Charles1dad 3-27-2017
Yes my expectation would be that a 119.00 dollar product should be superior to the 9.00 dollar product or why else would you spend the extra 110.00. What I recognize is that you don’t know with any certainty until you actually compare via listening.
Which brings to mind one of the reasons the lack of a good technical understanding of how a product "works" may be significant. Without such an understanding, or at least a basis for confidence that the designers of the product have such an understanding (which would seem doubtful if how the product "works" cannot be either fully explained or fully predicted based on generally recognized science), there would seem to be no basis for anyone (including the designers) to accurately predict the point of demarcation between optimization of a given parameter or design characteristic of the product and what may be overkill of that parameter or design characteristic, which will accomplish nothing in most or all applications.
Therefore, IMO, it can be expected that what may in many cases be a significant driver of the cost of expensive tweaks or other products whose principles of operation are not thoroughly understood (in a quantitative manner, at least) is overkill of some or all of their design parameters and characteristics, which will accomplish nothing in most or all applications. Or that may make a difference in some applications, but a difference that is unpredictable, and may even be for the worse from a subjective standpoint.
That, IMO, being a significant contributor to the loose correlation between price and performance that many audiophiles have reported in various contexts here and elsewhere.
I agree with Charles’ second sentence that I quoted, of course.
Best regards,
-- Al
