A true believer

I myself do think Marakanetz is also close to my thoughts and applied practice in regard to my situation.
However, in realistic terms we make choices based on our finances. That being said if mine or other's financial situation was to change dramaticaly for the better with an abundance of expendable monies at hand I would bet there would be justification to find and purchase better simply because one could.
Doesn't always mean it is better or worse for either situation.The thought of an Audiophile with money to burn and not upgrading, aint gonna happen!
Cheers

Oh, please recommend me an integrated because I don't have a budget for wires between separates! LOL!

In high end audio, an ounce of sense is worth a ton of cents.

It does seem that many audiophiles have a particular part of their system that they concentrate on, whether that be power cords, (seems to be a popular one lately) other tweeks, or turntables, preamps etc. I find that I have a never ending curiosity about different speakers, so I have tried as many as I could afford, and I have learned a lot along the way. To you or me it may seem that the member you are speaking of has spent a wildly disproportionate amount on accessories, but that's just his area of focus, and he must find it worthwhile.

I like Marakanetz's system philosophy. It makes sense and I'm sure it makes nice music.

These days putting big bucks in a CD player is, dare I say, foolish, and putting insane money into the audio cables is probably alright -- provided you own the company.

The sad thing is that a lot of these big-buck systems often fail to please and don't connect the listener to the music.

If you own the business, it will work best if you know something somebody don't. In this business I know a lot. Therefore my tweaks and wires are less than $400 in total for $800 amp, $600 pre, $400 CD-player, $2,000 analogue, $2,000 speakers.
Total $5,800 component value and near $400 wires and tweaks value including an audio stand. I should invest more for the room treatments which might not be that super-expensive. Thinking of getting pieces of fabric at any bulk fabric retailer to build roll-down curtains that would clamp to the floor so I'll be able to lift them back up when I need more light from the windows(just like screen for projection TV).
Music collection overheads rig by nearly 3x.