aside from my TT setup, I've save over 70% of my original setup with better results after 3 years of gear changing.
Again, this is subjective view based on my system and my own findings.

Cables: DYI interconnects, power cords and speaker cables.
I used to own $$$$ cables until I was able to make my own with similar and some even better results. No need to mention brands here but I've tried over 50 different cables out there before I settled for the best combination. After that, I made my own cables which can produce similar results.

Amps: Vintage. Hidden treasures from the golden tube era. Blew most of today's high price amps away. However, speaker matching is required before one can decide if the amp is good or bad.
preamps: Vintage + mod. Again, hidden treasures from the golden tube era. It might required a little work to revive them to its original state. The end result is astonishing. It beats most of the preamps that's 2 to 10 times of its price.

I'm not able to do it with source.

CD player: IMHO, Cheap ones will never be better than a better one. Compared over and over again with all the CD players from $50 DVD players to $6000 CD players. However, once you get to certain price level, the differences become much less.
TT setup: The differences between my $600 setup vs my $10,000 setup is so big that I almost felt out of my chair.
The right combination with turntable, tonearm, cartridge, phono cables and phono stages and step up devices is very critical. I guess this is where I invested most. I don't think I can make a better tonearm or cartridge myself. I know I can still upgrade my turntable but the improvement will not be dramatic. I also don't see myself spending additional $5K+ on a TT by itself.

Tuner: This is also tough. I have yet to find a better sounding tuner under $1500 than my MR71. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough but I don't use it as often as the other sources so it is okay.

"The implication is that more expensive gear does not provide better sound".

I think this is not the implication. Rather, I think that the implication is that wise choice is more important than a large wallet, and that more expensive is not necessarily better.

To use a car analogy the Cadillac Escalade is an expensive car, but I think it's a total piece of crap in terms of its engineering. The Honda Civic is much, much less expensive but I think it's a vastly superior piece of engineering. However I am prepared to believe that it is possible to spend $50k on a car and get a car that is substantially better than a civic.

I recently went from a Rogue 88/VTL 2.5 pre w/ phono ($2,200 w/ ICs) to a $350 ASL integrated. Well, I also paid another $750 for a VTL phono stage (not a full pre), and I have basically cut my costs in half, but that doesn't even take into acount the cost of retubing, which will also be less than half of the original (8 total tubes now versus 17 w/ my old setup).

I am a lot happier with my result, and I think that I'm having more fun listening.

I have found that you really can't skimp on sources, hence replacing my old Project TT with the J.a. Michell Gyro (HUGE improvement!!!). My modded Music Hall CD25 might be on an even par with the Cary 308 I used to have, but they are apples and oranges; I like them both for different reasons.

System synergy and the vagaries of my listening room seem to have impacted the overall sound/performance than any amount of I have spent on total equipment. Still, I have gone from having laid out $9,000 on my system to about $5,000, and I'm pretty happy.

It's a lot of trial and error, frankly . . . Just remember why you're doing it: because you love the music, not the gear!

Cheers

Celtic: My question is, were they really "upgrades" and how long did your level of satisfaction really last??? : ) Sean
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I did this last year because I wanted less cluter for awhile,but now I want another reference system after selling mine off last year.

I will still keep my Panasonic SA-XR45 for my HT setup,but I want a seperate reference 2ch. system.

I do not want to pay the high price for a SOTA HT system and want to concentrate on egetting the cleanest ,clearest setup I can for testing components.

I know my speakers are top nitch unless I want to pay $6K plus for new ones.

Plinius, Passive Controller and a DAC are on my list of purchases as soon as I decide which I want I will purchase them.

Just thinking!