Did I Expect too much?

If they are only using $6 binding posts (probably have ferrous materials, which would go a long way to explain why the Cardas sounded better), I would be very dubious as the the quality of the crossover components used. 

After all, those a much less visible So if they are going to skimp anywhere, using inferior caps, coils and resistors is very likely. 

And talk about an area in the execution of building speakers that can make a big difference! 

A friend and I used to have a cottage business upgrading speakers. When we came across a speaker that had good engineering, but budget execution, just swapping caps and coils made a pretty obvious improvement. 

@kennymacc  it's pretty ridiculous when a home audio system cost as much or more than an automobile, I bet the auto industry has a lower profit margin per car than high end audio per system.

@gdaddy1 the prices PS audio charges for direct buy don't seem to be any cheaper than they were with dealers, just more profit for PS audio.

I never heard s BD 5; I was kidding about that upgrade.  I have heard some pretty wild drivers, such as the equally expensive Voxativ fieldcoil full range driver.  I also heard a system with fiekd coil woofers and midrange drivers and a field coil tweeter that cost $60,000 a pair.  I could not afford the power supply for these drivers, never mind the drivers.

Simonmoon, 

The OP has  single-driver fullrange system; there is no crossover.  I’ve heard the slightly larger version of the OP’s speaker and it is the first single-driver system that I really liked a lot.  Since then, I’ve heard a few more great sounding single-driver systems, like the ones made by Songer Audio.