I suggest you try to catch up on what Tom Port has been doing lately. Read his blog, I'm sure you'll see his system would have little trouble representing itself against so-called hi-end systems. But, the point of my post wasn't Tom Port, or his system, it was about reissued vinyl, like the kind that Chad and others are producing, vs. good original vinyl, the kind that people, yes, like Tom Port, believe are far superior to almost everything that is manufactured today.
Yes, the rig, the room, etc, etc, make a huge difference. But that shouldn't stop most of the people here, who will spend serious money on setups and equipment when the need or the want arises. Speaking only for myself, I have found that, getting very good sound from vinyl is a lot harder work than I thought it would be when I first got into this. People like Tom, who is one of those rare examples of someone whose gotten beyond expecting his music to sound good just because he bought this or that brand of equipment, are audiophiles we should try to learn from as much as we can.
When it comes to reissues, many of us may already have a decent copy stuck on the shelf, just a good cleaning away from blowing our minds, if we are willing to spend the time to set things up right. The final point I'll reiterate: we've all chased the dragon, coughed-up big dough for the most touted new reissued classic: expecting bingo! Great sound, Right? Only to find we're not playing that record as often as we thought we would.
And just a tiny note more on equipment, I just bought a pair of 29 year old speakers to replace a fairly new set of very good speakers. Why would I do that? Certainly not because they're the most expensive, or most talked about speaker. No, it's because they're the right speaker for that room . The sound from them is the best I've heard, in my room. That may prove nothing to others, but it's shows I've not been disappointed while heading in the direction few have traveled, thanks to audiophiles like Tom Port and Robert Brook.