@charles1dad - Here's the rub: I didn't mention the cost of the Linn in my original post, only it's features. You, and others, brought price into the conversation, which is cool, but as the conversation morphed it became apparent to me that we were no longer talking about SQ, alone, but SQ+$$$. That's cool, too.
Me, like everybody else who doesn't consider dollars to be a status symbol, would much rather take the less expensive item that sounds great over the more expensive item that also sounds great. Yet, even though I didn't imagine this conversation would turn into money, I played along under the premise that yes, sometimes the better product does come at a premium, even though you saved a ton of money on all of the other products in your system.
It's the nature of this thread, though, isn't it? If I agree with everyone (which I have) that the DIs kill much more expensive speakers, everybody gives me a pat on the back. If, on the other hand, I suggest that a piece of upstream gear that costs more is better than one that costs less, the reaction is, "Whoah, okay, let's examine this. It goes against the premise of this thread." I didn't mention money, nonetheless, it came up, which tells me that this has become more agenda driven over the openness to why one person chose the Linn over the Lyngdorf. My choice had nothing to do with cash, and it still doesn't (at least to me). Even the DIs have little to do with money. The cost of the DIs is merely a boon. Since my pockets are not deep, of course I'm thrilled over the DI's price, yet I want performance, first, so if the DIs had come in at $7500 a pair, I wouldn't balk at them. Would you?
Wait, do you own the DIs?
It's true, there are a lot of hi-fi items priced too high. I tried to save money by going with Geico in 15 minutes or less. It just didn't take hold. I'll leave it at that.
