After getting the two kids through college with no debt and rebuilding a modest savings account, over the past four years I have upgraded my 1980s/1990s audio system, and I have done it for substantially less than half of the $80K figure. (Full disclosure here--I am what would be considered a very senior citizen and my ears endured a fair amount of artillery and automatic weapons fire, both incoming and outgoing, during my tour as a junior Infantry officer in Vietnam, so my hearing rolls off fairly sharply above about 12 khz.) I think the answer, as others have said, is finding the right combination of components, starting with the speakers.
I was able to purchase a pair of Fyne F-702 speakers before a sharp price increase, and those speakers have formed the core of my system. After some experimentation, I have found that--for me--the combination of a tube preamp (Rogue RP-7) and solid state amplification is the best combination--a tube preamp with even a very good tube power amp seemed to me to result in less resolution and a bit of "mushiness." Replacing that tube amp with mono bloc solid state amps (Odyssey Kismet's in Khartago cases) and adding Silversmith Fidelium speaker cables have given me the sound I want.
Aside from my speakers, my most expensive purchase was the recent addition of an Innuos Stream 1 with internal storage and the Phoenix USB reclocker module, which is providing superb music reproduction quality via Tidal; in fact, I have not played a CD since the Stream 1 arrived. I have an excellent sound stage, great tonal qualities of the instruments and voices, and I am hearing things in the music--such as the performer moving closer to the microphone and grace notes in classical music--that I have never heard before.Can this system be improved upon with higher grade components, most notably purchasing a higher grade preamplifier? Undoubtedly, but it is highly questionable whether or not I could hear the difference. And, after all, it is all about the music ... at least to me.
