I'm firmly in the "your ears, your room, your money, your bliss" camp. It's supposed to be fun, dammit.
If folks think that new amps make their systems sound better and that makes them happy, why would I quibble?
OTOH, it's certainly cheaper for me to espouse the reasonable and (apparently scientific) concept that I rarely (if ever) need more than a couple watts.
I do believe that - if differences exist - it will be easier to discern them at higher volumes.
For a variety of reasons, I don't think MY hearing is good enough to fully appreciate any incremental differences that might be obtainable by throwing money at the problem.
And - lifestyle-wise - most of my music listening is on my weird little office system (vintage Kenwood integrated, Mirage Omnisats) or in the car rather than at home. So, for the amount of truly critical listening that I do, it just doesn't matter.
I know, I know - "burn him".
