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

It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy that the more one spends on audio the better the sound quality. The audio industry is like the car industry. The price of cars keeps going up. It’s an economic reality - businesses must continually EXPAND in customers and income. The auto industry has figured out that people will spend increasing large amounts of money on what is essentially the same product. The trick is to promote each new car model as new and improved. Whether it’s true or not. The audio industry has figured out the same thing.

There are two high ends for audio. One is in the solid grip of upgraditis, that one tends to be solidly Anti Tweak, believing that the secret to sound quality is the electronic circuit, expensive parts and “solid engineering” - in quotes. The other high end is more of a tweak-oriented group, focused on improving the sound through cleverness and thoughtfulness. THIS high end operates by assessing the weaknesses in the audio system and coming up with solutions. You know, the group that doesn’t read reviews any more. The ones who don’t buy Stereophile or The Absolute Sound anymore.

The entire premise of the OP is sort of funny…and I doubt the act of "jumping to Super High End" is what anybody actually does, except for a tiny minority of wealthy sales pressure victims. Tiny. Reading magazine reviews without a basis in the reality of "It's a Magazine Review" seems rare except for the foolish, and in spite of Kaitie's comment I think the magazines are still interesting and alert people to what's out there. There are plenty of people who take forum posts too seriously and buy into nonsense (bags of pebbles, magic fuses)…but that's generally harmless also.

@geoffkait 

"There are two high ends for audio. One is in the solid grip of upgraditis, that one tends to be solidly Anti Tweak, believing that the secret to sound quality is the electronic circuit, expensive parts and “solid engineering” - in quotes. The other high end is more of a tweak-oriented group, focused on improving the sound through cleverness and thoughtfulness. THIS high end operates by assessing the weaknesses in the audio system and coming up with solutions. You know, the group that doesn’t read reviews any more. The ones who don’t buy Stereophile or The Absolute Sound anymore."

Exactamente