Perhaps we should stick with midfi...

Definitely a troll, he's got one too many "big names" listed. He has an extra piece from Krell/ARC/Mac for his amp and preamp. To front that equipment with the Sony player is also very unlikely......lastly, he has like 4 systems listed.....RILLY?

I think we have all been there at one time or another. I think it is psychlogical. When listening to an inexpensive midfi system we don't expect much from it, so we relax and just enjoy the music. When we listen to a $60,000 system our expectations are high. Instead of listening to the music we are listening to the system and looking for flaws.

It makes sense to me. Even assuming the high cost system is completely synergized it's possible and reasonable for someone to prefer a less refined sound. The key is that he enjoys his listening experience.

As a rhetorical question - what's the difference between a $1,000 system, a $10,000 system and a $100,000 system? The cheapest system could actually sound pretty decent, especially if purchased used. The middle system will be clearly better in every area and will be capable of very high quality sound reproduction. The expensive system will perform better than the middle system in certain areas, but the difference between it and the middle system is less than that of the middle system and the cheapest system.

I frequently read posts where "the journey" aspect of this hobby is invoked. This person's journey deserves as much respect as any other. And as a point of reference his mid-fi system isn't all that mid-fi.

I don't believe it, either.

Like others have said, it could be a system mismatch. Why don't you post a couple of photos with your virtual systems ? Maybe it is your room set-up, and other members could help you with that. I have no personal experience, but from everything I have read, those B&Ws can be annoying if they're not fed right.