Dunno. I worked my way up because I enjoyed sound quality. It's not like my first hi-fi headphone set was the one I'm wearing today, I started out with cheaper Sennheisers then worked my way up each time my headphones got worn from everyday use.
Also, if I get 2 years of everyday use out of them, that comes down to $0.54 a day to have top-quality sound. Comparatively, using a gaming computer for 8 hours a day (assuming you turn it off when not using it) costs approximately $0.40 a day in electricity.