I pretty much think the same as you ...
The goal of audio thread for me the first one goal is to partake ideas about the way to reach a minimal acoustic satisfaction threshold at the best cost ...
Bragging about high end gear is useless ...
Even high end gear need to be embed in the right mechanical, electrical and acoustical conditions anyway ...
The cost of a system dont matter . the goal must be optimize what you own ...
Price tags dont matter , acoustics science matter if we want to reach the best with what we have or with what we must purchase at the lowest possible cost ...
@mahgister i researched the hell out of every component speaker and sub in my system using the knowledge that I gained in this hobby over the years. For example my Gato speakers were designed by a former senior designer at gamut. I researched them to the hilt. Say that they were similar to a speaker twice the cost. Realized he designed that speaker for another company as well I ordered it. 9 years later still my reference. My amps and Dac have design elements that have zero noise floor and implement design elements to provide power and limit distortion at every turn. I was the ear for the cabling that we use at the company. So even though the system is expensive I just didn’t pick stuff because it was expensive but it met the design and performance elements that I sought. I have room challenges so it needed to perform in my conditions and it does that well. It’s not about what you spend. Design, performance, environments, personal tastes and equipment matching are all important. Truth of the matter is some of the higher end equipment build quality and design lows it to achieve things sonically that most other equipment just can’t reach. However you can still get pleasing sound out of a well put together system without spending a crazy amount of money.