Chad, Hell! We're all insane, this hobby defines compulsive. I asked what $20k players don't sound as good as the TRL595. It's a reasonable question--I'm only asking that people back up their claims. I notice nobody has answered. I've never heard a $20k player so I wouldn't know, and my guess is that the guys making the claims haven't either. I love high value products. I sold my separates in favor of an integrated that is 35% of the price. Not because it was cheaper, but because I thought it sounded better. Nothing would make me happier than to find a cd source for $700 that would stomp $4000 modded players. Recently, I had a long conversation with a very respected modder and I asked him how close his mod for under $1000 would come to the Exemplar. He said his mod was outstanding, but there was only so much he could do with a certain amount, and that I couldn't realistically expect his mod to be as good as one that cost more than 4 times as much. I appreciated his honesty, and I understand that everything can be made better with money. As to your other point, we might all do better buying a boombox and putting the rest of our money in an income fund, but that is a matter of choice.
