Snooker said:
It really would be interesting to have a blind review test of sound quality as I am sure many of the cheaper end stuff would sound better than the really expensive stuff, I beleive you could buy a complete system for £1,000-£2,000, and have no or extremely little further improvement the higher in cost you went ?
I don't think that review setup would work. Say you had a pair of MA bookshelves that got 80% as a score from the perfect sound. The next model that comes out, if its better, will get 81% or more. Eventually, after several revisions, they'll be up to the 90's and closing in to the 100, making it look on paper like they're close to the higher end £10,000+ models, when in reality they're worlds apart.
Plus, if the really high end stuff gets better and takes the magic 100, every other score needs to be revised etc...
A syst costing £2,000 will have no chance standing up to the quality of high end actives or even a system costing £3-£4,000. I think to hit the wall of diminishing returns, you'd need to spend £4,000. After that, things get a biharder to justify.