Cheap/expensive or expensive/cheap?

Auxinput-a 10k system isn’t reaching the point of diminishing returns? Are you talking about $10k worth of cables? I hope so because a $10k system can still be classified as a starter system or maybe getting into The midfi range, depending on what components you are talking about. A good dac with a good power cable and ic’s alone are $10k or higher. A good turntable/arm/cartridge/phono preamp with cables start around $10k, on and on.

I didn't mean to annoy anyone with this question. Seems like there's always one person who gets offended or annoyed with something on these forums. I realize the question is very broad and general but I didn't want to get into the minutiae of specific cables etc. I basically had the same system for almost 25 years before I decided to update it. With my older system (Denon, Nakamichi, Canton, B/O), I never upgraded any cables except for the speaker cables (Monster) because I didn't know any better and there weren't any high end hifi store where I live. Once I decided to update my system a couple of years ago, I have tried to research more and experiment with cables, cords, etc. and I have noticed the improvements. I was just trying to understand and learn more from you all who have waaayyyy more experience than me. My basic question was can a lower priced system with good quality accessories potentially sound better than a higher priced system with just the stock cords/ICs. Thanks.

If you put a mink coat on a pig....you still have a pig.

If you put a pig skin coat on Marilyn Monroe....you still have a beautiful woman.

I recently added Audioengine B1 Bluetooth receiver to my system.  It uses the latest Bluetooth codec and by far bested the previous  six buck BT dongle that it replaced.  I use BT primarily for podcasts that I start listening to on my drive home and finish after arriving, and occasionally with Qobuz if I want to sample something and don’t want to go the extra steps of using my Bryston streamer.
  At first I tried my Nordost  cables that cost more than the Audioengine , then the RCA cables that came with the Audioengine.
I couldn’t hear a difference.  Bluetooth is Bluetooth, even when done as well as possible on a revealing system.  The source is still the thing.

IME, cables matter, but only so much, and always relative to their system context an environment. If actual musical verisimilitude is the goal, then one needs speakers of a size capable of pressurizing the room to give bass instruments their proper weight. Cables won’t give you that. Proper placement is more important as well. But if these issues are well met, tweaking cables can be appreciated as being of some use.  That said, I can remember hearing a grossly undersized pair of Totem Tabu speakers (relative to the room size) set up with fabulously expensive Dutch monoblocks and garden hose cables, and the results were nothing short of magical. So what do I know, other than I could never afford such extravagance?
The source was standard CD of Bruce Cockburn performing “Kit Carson” from his great 1992 “Nothing But A Burning Light” album.