Best damn room I ever had was in the cheapest room in a cheap hotel.
I was caught at night in a Nevada sand storm, barely able to see the hotel's neon sign from the road. They were full, but they put us up in the lobby. Under the circumstances, best room in the state.
To the OP's point - most speakers can be dramatically improved by substituting higher quality but similar components. Almost always the crossovers can be enormously improved for a couple of thousand, for a sonic improvement that is not subtle. In ESL's the power supply matters quite a lot. And the big Magnepans can hardly be bettered at any price, but change the crossovers and you have a world beater.
I use a swarm of modified ESL's, and that's perfect for my tastes.
I doubt if a lower priced exotic could be upgraded to the same extent.
So I say keep your lower priced exotics and instead, do a DIY upgrade of a very fine product to a great one.
I was caught at night in a Nevada sand storm, barely able to see the hotel's neon sign from the road. They were full, but they put us up in the lobby. Under the circumstances, best room in the state.
To the OP's point - most speakers can be dramatically improved by substituting higher quality but similar components. Almost always the crossovers can be enormously improved for a couple of thousand, for a sonic improvement that is not subtle. In ESL's the power supply matters quite a lot. And the big Magnepans can hardly be bettered at any price, but change the crossovers and you have a world beater.
I use a swarm of modified ESL's, and that's perfect for my tastes.
I doubt if a lower priced exotic could be upgraded to the same extent.
So I say keep your lower priced exotics and instead, do a DIY upgrade of a very fine product to a great one.