Down grading with better /= sound

Krell 400xi and Wilson Sophia speakers wt a Sony XA5400ES SACD/CD player.

Yes, I went from $30K to $15K with better sound and more listening satisfaction, not from less cost but better sounding to my ears....formerly "big name" multi-components with real expensive big name cabling. I found out that less was more....I have no plans to "upgrade." i'm there.

I tried an older pair of Shahinian Obelisks in my system and was astonished to find them rather comfortably more satisfying than my Alon Circes with Thunderbolt subwoofer and custom made crossovers. The Circe setup cost $15,000 while the then current model of the Obelisk was going for in the neighborhood of $4000. I subsequently got a pair of Shahinian Hawks, at the time about $7000, which are even now filling my life with gorgeous music.
I must say it was very hard accepting the "devaluation" of my system but love triumphed over pelf and I have never looked back.

like some fellow Agon members I bet. I have upgraded with worse sound!

At least 3 times!

I have downgraded several times in the last 30+ years. Though I cannot say that I got better sound, I can say that I have gotten pretty damn close for a lot less money.
I'm very happy with my current system, and I've pulled over $20K out of my system after expenses, for other life choices.
I've found that with tube rolling, and careful selections with power cords/cables I'm up to about 98% of my former rig's sonics for about 65% of the cost.

Cheers,
John

Just goes to show that more money does not necessarily translate to better sound quality. Remove the dollar factor and your downgrades were actually upgrades!

I have, several times. Most recently with a Dynaco ST70. Makes you wonder why people spend so much money in this hobby.

The reality of dimminshing returns and the realization that some gear is just out and out over priced.

Ahh but you need to spend the money initially to be able downgrade later with success IMO

Yep, me too. Went from a CJ premier 14 preamp down to my old PV10 and got improvement in spades!

The Running Springs D'Mitri smashed the Full Isoclean system. Very hard to believe that 17K worth of Isoclean STUFF can get beat so badly by the 4K RS.