More expensive = better?

Not all the time, of course, but it's not a bad rule of thumb to start with, at least with certain types of gear.... 

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.

Well I've been searching YouTube about room treatment. Just go there and check it out. That's the reason most people don't do it right.  It is so complicated.

My point is acoustic passive treatment and mechanical active control is superior in improvement to almost any upgrade of a piece of gear IF YOUR AUDIO SYSTEM IS ALREADY WELL CHOSEN FIRST FOR SURE...My system value is 500 bucks but very well chosen..What i say anyway is applicable to system at any price....

Secondly 95% at least of  rooms  lack to be acoustically at their optimum in relation to the specfic ears and speakers of the owner.. ( even mine because i dont pretend to have created the perfect room)

Third A dedicated audio room for the system, not a living room, is the ONLY luxury and costly element in ANY system done right....

it is my experience...

Of course you listen to an amp! You also listen to the preamp/dac/tt/cart/cables. You are assuming that nobody sets up their audio rooms properly. When you start talking about hifi, you should have the basics already covered, and you start with the room. If your room isn’t treated properly, why would you think of wasting your money on hifi equipment?

Well I’ve been searching YouTube about room treatment. Just go there and check it out. That’s the reason most people don’t do it right. It is so complicated.

Exactly right....

And acoustic company SELL EASY SOLUTIONS APPLICABE FOR ALL... Not an optimal room for your specific ears and specific audio system...

It takes me one year of DAILY listening experiment to figure it out...( i am retired)

The price of an acoustically optimal room would be out of the purse of almost everybody....

I created mine at no cost, but it is ugly , low cost for sure, but so powerful in S.Q. improvement that any upgrade seems unneccessary even if for sure i will improve by upgrading around 15,000 bucks my 500 bucks system now.... It was my reward to be able to be happy at last with what i have with no huge insatisfaction...

Audio thread sells upgrade mania not acoustic knowledge....Guess why?

Acoustic is the sleeping princess and all pieces of gear are only the 7 working dwarves....