Are you Guys Rich or What!?

It is always relative. Anyone who thinks any amount is "too much" is only putting their own bias into their opinion. I have one rich friend who has not one, but two "cost is no object" dream systems, (one for the city and one for the country). They sounds incredible. He also happens to be extremely big hearted and generous with his time and money toward many charities, so why should he deny himself the pleasure of the "best" sound reproduction? Axomoxa, you couldn't be more wrong.

It all "trickles down" hey, Bmpnyc? Well, it's a nice thought anyway, I remember that from the 80's. And to think I was feeling guilty about those Harbeths, too. Thanks man, I think I'll go spend some mo' money.

Well, Bmpnyc did somewhat imply that the trickle down effect was at work here, but I think you're short-changing much of his point by highlighting that. To basically say that, with discretionary purchases, we each have different points at which we feel the purchase is unwarranted, and that this point varies with the person, their conditions, and the specific purchase would suffice, IMO. To bring morality into the conversation (at a specific price point no less) is certain to draw a rebuttal saying, "I'd spend that much and I'm not immoral".

Just out of curiousity, if it's not "right" to buy a $100K system (for whatever reason), is it wrong to sell somebody a $100K system for the same basic reasons? If people feel guilty for indulging in something that is clearly a luxury, is there any sense of guilt by the people who facilitated it's existence?

To answer the original post, I'm not rich, though I do work in a Wall-Street related position. I definitely spend more on A/V gear based on having more discretionary money than I did in the past. I love the hobby, but am probably not as fanatical as many who post here, and definitely haven't made as many sacrifices as have been described here. By being interested in the hobby I have, as others have suggested, put together a system I'm very pleased with for far less than a similar system would have cost had I walked into a high end shop and said, "set me up!". But to me, it's all about prioritization - a high end music system, purchased with care, is a tremendous entertainment value - you can use it 365 days a year, very little maintenance, and highly enjoyable. Many of my friends have boats, more exotic vacations, more expensive cars or clothes, whatever - I don't think they're crazy for how they spend their money and I think I've convinced most of them that I'm at least not crazy for spending mine the way I do. In any case, if you're interested in getting to that next level of audio nirvana and not spending an arm and a leg, there are many on this site who'd be happy to offer their advice!

I think building up to a wworld class system over time is the way to go. I'm more or less in my fourth system since my graduate school years (11 yrs ago). I started out with a reasonable mid fi sstem (Denon/JBL), them upgrade the speakers, then the pre amp, etc, etc. One step at a time..and Audiogon. I guess my system now would run over $ 45 retail..but the only items I bought new were the REL sub, the Solidsteel stand and the Linn LP12 front end..though I bought the latter in Euroep as I was moving to the US. The rest were either second hand or store demos. Yes, I make decent money. No, I wouldn't go out and splurge on the latest, flavour of the day interconnects for $ 2000, or change my CD player as frequently as my underwear. At some point you do reach diminishing returns.. and the most important thing (the room) is the toughest one to upgrade.

I think less than 10 people have heard my system thus far (including family). It's in its own room in the basement, not on diplay in the living room..and there is only one decent chair in the room. Most folks have no clue what is costs, and I don't tell them. What matters is the music.