I think there’s a huge number of people willing to buy into anything. I also disagree that we’ve measured everything possible, especially not in the complicated space of a listening room.
I’ve heard caps break in and speaker cables change the outcomes. I also think cables which sound different are WAY too expensive.
The audiophile norm is a fetish of polishing, spending and avoiding the most cost effective or effective solutions in favor of trends.
My advice:
- Learn to build your own. Speakers, cables, whatever.
- Be true to your own ears and no one else’s.
Probably the biggest gap between reality and spend and testing is vibration control methods. It is so damn easy for a manufacturer to test vibration, and the effects of that vibration on cables and solid state equipment, but we've seen ZERO. It doesn't happen.
Real simple. Measure output, add vibration. Show us that x solution is better than y in any possible way.
If I made millions selling pillows on TV this is the point where I'd put up a million dollars to anyone showing any vibrational control devices do anything for solid state gear. But I'm not a pillow guy and I have no cash so the world will have to wait.