Whenever someone posts that they don't hear their money's worth from a rig constructed of generally praised pieces of audio gear, it is a very good case in point of the brute force fact (attested to in MANY threads) that we actually and honestly hear things differently. Fortunately for my wallet, my taste for wines is cheap, er, basic. I honestly and actually enjoy a bottle of $7 - $15 red or white wine of a variety of types FAR more than I enjoy a bottle of $40 - $100 wine of the same types - each picked intelligently using input from experienced, non-ingrown, tasters. My taste in audio gets me back, monetarily, for that. I honestly and actually enjoy listening to the rigs in my sig, portable and stationary, WAY more than to rigs that I used to own, constructed of intelligently selected components which were all less expensive. I enjoyed those previous rigs, a LOT. And I enjoy these rigs a LOT MORE.
I started out very modestly, and I built up to what I have today over a five year period, one piece of gear, or a few related pieces of gear at a time, with lots of reading, research and risk management strategies used to optimize the value, to me, of each purchase.
That others have audio tastes which are more comparable to my wine tastes is perfectly expected by me, and those of us who hear things differently don't have any basis on which to disagree with the different things heard by others or any need to reiterate or defend our own different hearing of those same things. For folks who are happier with the sound of more basic audio gear which can be built from less expensive components, it would be good if they realize that not everyone will hear things as they do, and that, for others, it can be a "good buy" or "money well spent" for others to enrich their lives through the purchase and use of audio gear which costs more than that which most enriches their own lives. Similarly, it can be the best use of money for others to NOT spend it on audio gear, but to save it for their futures, to engage in the joy of philanthropy or to buy more music or better wine (watches, pens, cameras, espresso machines, ...).
I'm going to sound like Dr. Phil here, but "It's OK to hear things the way each of us hears them." Those who hear things as Luminette does would be wise to realize that and to select those audio purchases which will contribute genuine enrichment to their lives, and to avoid those which do not. Those who hear things more as I do would likewise be wise to realize that and to select rather different purchases which will add the most genuine enrichment to their lives. Each person new to audio would be wise to run experiments with the most acceptable non-recoverable costs to determine what their own audio tastes and goals are.
I do think that each of us needs to realize that we genuinely and honestly hear things differently, and to pursue audio, and to interact with each other, with a realization and expectation of just HOW differently we can hear the same things. We don't have to debunk, explain away, or warn others away from each others' very different experiences.
There have been LOTS of threads, like this one started by Luminette, in which folks have purchased rigs of gear that others have given high praise and have heard either NO difference from a pair of modest phones straight out of a modest audio source or that they actually prefer the sound from modest equipment to that from the more expensive "higher end" gear. I don't feel ANY need to "debunk" or "explain away" their experiences because they are different from mine. I would hope that other folks happier with more basic audio equipment don't feel any mission to "debunk", "explain away" or warn others away from my experiences because they are different from their own.
I'm asking that we all realize and expect that we hear things differently, to add to Head-Fi honest posts saying what we hear, and to leave it to folks making pursuit-of-audio decisions to first decide which posters' ears are most like their own - and to lean more on those posters' posts for advice in their own pursuit of audio happiness. Can we avoid calling what others hear and pursue that is different from us things like, "sad", "a waste", "stupid", "<your favorite condescending, reductionist or perjorative word/phrase here>"? At least, can we all give it an honest try? Can we do that in this thread, and carry it to other, and eventually all, threads? I include myself in the list of folks to whom I make this request.
For the two of you who made it to the end of this epic and pedantic post (optimistic, aren't I?) , I applaud you for your dogged perseverance, and, in thanks, I "now return control of your browser to you until you join me next time for a journey reaching from the inner dimensions to ... 'The Outer Limits' ".
