No a Utopia costs $5k MSRP, obviously buying used it can be had for lower and have seen some go for $3k lately.
Justified is a subjective term, one can justify anything they want as they are only accountable to themselves. Can I use a $3k cable with other headphones? I sure can with short adapters, so this $3k cable is usable on four other headphones. Also one can wait when there are sales, for example Arctic gives decent discounts throughout the year, as do other cable companies such as DHC or Danacables.
You may not justify it for yourself, none of us are any authority to justify for others what is and is not worth it. This is unfortunately the ugly side of most hobbies when one person asks for suggestions from the group, suggestions are made, then the discussion turns into a turf war of sorts.
Is the Arctic I suggested justifiable? For me yes, if I did not already have the Lazuli Ref+. Could I get away with a lessor cost cable, for sure I can yet I won’t. I’ve heard the cables I suggested and there is a noticeable difference within my audio chain against the stock cable and mid-level cable from DHC, the Molecule Elite. Of those five, i picked the Lazuli Ref+ as the Arctic Euphoria had not been released yet. Once I got a chance to use it in my audio chain for a bit I have considered switching it out several times. I spec’d out a build and it was $2500, take 15% off and it’s $2,125 which is close to the cost of my Lazuli Ref+.
See, I justified the price because for my value system it’s worth it. I won’t discount your value system if you believe that is too much money and are content with your Lavricable. I have nothing but positive things for their stuff, great customer service and products. Personally if there is a US company, such as Danacable and Arctic, that is another factor to justify the cost.
To take this in a more contrarian direction, there are many who question how we can justify paying for a Utopia. There are other competing headphones which shine and cost less than a Utopia, yet it doesn’t matter one bit. It’s the equivalent of a fart in the night, if no one hears it, does it even fck’ng matter