Quote Originally Posted by jandl100 View Post
No, it won't. If you've spent your money sensibly the £4k system will grind the £400 one into the dust. And a well thought out £40k system will do the same to the £4k system.
I have to agree with that (although I know where Martin is coming from).

The key, however, is in the highlighted text, as the results obtained will largely be governed by how judiciously the owners of said systems have chosen and assembled their respective systems, in order to achieve maximum SPPV, including how much attention has been paid to set-up (system 'infrastructure', such as how optimally it receives power from the mains supply, its use of equipment supports, cables, etc).

Therefore, I'd put it this way instead:

A judiciously chosen, assembled and optimally set-up £400 system could indeed outperform a badly chosen, assembled and sub-optimally set-up £4k system, as indeed could a judiciously chosen, assembled and optimally set-up £4k system do the same to its badly chosen, etc, £40k counterpart....

The 'optimal' £400 system could also do the same, if the £40k system in question was really bad (as can often be the case when the owner buys equipment solely on brand reputation or snob value, and pays little attention to anything else), which is why many ludicrously expensive and ridiculously over-complicated 'ultra high-end' systems at shows are often bereft of musical merit.

However, a judiciously chosen, assembled and optimally set-up £40k system should, as Jerry says, 'grind into the dust' any £400 or £4k system, judiciously chosen, etc, or otherwise.

Therefore, essentially is all about the skill of the system owner to obtain maximum SPPV from his or her choice of components and ancillaries, by successfully attending to every aspect of system performance, not the total cost of the system itself. Price alone will NEVER guarantee top sonic performance!

Marco.