More expensive = better?

If the extra money is mostly spent on thick faceplates and a sculptured chassis and marketing, probably not. Money spent on design, engineering, quality parts is money well spent. Lack of equipment synergy might make a more expensive component sound worse.  Try before you buy

@wesheadley,

"No one will take a bet with me that they will be able to price rank a series of cables on a blind A-B test."

There is the very difficult, and the impossible.

This one falls into the later category.

As you said, you could probably also include CD players as well as amplifiers and still find no takers.

Let’s face it, even with loudspeakers, it’s far from easy.

What we can easily hear, eg bandwidth, scale and tone are qualities that don’t always equate to cost.

It’s a pity that Harman aren’t able to publish the results of many decades of blind listening tests at the their testing lab. That data could certainlybe interesting to anyone with a long term interest on audio.

Seeing as how it’s unlikely to be in the interests of national security perhaps there should be a 10 year disclosure rule.

After all, it’s faintly ridiculous enough that the full JFK files have remained undisclosed for almost 60, and that Pfizer BioNTech have demanded 75!

[USA – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it now needs 75 years to fully release Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine data to the public].

I have heard super expensive equipment sounding horrible to my ears....

My ears (good or bad)  dictate what I like, not reviewers or pricing

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. 

@OP, the simple truth is that, understandably,  no audio manufacturer is going to advise you to treat your room acoustically before making a decision on their product.

In an untreated room audio enthusiasts are making the wrong decisions all the time. System too bright?..buy a new amp.  Too dull..buy a new something.

My advice is to sort out your room before you change anything. A treated room, even one with just basic additions will have an enormously positive effect. If you spend some effort, $100 on a microphone and download for free REW you will have the same tools the professionals use and will be able to optimise the room.

If you are not prepared to learn how to use these tools, which is not difficult, then install bass traps in the corners and absorption panels at the first reflection points. These are what I referred to as 'basic' and will help smooth out the low frequencies and reduce some of the long decay time. Check out DIY super-chunk bass traps, easier than you think and cheap.

I can provide lots more info but it mostly falls on deaf ears so I'll stop here. The vast majority of posters have not heard even a modest system in a properly treated room and just dismiss the suggestion, finding the idea of throwing more money at their hobby more attractive.