We who are into this hobby can be silly - there are no two ways about it. Please try to tell some one you long for 5K interconnects - several pairs of them - and several 3K powercords and see if you have any credibility left to suggest they should take audio seriously.
But silliness aside - and I know we never all agree on when things begin to get silly - the sad thing is that there is so much added richness that comes into ones life with a good Hi-Fi, and so many are needlessly missing out. That Hi-Fi need not cost a lot, at least not compared to other luxury goods: $3000 on the used market will get you wonderful two channel sound; $5000 will make it fairly awesome; and $7500 or so will get you to where there is really no need to go further. Unless of course you get bitten by the bug. (Or, if you want to add analog!)
It seems it is a sad failure of the industry and its marketing that more people haven't been made aware of the joy available for these relatively modest sums. Okay, the industry is of course trying to sell new gear, but just double the figures and the price still doesn't look outrageous for luxury items. I mean countless numbers of fortunate people in North America, Europe, and many other affluent places have more of an investment than this sitting in their wine cellars.
But silliness aside - and I know we never all agree on when things begin to get silly - the sad thing is that there is so much added richness that comes into ones life with a good Hi-Fi, and so many are needlessly missing out. That Hi-Fi need not cost a lot, at least not compared to other luxury goods: $3000 on the used market will get you wonderful two channel sound; $5000 will make it fairly awesome; and $7500 or so will get you to where there is really no need to go further. Unless of course you get bitten by the bug. (Or, if you want to add analog!)
It seems it is a sad failure of the industry and its marketing that more people haven't been made aware of the joy available for these relatively modest sums. Okay, the industry is of course trying to sell new gear, but just double the figures and the price still doesn't look outrageous for luxury items. I mean countless numbers of fortunate people in North America, Europe, and many other affluent places have more of an investment than this sitting in their wine cellars.