My experience has been the opposite. When I hear megabuck systems I usually am very disappoinred in the sound. When I hear modest sytems I'm blown away by how good they sound.
Sure I have heard a few megabuck systems that were mind blowing but for the most part they haven't been. I was in a store about 2 months ago having my cartridge replaced. While I waited the owner put on a system that cost over 300k. I was with my wife at the time and she said she liked our system better at home than the 300k system. Our system cost 10% of what that did. I really believe it's more about the room and component matching than it is about price.
Sure I have heard a few megabuck systems that were mind blowing but for the most part they haven't been. I was in a store about 2 months ago having my cartridge replaced. While I waited the owner put on a system that cost over 300k. I was with my wife at the time and she said she liked our system better at home than the 300k system. Our system cost 10% of what that did. I really believe it's more about the room and component matching than it is about price.