I know a fella that uses $20,000 speaker cables with $500 speakers and swears it sounds glorious. So no, you cannot make any rhyme or reason how anyone else chooses to slice up their pie. To each their own, what works for one may or may not work for someone else.
Any truth to keeping the retail prices the same ?
........does it make sonic sense to purchase equipment that is all in or around the same price range???? So, your amp costs $5,000 your pre-amp $6,000 and your speakers were also $6,000 and your front end was $5,0000... you get the picture. Is there any truth that this could help with the overall synergy of the system ????? Why I ask I have seen $15,000 speakers here driven with a good intergrated amp, but the retail of the intergrated amp was about $4,000. I don't know as that just does not seem to make any sense. Your thoughts