Has anyone made the jump to $uper High end and were disappointed?

Note that it is absolutely possible to make a recording sound better. It might not sound better than the music did in the room when recorded (uh huh), but I've put a bit of EQ on things here and there for decades if I want to…because I can and I'm going to and you can't stop me…so there.

Bo's posts are hard to follow? He comes around from time to time with his imagined "expertise" and posts long tributes to his seemingly vast (20 years? It was less a few rants ago) experience gleaned from selling audio gear and honing his superior listening skills, and his inherent ability to understand what few can ever comprehend: His posts. Example: "We create both sound and vision on properties. This will win in each individual situation of any trail and error system. Because all these systems have no foundation on how they have been created." First, get spellcheck, second, a clue.

The entire premise of the OP is sort of funny…and I doubt the act of "jumping to Super High End" is what anybody actually does, except for a tiny minority of wealthy sales pressure victims. Tiny. Reading magazine reviews without a basis in the reality of "It's a Magazine Review" seems rare except for the foolish, and in spite of Kaitie's comment I think the magazines are still interesting and alert people to what's out there. There are plenty of people who take forum posts too seriously and buy into nonsense (bags of pebbles, magic fuses)…but that's generally harmless also.

Yeah man: "It doesn’t matter which combination you will make, the sound and stage will be incomplete. All people will feel and experience a much lower level in emotion and intensity during listening to music." Ya know…I miss you Bo…nobody, and I mean nobody in this forum says things like that. At length. In long posts. Nobody. It’s like the old saying I just made up, "You can’t have nobody without Bo."

It’s true that unless you join some audio geek club someplace, very few care about the new tube you bought or how great your system sounds. Doesn’t bother me one bit however as I have enough fun with the stuff as to render outside opinions irrelevant (unless they completely agree with me).

Somehow I doubt that the supposed "rich people," based on those I've  known anyway, have the time to really listen to music because for them it's an insane hustle all the time, often tempered by wondering if you're getting ripped off by somebody. The act of tossing money at the latest extreme bit of gear they think they need is actually sort of sad since, of course, you can't take it with you.

In my little side career of live sound stuff, I use extremely clear sounding multi thousand watt systems for live shows, with basically a mono mix for each side. Is that the "live sound" we all strive for? It shouldn't be…and do home systems reproduce the magic 10th row center of orchestral performances? Uh…maybe sort of, but if the music get's its point across evenly enough to be enjoyable, that's all you can ask for. Think about what a home system is doing, and where it's doing it (8 or ten feet from your earballs), and understand that putting your faith in Audio Salon sales people is in THEIR interest more than yours. Much more. If you're in to this stuff, and have some experience, you may have heard some tiny English monitors driven by a tube amp in the 70s and thought, wow…that's nice. Or a pair of old Altecs or ARs or whatever and been happy as a clam.  I've listened at length to the magic of Magicos or whatever in various carefully controlled environments over decades and have always thought, "my home stuff sounds better." Because it does…and it all cost an almost irrelevant amount of cash compared to the pricey stuff because I think that's where the actual magic resides. You just have to work at it to get it there, and dumping big bucks on what Inna imagines is worth it is the actual lazy approach. Kind of like relatively unpopular brilliant musicians in the "folkie" (or acoustic) scene as compared to hyped popular ones…in my experience I've found that the lesser known performers are often simply better, and the good new is there's more of them…but you have to get out there and hear 'em…don't be lazy...

Super sound? What is that? However, high end home audio is one hobby where "fool yourself" (not the Little Feat song) is a defining characteristic.

I bought a used low mileage BMW for less than what a new Toyota costs because I'm not an idiot and I like great cars, and my el-cheapo E90 is killer (still drive it every day, and the cost to maintain it is held down by avoiding dealerships and supporting one of the many "boutique" BMW shops). I also know sound, and have heard plenty of extreme high end systems that sound amazing, as does my well sorted pile of relatively inexpensive gear. Smug comments regarding vague absolutes such as having to spend large for true high end are silly, and only expose how lazy and inexperienced people often are. If it sounds great, it's great…period.