The law of diminshing returns?

If you want the best you have to tackle that last .000001% of performance.  Plus it has to look the part. 

if you want the best, it is not enough to buy costlier  gear pieces, you must understand for example  what this % of improvement is about, acoustically speaking, what may be the trade-off cost, etc...

Timbre naturalness is not  immersiveness, which are not  sound source width etc ...

if you dont understand how to work with acoustics conceptual parameters, paying for more costlier gear is throwing off money in a blind obsession..

The diminishing returns principle is not merely about the gear investment but also about your lack of acoustical understanding investment...

The gear design engineering may improve but your own understanding must improve also  because you must learn how to use the gear if you want a positive return  from investment ...

The principle  of "diminishing returns" from gear design  limitations  and potentials is the reciprocal of your "increasing acoustical return" learning abilities...

If you want the best you have to tackle that last .000001% of performance.  Plus it has to look the part.

@mapman +1

@onhwy61 

"Typically going from a $1k system to a $10k system is a greater increase in fidelity than going from a $90k system to a $99k system."

I am unconvinced by this statement. What's your evidence in support of it? Has anyone ever attempted this comparison in practice? How could they objectively determine the increase in fidelity for each case? Surely, it would just be a matter of subjective opinion.

Well, I went from a Topping D70s to a Lampizator Poseidon.  The linked analysis comparing a Rolex to a Timex is unfair and inaccurate.  All one is seeking in a timepiece is the correct time keeping.  In DACs, it's sound quality and that varies significantly although not 50X or even 2X.  There is no reason to use a $25K DAC in a mid-fi system.  I chose this DAC after auditioning the speakers with the SOTA Horizon $50K DAC.  It also serves as an additional pre-amp with an RCA and full digital inputs.  I have a high resolution system, not for the detail but for the additional musical expression, the added subtleties that so many recordings have hidden on lesser resolving systems.  Yes, it is a costly, heavy and large DAC but worth it in my system with no bragging rights.  My back up Topping is a uniquely excellent DAC with reportedly many others in the sub $2.5K realm, even one Greg Weaver touts for $200?  My CD transport and cabling enable me to maximally etract more music from my CDs.  They are each $5K each.  The Shanling ET3 back-up is $729 and a bargain for it's high quality.  My Jay's Audio CDt3 Mk3 is also large and heavy but has superior damping build quality whereas the Shanling is a tiny lightweight device with a big glass top clamp.  

So, no, DACs are not similar and can vary in sonic ability to retrieve more music by price unlike watches whose primary job is to keep accurate time.