I've actually come to the conclusion it's more how much can you get for your money, rather than how much did you spend. Most people don't have the space for a $60,000. but will cram it into a really bad room anyway. And guess what? It doesn't sound like it did at CES in that room the seller spent three days prior to the show treating. It kind of levels the playing field. There's still alot of difference -a transformer with a rhodium or silver coating in the winding is going to sound a lot better, or a handmade paper air core. Things that are exotic are expensive. But in real world conditions how noticeable is it really? And are you a crazy headphone guy who's going to sit there and listen for it? A $1000. pair of headphones will always beat the best speakers in the best room - there's less air to move around, there's the purity of the electrostats, and the acoustic problem is essentially nil. This is why audio engineers still use them. I also have found a lot of older gear has better transformers and internal architecture for phono's and tuners. So use them. Kudos on that Luxman. So you upgrade to an EAR at some point if you really like it, or you move on having had nearly the same experience. Buy a $100-200 worth of room treatments or packing materials that work as room treatments for $50. A good silver/copper cable between an integrated and your primary piece of gear can help a lot as well for $150. And put $24. worth of rubberized plastic Vibrapods under stuff, or a couple of racketballs. Then go do the calculation on a currency converter to see what it would be in today's dollars if you're broke and want to feel rich. It's what I used to do.
