More expensive = better?

In general the relationship is true. But, it is complicated in reality. There are “sound types”… what companies are going for. If you switch from a company that produces the kind of sound you like to a sound you don’t, then that relationship may not sound true to you. Also, there are all sorts of new companies trying to break in… they may produce sound at a higher level of quality for the price… or it might have a sonic flaw you didn’t at first notice (red face, “oh Schiit, what did I do? moment”) But to take advantage of these… it takes even more work and more risk.

With caveats, my rule is that for a 2x or more increase in cost of any component you get a “wow! That sounds a lot better!… with a well chosen and compatible pieces of equipment… because in general the market is efficient… rewarding better sound with price.

All of the major purchases I have made after the first five years in high end audio have successfully supported the 2x rule… so for 45 years. But I do lots of research, and understand, and can read in between the lines of professional reviews. I know the vocabulary and read about my components and all that I hear. This takes lots of experience. But, can be what makes this such a rewarding pursuit, or make you think it is all bunk.

Schiit Gungnir and Yggdrasil are outstanding values for the money. I own the first as an experiment to help a friend, who purchased a Yggdrasil. Both very good sounding.

It seems to be common for people to feel that if you cannot afford something then it cannot be worth the price and anyone that has enough money to afford it is a fool or not very smart. Which of course is not true. While you can add nearly unlimited labor to improve the sound of budget products to far beyond their normal capability (think interconnects, room treatments etc.), but if you take into account personal effort, high end generally products perform in proportion to their price.
 

The high end market is highly competitive and highly reviewed by professional reviewers. It is unfounded conspiracy theories to think all the research and development done by dedicated engineers is really only marketing hype. I have spent most of my life in high technology companies like Burr-Brown and Texas Instruments with the individuals designing and working to bring better sound to the high end community. The investments is in billions of dollars to be able to bring the technology many of you guys think is a conspiracy, marketing hype, or in your head.

Go listen to a top level Wilson Audio / Roland acoustically treated sound room… or something of the like… and if you can speak at all after the experience then you have no appreciation for sound quality or music and should move on to some other pursuit.

It is not too hard hearing differences, but it typically takes time to put your finger on what it is. It is a skill. So, provided it is not just switch, a to b to c, and allows lots of time. Some, of course will be immediately obvious, some will take time. Th

The reason quick analysis is so challenging is that music is composed of dozens of constantly changing sounds, and your conscious mind ends up flicking from sound to sound… each time it is changing. This is why for most of us the subconscious must be allowed to integrate an impression of the gestalt over time  of similar sounding components.

Highly experienced professional reviewers are likely to be very good st this. 

Bad or good is definitely appropriate for an individual. 
 

Altough, I don’t think I have ever heard a super expensive piece of equipment that has sounded bad. I could always appreciate it for the strengths it had, what it was trying to accomplish,  although it might not have had the character I wanted.