When someone tells you it's a $40,000 amp, does it sound better?

A used $40k amp is a $20k amp, but it'll still be and sound like a $40k amp.

You would need to spend the same on preamp and associated source components plus some truly world class speakers to even fully realize it's potential. 

Not to mention the room it's in.   That will dictate the overall sound quality.   

You can put together a great system for the price of that amp that for most would be pretty amazing 

These comparisons are difficult if it’s just about pricing. We also get into the technological weeds re innovation included (or not) in the given item.

After a certain point, the ganish on the given meal becomes pricey, or that components and build costs become big players in the overall costs involved.

If the builders/designers decide that the item deserves a higher cost due to innovation and there are differences in those innovations as compared to the so called norm. Bleeding edge has it’s costs. Then the issue of blowhard versions of said attempts and whether the buyer can discern that, or not.

Innovations can be difficult to weigh in context or out of it. Science might be the  arbiter but that depends upon all aspects being defined. The calculators/weighers/innovators/'those who apply' said science have to be as psychologically well balanced as much as the given recipients (end users) do. The problem being that science is not complete and likely never will be, the innovation is presumably new and..science is fallible because it made out of people, just like Soylent Green.

In the end, the price is the price and a person has to individually try the item out and decide whether it is worth the price. Porsche vs Lambos kinda comparisons.

Sometimes innovation can make for a better sound quality and is less expensive, and that’s how Class D entered the chat, at least in some people’s perceptions.

Those dang individuals and their opinions and projections. And the thread will go where it goes...

This question is kind of the Achilles' heel that Schiit (not exclusively but especially) is exploiting. Their approach is pretty simple -- they are saying, in effect,

"We know that you know that a certain amount of care has to go into construction and parts, and that much of the rest of quality depends on the brainpower behind design and testing. And the ability of those involved to listen and care about the results. Beyond that, fancy boxes and marketing techno-blather could just be hiding bad product or lack of care. We get that and we don't do that; we are smart and we care."

Youtube guys like OCD Mikey and Danny at GR research also call attention to the possible divorce between price and quality. It's pretty much a standard go-to for any reviewer, I suppose.

Then there are the quiet giants, such as Mike at Quicksilver or Fritz. Their stuff is nice enough looking and everything else comes back to customer experience. And their price points are never out of control. But their gear is not sufficiently bling-y for someone wanting to say to their friends, "I'm very rich."

Quicksilver is one of the best examples of performance to price ratio out there.  If you don't care that it is very plain and without bling you will be rewarded with great sound.  

I had a pair of Mid Mono for about 9 years and for what they cost new, you really have to wonder what beats them in their respective price range.   Not much.   They are some of the best values in audio , regardless of price.

Even if I had stupid money,  I would blow it all on fast cars not $40k amps and every thing else needed to go with them