Does anyone really need to spend 10k on power

All your arguments about personal choice and liberty are beside the point. I don't think anybody is advocating not allowing people to buy what they want. What I question is whether the proliferation of ultra expensive products is good for the long term health of the audiophile world? The increasing cost of high end equipment is a very real barrier to people entering and/or pursuing the audiophile lifestyle. The fact that a few people are better off because of this trend is not, IMO, a satisfactory response. There was a time when middle class professional types could actually afford to purchase state of the art music reproduction systems. The same cannot be said today. As a group are we better off?

"What I question is whether the proliferation of ultra expensive products is good for the long term health of the audiophile world?"

I have no problems with the prices specifically in that companies have to make a decent profit to stay in business, but I think there is a lot of BS that often goes into it, and too much BS is probably not good for long term health of anything. Gotta at least try to cut through the BS. I think its that simple.

I had the opportunity to visit the 1989 CES in Chicago. It is one of the highpoints of my life. (If that sounds tragic, I also have been inside The Great Pyramid and that counts as just a little higher) Back then, the Hifi show was in the hotel across the street and I got to spend the day there with my buddy. A couple of the set-ups in the hotel were some of the best sounding rigs I have ever heard. I wish I had taken notes on what equipment was used. I didn't because I couldn't afford it back then. I saw a lot and much of it was snakeoil; but some was eye opening. I sneered at all of the exotic and expensive cables back then; but today I have them in my system. I try to keep an open mind but not be naive. I think the key is to be a smart shopper. $10k doesn't seem like a good value for a power conditioner. For much less than that you could hook up a motor coupled to an alternator and generate your own dedicated clean power to your Hifi rig- with a big filter capacitor to boot.
I believe good sound can still be had for a reasonable price. I get to hear some of the SOTA high end gear now and then and I can still go home and enjoy my humble rig.

I think that the analogy of the BMW vs. the speakers is a valid one. If you consider the technology, parts count, ease of manufacture, etc. there is no doubt that the BMW has a much higher value per dollar spent.

Certainly how one spends one's money is a personal decision for one to make based upon the size of their wallet and their current economic circumstances.

But I think it is absurd to try and justify the purchase of a $10k power conditioner as a high-value proposition. If you really are in search of absolutely clean power for your system, you would be better-served by installing some solar collectors mated to a huge battery.

This serve two purposes - it takes you off the grid and makes use of the "free" energy beamed to our planet each day by the sun and it will also remove all of the power polluting "noise" that occurs when one is using power from the grid.

Also, unless the OP already has a professionally-designed and installed AV room, he is throwing money into his system at the wrong point. Remember, the speakers and the room interact quite significantly and a well-treated room will impart much better sonics than one that is un-treated...

-RW-

I remember about 15 years ago, looking at a report on the first $1000 interconnect I had seen. First thought was, I did'nt think you could make a cable you could dream of asking that price for. The second was, what sort of idiot would spend that sort of money.

Well all I have to do is look in the mirror today and yes, those expensive cables do make a difference. The same for power conditioning. I hav'nt spent anywhere near $10000, but a decent conditioner and power cords, certainly make a real difference. My problem is auditioning them. I find it quite difficult to do A/B comparisons on conditioners, they take so long to settle in and are dependent on the cords you use.

So if you have a $150000 system, I don't, you can argue it is worth spending that sort of cash. Justified? as others have said, it is none of my business how anyone else spends their own money