Wow. What a cluster of a thread. Firstly, no one called anyone here "poor and ignorant". The poster merely drew a parallel between two imaginary people to make the point that perspective alters personal truth. And the number of people who dismiss things they can't afford is astounding. And no, a $5000 TT does not get into the 95th percentile of a $300,000 TT, if both are designed and built properly. The "diminishing returns" theory is common, but false in my experience. How do you calculate the "10x better" of a properly set up $100,000 system compared to a $10,000 system?
I have heard some very pricey stereo systems, properly set up, that sounded far and away "better" than what can be assembled for appreciably less. Were they 10x better? 5x? 50X? Lacking a way to quantify the difference leaves comparisons meaningless. What that difference is "worth" is even more subjective than the measure of improvement. If I had the money I wouldn't hesitate to drop $1m on a system. There would likely be a Ferrari on the shopping list, too. Would I then be a fool? And would I care about the opinions of a minority of random internet sages who extol the virtues of having less money? Nahhh, I wouldn't.
Enjoy what you have and enjoy pride of ownership and the result of your efforts. Denigrating others for the same would seem to be the foolish part, but that's just me.