Have I Hit The Point Of Diminishing Returns?

Last year I replaced Eggleston Andra II, bought new retail for $21,000 with TAD Evolution One also bought new retail for $30,000. After a year of ownership, I concluded there's NO diminishing returns. My subjective algorithm is, ZERO buyer remorse, BEST the Andra in every way ... NO contest!, SQ still surprises me every time I play music and one of the best and most satisfying audio purchases ever.

TAD is not 1.5X superior than Andra but much much much ... higher IMO. Microjack, ... what's your algorithm to computing diminishing returns? I want a definitive number.

Knghifi, I know another Audiogon member who sold his Andra II's for speakers that were less than half the price of the Andra II's, but much better sounding in his opinion. Spending more money can get you better sound quality, spending less money can get you better sound quality. So what does it all mean?

So what does it all mean?

Hobbies such as Audio, Automobiles ... where results cannot be measured or quanified, law of diminshing returns or increasing returns don't apply. Results are all SUBJECTIVE ... SQ NOT a function of price.

Now if you have a farm growing crop where results can be MEASURED. You hit law of dimishing return when it doesn't increase the crop size by adding more fertilizer.

My .02

I think the main menu is that no system will never reach the pinnacle. There is always more to be done. The problem is making the best possible choices within our budget to improve the sound quality. Diminishing returns? You never know till you add the next element to your system. You may be surprised, maybe not. I do not subscribe to the notion that returns begin to diminish after such and such a point in time.

From your responses, I gather that a goodly number of you are unable to grasp the concept of diminishing returns. I know that this failing is not due to lack of information because the essence has been explained in this very thread.

The Law of Diminishing Returns does not state that no further improvement can be attained. It says that beyond a given point in your refinement trajectory you will pass a point beyond which further improvements come at an ever increasing cost ... that the reward will not be commensurate with the outlay. It has nothing to do with your audiophile justifications or your arbitrarily assigned philosophical contrivances. In fact, it may have nothing to do with many of you at all. In a nutshell: your "bang for the buck" is headed for the red. However, the person who started the thread wants to know if he has passed that point and I say he has. I am not saying that he should or should not continue his pursuit from a hobbyist standpoint but I will continue to assert that, from a purely economic perspective, he like the rest of us has stepped off the deep end and is drifting ever further from shore.