What is the current retail cost of your reference system?

29% -- Speakers

5% -- Subs

10% -- CD

13% -- DAC

11% -- AMP

4% -- Vibration Isolation

13% -- Power conditioning/distribution

1% -- Router

14% -- Cables

I'm not sure what everyone is getting out of this.  It turned out to be a good exercise for me because breaking it down into percentages (for the first time) let me see what my distribution of spending is.  While it is true that price does not exactly correlate to quality, if we're going to be honest we'll admit that there is a relationship.  Someone can't charge a lot for a mediocre product, at least not for long, and when someone puts in the engineering work to create a great product, like any other business, they want to see as much return as they can.  I'm sure there are exceptions to both categories, but by and large it holds true.  Looking at my distribution I'd have to say I either got a real deal on my amp, Hegel H390, or it may be the next thing to consider.  It's also interesting to see that my second highest system investment has been in cables.  Thanks, @JPWarren58 for posting the question.