@audphile1 thanks, indeed the source of my skepticism over broad applicability of the stance that greater cost = greater quality: there’s no robust study to support this, just many anecdotes and opinions. That will not change until design schematics / fabrication costs vs. fabrication / transportation costs are made available for low end to high end streamers. Until then, no evidence of streamer quality scaling linearly, or otherwise, with price.
Now to be extra clear, again, that’s not me saying “absence of evidence [of a difference in sound between streamers] = evidence of absence [of said difference in sound between streamers].” Anyone who suggests that is as unscientifically anchored as one who touts an opinion as evidence.
@ghdprentice thanks, conversely, I’m not sure you understand what “logic” would be in this case. I’m not looking to offend but rather clarify. Logic would have your reasoning based on evidential support, something that can be replicated by others. IOW, describe the process, not the pattern. The pattern is spend more and more and more money, hear more and more and more difference. Never mind the tangle from bias - the assumption most other folks will, too, is the issue. Your anecdotal experiences, numerous and over years, are still not robust enough to constitute the next guy’s predictable experience should that person try to replicate them. Consequently, your suggestion that your impressions are transferable is not particularly sound (pun!), but it’s an Internet forum so type as ya like. I don’t need to elaborate on how the differences between personal experiences and the opinions they help form cannot reliably serve the same purposes as results from a controlled investigation free of bias. But given the latter, it would take just one controlled listener preference study (a real one), similar to those done to greater / lesser extent in amps and speakers. If such an investigation showed linear scaling of preference for streamer brand/model based on unit retail price, the relative lack of testable difference in how digital transports work with what’s downstream of them would quickly become a less relevant hole in general knowledge, and the popular stance on the matter would be supported by more than anecdotal opinion.
Opinions are fine for individuals, but their transferability to other individuals and situations are simply not predictable. YMMV being the four magic letters when sharing about effects on others’ systems you aren’t familiar with, but of course, that is just my opinion, man ;)