Preference for speakers that are half the price. Has this ever happened to you?

Yes ,many times !  I recently sold my Harbeth HL5  because I prefer the smaller Harbeth P3ESR XD. The smaller Harbeth is one third the price of the larger Harbeth. All that matters is what sounds good to you !!

Ya..that's easy.  

I went to the Tampa Audio Show last spring and listened to many, very pricey systems/speakers...seems like they're all pricey these days.   I came away with a couple I really liked in the $40-$60K range.  And a couple others that I thought sounded pretty good. 

..and then this summer I picked up a pair of LFT8b's for $1300..and they sound better than half+ of what I heard at the audio show. 

Welcome to your audio enlightenment!  And yes, this has often happened to me.  The idea that price = desirability for you personally is hogwash.  It's your ears that you are pleasing, and your wallet that has to pay for it.  Make the decisions best for you. 

If you can't hear a benefit between say a $5,000 speaker and $30,000 then the expensive speaker has exactly $0 incremental value for you. It doesn't mean your ears are bad, or your feelings about the speakers is not good.  Audio equipment is a ridiculously bad investment no matter what you do.  Depreciation is sky high.  

Get what you like to listen to, enjoy them for 5-10 years and then see if your tastes have changed. 

i've often found a manufacturer's lower-end speaker which outperforms its exponentially pricier ones--focal and b&w being prominent examples. obviously, in many cases this may be attributable to room, equipment synergy, etc., but sometimes i do think we're being asked to pay alot more just for fancier cabinets or designs.