"...A false dichotomy is created...to support one’s budgetary constraints, the decision to accept a certain level of performance..."
Doug. I can't agree with this. I don't have any budget constraints (well compared to most anyway) but I prefer a musical system. Sure a top level system with the right recording can sound amazing but most of the music I listen to is just standard production crap that is unlistenable on a highly analytical system. I'd rather have good sounding playback than 100% perfect playback that sounds terrible. I have my lessor systems on all the time, my big rig mostly sits dormant.
