Go listen to the components. Most often, with questions like these, the OP has made up their mind which option they want to go with and are posting the question to get confirmation. To be honest, I don’t spend $7500 on any component that others picked out for me. It’s completely my decision and I will be listening to the components not Audiogon members. Only I know how important budget will be, only I know how important sound quality will be, only I will know how important build quality and customer service will be, only I know how much time and effort I should give to evaluate a component before I buy it.
??? Which Would You Buy ???
So your in the market for a new component,amp,speakers,DAC,doesn't matter what it is...You have a budget of say $7500.00...You aren't made of $ & this amount represents a significant investment in time spent working & saving & will likely be the only upgrade you can make for the next several years...The rest of your system is good,what is considered mid level gear..
After extensive research,time & money spent seeking out & demo'ing many choices you narrow your shortlist down to 3 different choices..2 of these choices are from well established manufacturers, have good reviews,sound very good in the demo environment & have excellent build quality but will max out your budget..
The third choice is 1/3 the price of the other 2,is a fairly new product & has limited but positive feedback on sound quality,comes from an established manufacturer that many high end manufacturers have sourced to build their products,has very good build quality but not quite up to the level of the others & offers about 85% the sound quality of the others...
Choosing item #3 saves you about $5000.00,meaning you could also upgrade another component or bank the savings...Which do you buy???