Why spend more than $25 per piece of equipment on vibration reduction?

In my very limited experience, I found that hockey pucks, sometimes stacked on sponge pucks, have offered satisfactory isolation of a component.  However, it would certainly depend on your environment:  my components are on a concrete slab, not a suspended wood floor.  I tried some spring loaded isolation footers, and while they isolated from vibrations of the underlying component stand better, the sound was far inferior.  

@jerryg123 

Yes, real hockey pucks are under most components, all of which sit on a concrete foundation (as those on suspended floors may find more suspension/spring elements work better than they did for me).  Lighter components (turntable, phono stage) also have a sponge puck under the real puck, which, in my experience, did quiet the background, offering a more "solid" sound. . . 

@chorus 

Interesting:  worth a shot at 1.60-1.80 per pad from Vibrasystems. . . they have EVA-BRF pads and EVA-BFP pads, which appear to be similar, but obviously different is some aspect:  maybe they'll be better than my puck stands!

Here's an observation:  my system is set up on a concrete slab; other systems are set up on a suspended wooden/particle board floor. 

On a concrete slab, you can jump as much as you want right next to the components, including turntable, and you hear nothing.  I've walked next to a turntable on a suspended floor, and the footsteps have even made the stylus skip on the LP.  

It makes sense that those whose system is on a wooden floor would need suspension and springs to isolate their system, and to prevent simple actions (such as walking) from interfering in their system's sound.   This is the suspension paradigm. 

I have listened to my system with some suspension footers, and it does isolate the components.  However, having the components more stably pressing into a non-resonant surface (such as a hockey puck) sounds much better, with a fuller, more robust sound.  This experience is more akin to the mass paradigm. 

From my experience, the mass paradigm has proven to be overall superior to the suspension paradigm.  However, in many circumstances, mass will not suffice, and suspension is needed (e.g. having a system on a wooden floor.).  

I received some Vibrasystems rubber pads, and incorporating them into my Rega P8 turntable footers, they are definitely superior to the sponge puck / hockey puck stack: I stacked a standard hockey puck on a Vibrasystems pad under each footer, and the presentation is much more grounded, precise, and has significantly more distinct imaging in space. With the sponge puck / hockey puck stack, by comparison, the sound is more resonant and nebulous, with less distinct imaging. And for reference, the springs were inferior to the stacked pucks.

While the Vibrasystems rubber pads under the turntable footers made the most dramatic improvement, I also noticed an improvement (though not as dramatic) in presentation with the pads also placed under the tube phono stage.