My main 2 channel system set me back about $3500. It took many years of swapping, selling, buying and research to get to this point. I love to listen to music and generally play around with my audio "stuff", but, I think I have maxed out the budget on the major components. The reason I think I have reached that point is less about expendable income and more about the physical limitations of my listening area, my choice of sources and my 63 year old semi-damaged hearing. Considering I generally stream music that is played back in varying bit rates of MP3, serious equipment upgrades are not really warranted for my needs. Some years ago I did invest in a new, but discontinued Arcam DAC for $200, to connect to the digital out of my so-so stearmer. That made the biggest difference in sound for my usual source material.
Moderately priced audio
So I have been a audiophile for 40 years and in that time I have seen and owned a huge amount of equipment. Lately I have been reading Sterephile magazine and attended the last 2 years of Axpona. My question is what about the people that love the craft and get tremendous joy out of their audio systems that are in the $2-5K price range. Are they to be ignored? I know this hobby holds a lot of enthusiasm by people that have great sounding systems of new and vintage gear that they are proud of and enjoy listening to. While I appreciate the sound and the technology of the systems that cost more than a house I think there is a slice of enthusiast that are silent. Back in the 70s I worked at a stereo store that your average person came in and spent $600-$1000 and got a good sounding system. And we sold a lot of them. Seems a lot less interest today. Could it be the price of what you see in magazines and shows? I am curious to see if you people are out there that love the music and get great joy out of listening to your moderately priced audio equipment. Feel free to share what you have. I know you are out there.