Have I Hit The Point Of Diminishing Returns?


System ... Musical Fidelity Nu Vista CD, Bat VK-3i Preamp, Musical Fidelity A300cr power amp, Magnum Dynalab MD-102 Tuner, B&W N804 speakers, Cardas Golden Reference speaker (bi-wire) and ICs. I realize my rig is a bit dated, but it sounds great. If I were to upgrade, how much better could it get? Have I hit the point of diminishing returns where a lot more $$ gets only a small % increase in sound quality? If not, what component would you suggest upgrading and why? Thanks to all.
rlb61

Showing 4 responses by macrojack

We all have - long ago.

Here's a bug in the ear suggestion. Take it for what it's worth to you.

Grace Design M920 w/remote --- $2300
Neumann KH310 active monitors - $4450
Balanced cables of choice --- $ 500
------------------------------------
TOTAL $7250

You can use your tuner as before and use your CD as a transport. Mission accomplished. You will never look back.
Joecasey - it appears to me that Stringreen was addressing the originator of the thread, not you. Perhaps if you read the whole thread and allowed for the possibility that it was not all about you, the same opinion would have kept you from embarrassing yourself.
As for this elusive point of diminishing returns that has a number of you stumbling all over yourselves with absolution and compensatory illogic, here is the hard to swallow truth:

Once you have purchased and installed a basic system that conveys the sounds to you intelligibly, you have reached the point of diminishing returns. If you choose to follow the audiophile nonsense beyond that point, you have voluntarily entered a place where your further investment is rewarded at a lower rate. This puts you on a curve whereon you receive ever less for your dollar as you progress. Whether you feel justly rewarded by your outlay or not, does not alter the economic reality of what you have done from an investment standpoint. Philosophical renderings aside, you have not invested well. Now, of course, the option to pay more money for less improvement is an option afforded the hobbyist and it could be argued that act defines the word " hobby". Who could argue that point?
So, I would submit that what I said earlier stands. We all passed the point of diminishing returns long ago. The question now is: Do you care? And each of us will have to answer that one for ourselves. It would seem that none of us cares enough to stop - so that means do whatever the hell floats your boat now and keep a bucket handy for bailing.
Personally, I have an eye toward downsizing. Reading online audio threads has me believing I am not alone in that thinking. In other words, I am interested in moving backwards toward the original diminishing returns threshold. Anyone else? O.P.?
From your responses, I gather that a goodly number of you are unable to grasp the concept of diminishing returns. I know that this failing is not due to lack of information because the essence has been explained in this very thread.

The Law of Diminishing Returns does not state that no further improvement can be attained. It says that beyond a given point in your refinement trajectory you will pass a point beyond which further improvements come at an ever increasing cost ... that the reward will not be commensurate with the outlay. It has nothing to do with your audiophile justifications or your arbitrarily assigned philosophical contrivances. In fact, it may have nothing to do with many of you at all. In a nutshell: your "bang for the buck" is headed for the red. However, the person who started the thread wants to know if he has passed that point and I say he has. I am not saying that he should or should not continue his pursuit from a hobbyist standpoint but I will continue to assert that, from a purely economic perspective, he like the rest of us has stepped off the deep end and is drifting ever further from shore.
It turns out there is no point of diminishing returns. The Taliban invented that whole concept because they hate our freedoms.