In all reality,an upgrade of a component should be just that.We should hear an improvement that makes us happy.If we get the opposite,we should resell it.That is what Audiogon is all about.A component may sound great in someone else's system,but not ours.Of course the opposite is true also.We shouldn't end up with a poor sounding costly system if,each piece we upgraded was listened to carefully, then decide whether it's a keeper or not. Carefully done,I don't see how someone would end up this way,unless buying higher priced components first,then listening to them later.If you don't hear better sound when upgrading a component, its not an upgrade(to us),even if the component cost more.