The new dCS Varese DAC...it is so good that all others are now relegated to history??

$250,000. That's a quarter of a million! Should we only decide what to purchase with excess money in the audio world? Wait. Who am I talking to? Who is DCS talking to? If somebody wanted to show me their system and it had a $250,000 digital front end, I think I'd want to walk out the front door. It's a disgusting amount of money to spend on a digital front end. I don't care how good it sounds or how rich you are, if you don't have people in your life who could use some of that money, well, talking about stereos is beside the point. You need a life.  

@audio-b-dog 

That sounds a little judgy. 

No...

It is a judgement. When I go out and buy what I call expensive equipment, I judge myself. I don't have an audio budget, it all comes out of the common fund which includes wife, daughter, grandaughters. In the review, Michael Framer pronounced the quarter-of-a million-dollar wonder as good as analogue. You can buy a good turntable for ten to twenty grand. I guess at some point I see certain price points in audio as just too much. When I was growing up, my mother said, "Eat your beans. People are starving in China." (A very long time ago.) I'm sure that my friends judge me all the time for the "moderate" amount I spend on audio. My new speakers were $18K and I was gulping at that. Sorry for judging, but I do from time to time judge our hobby. 

This seems similar buying a car new or used. Once we buy the car, we usually don’t care about newer models coming out, but rather we are satisfied with the function and use of our purchase because it is doing “exactly” what we expected at the time of purchase.

Products types vary in innovation, from slow (furniture, roof tiles…) to fast including high-tech (software, laptops, smartphones, audio equipment..).

In high-end anything. It’s foolish to purchase anything thinking/hoping that better tech “won’t happen”, and when it does the individual becomes disappointed. Meanwhile, the high-end anything is functioning exactly as it was intended at the time of purchase- it’s doing what we expected it to do to give us satisfaction.

As an example, after long research, both Audiophile1 (A1) and Audiophile2 purchased the same DAC.

A1 simply enjoys the DAC - it’s consistently performing to expectations at the same level of when it was first purchased

A2 is satisfied enjoys it for awhile, then hears news of a better model coming out so A2 becomes dissatisfied. But wait, the news is false so now A2 is back to being satisfied. The manufacturer announced that they are working on a newer/better model, A2 becomes dissatisfied. But due to health reasons, the manufacturer will retire aka no new model, A2 becomes satisfied. Meanwhile, the DAC is performing the same as in day 1. What is changing?

Its better to be A1 without the emotional baggage