Law of Accelerated Returns

Great post thanks...

I will only add a correction: it is easy to control soundstage with acoustic and also imaging with a VERY LOW COST SYSTEM, like mine 500 bucks...

The only thing added by a costlier one will be dynamic and resolution mainly...

I listened to some high price system and they were like a tempesting dynamic under a microscope...

I prefer to relax with music than to see through a microscope...

My bass and dynamic are good anyway and i feel it with my chest sometimes and i dont need nor want more resolution...

Acoustic is the key of audio....Timbre naturalness of voices and instruments perception and control  is the key of acoustic not  resolution by itself nor dynamic save if they are seriously lacking for sure...

I have a pretty reasonable system and I have in-depth familiarity with a variety of systems that are more expensive than mine. The two biggest differences I’ve encountered relate to system setup and the room. On the basis of my listening, a very expensive system, properly set up in a very good room, can better my own system by quite a substantial margin. The particular differences are resolution, scale, soundstaging and dynamics. If I had carte blanche (which unfortunately I don’t as it would mean moving house, I would change my room before I’d change any other component in my system.

This is the most ridiculous discussion/theory I've seen in a long time. The law of diminishing returns is a proven theory of economics time and time again. Anyone who thinks an upgrade from a $5K amp to a $10K amp improves SQ LESS than an upgrade from a $50K amp to a $55K amp is nuts. Maybe it works from a % spent upgrade standpoint, but I even would question that. And if it is breakeven, it still is not accelerating. The graph submitted above is on the money, but of course there are different inflection points.

I think it is great to experience all stereo possibilities, especially within the specially designed rooms, and if you want to spend the $$ to enjoy them, but please do not try to cost justify them as being of incremental SQ improvements. Value on the other hand, is in the eye of the consumer. If someone is willing to pay double for a very small improvement, then he/she sees the value, and more power to them. Some see the value in how it looks.

Some see it as a luxury item like a Rolex, but I would think most Rolex owners think of them as investments that go up in value whereas stereo equipment rarely does, and I would hope nobody goes into the hobby trying to make money (unless they are a dealer) when buying equipment.

The graph above is linear and is superficial...

Because it does not account for the many important factors at play...

I dont know why i cannot put my own graph here...

Anyway...

@sokogear Why would you think spending double on a speaker would yield a very small improvement?  I would think if chosen well, it would be a large improvement.  
 

Plus we all know a system is the sum of its parts, and small benefits stack up and should amplify each other.  A speaker cable that is 20% better than another is letting you hear 20% more of each of the upstream components.  I’m not sure mathematically my point works, but you get the idea.

The significant increase in spooky realism of a singer being in the room I got from my recent cheap Ethernet cable upgrade didn’t come from nowhere.  The benefit came from all the other money spent around it.

I’m not saying it’s a linear or even a truly quantifiable thing, or that every upgrade will provide the same level of improvement.  

Also one may think that for example two amps sound similar, but a much more revealing speaker may make the difference more audible and reveal a character  that wasn’t heard previously. 

@emailists - I never said spending double on a speaker would only lead to a small improvement in sound. I was refuting the law of accelerating returns that said you would get more improvement spending $5K more on a $50K component than on a $5K one. Each incremental dollar spent on a given component typically will get less and less improvement the more you spend, once you've passed the entry level point.

I am sure you can get tremendous improvement doubling your expenditure on speakers, and sometimes no improvement or even degradation.