Has anyone made the jump to $uper High end and were disappointed?


I'm talking $50,000 and higher amps, speakers, cablesetc. I know there is excellent sounding gear from $100 to infinity (much is system dependent, room, etc). However, just curious if someone made the leap and deep down realize the "expected" sound quality jump was not as much as the price jump. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to make that jump. However, looking at another forum's thread about price point of diminishing returns got me wondering if anyone had buyers remorse. It's not easy to just "flip" a super high priced component. 
aberyclark
@aberyclark , you've certainly sparked a debate!
I am not a golden ear but here are some observations.
I inherited a NAD 7250 PE and didn't like it for a new system I was setting up in the basement. Got a Rotel Rx-1052. Huge improvement in side by side. Eventually started looking for a better integrated because, after all, it was just a Rotel, and a receiver at that. I got a loaner Creek Classic 5250SE, which was reviewed very, very well. Should have blown the Rotel away. It did not as far as I could hear. There were differences, sure, but I had to listen hard and on some material I still preferred the Rotel, which I would still highly recommend. So I brought the Creek to my dealer and we compared it to a Belles Aria ($1500, if I recall). I thought the Creek held it's own very well. I certainly wouldn't spend $1100 for the difference, although the two guys from the dealer could hear a profound difference. I'm sure they are golden ears. I still trust their advice....mostly. Then I got a Primare I32 class D integrated. $3,000 list; I paid $1,000 - about twice as much as I'd ever paid for any component up to that time. That sweet thing was an improvement over the Creek and Rotel that was not even arguable. I bought it, happily. Conclusion, price doesn't always make a difference; but sometimes it really does!

The area, other than speakers where I think differences in SQ are not imaginary is phono cartridges. Even I can hear the difference between a Denon DL-301 III and a Hana EL and a Dynavector 10x5. Which is best? It depends on the mood I am in and what I'm playing.
Love highend audio everything i have gotten has been wonderful so far.If you know what your doing things should be a big sound improvement.
Definitely, I believe, the higher the priced component, the higher the expectations. I believe it because I’ve been there.

That said, there is usually rationale to the pricing, usually ends up with better components and build... if the price difference is relatively large.

Say $1000 amp vs a $50000 amp, for sure the $1000 does not have the parts that even come close to the $50000 amp.  That said, I doubt the difference between something $20,000 and something $35,000 is not as vast as two amps $1,000 and $15,000. 

I called Boulder Amps once, I was inquiring about the history of my 2060 (which I was purchasing at that time) as they have logged down the history of most of their equipment (turns out that Alon Wolf owned my 2060 prior).... anyway, I alerted them that there was a Boulder 1060 amp for sale for $10,000 on audiogon (retail is $25,000).

The engineer said, "Wow, that’s less than the parts cost from the supplier."

I proceeded to ask him what is the part cost for an amp - he says typically around 33% of what they are asking retail. FWIW.
After hearing Revel Ultima Salon, Talon Khorus and Wilson Sophia speakers, I realized that ultra high-end is ultra bull-end.