I've learned a lot from this forum and have received some helpful advice, and for that I am grateful. I've also noticed that there are those who post here that seem to have a lot of misplaced emotion and are self appointed authorities on everything. It takes a rare talent to have a firm opinion on almost any component that is mentioned on this forum. Some folks can offer very confident reviews of components which they've clearly never had a chance to experience
Everyone has a certain budget for an audio system either because of financial limitations or priorities. I think it's all about trying to maximize the quality within a particular budget. Finding equipment that offers a good value for the price. I'm reasonably happy with my system. I understand however, that if someone has the ability to spend twice what my system cost in all likelihood, they are going to get a better result. That doesn't make me resentful or require me to engage in the fiction that it's easy to buy components that will outperform gear that cost three times as much. I think this forum would be a better place if everyone actually answered, the question posed based on real experience and without personal invective
that said, some of the overheated arguments are pretty amusing