How much do you have to spend?

I was absolutely blown away by the sound I got from the following setup:

Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX (Used - $1100)
Nuprime DAC-9 (Used - $500)
AIYIMA A07 with the bigger PS (New - <$150)
Wiim Pro (New - $120)
Sony UBP-X800M2
Interconnect, digital and speaker cables - Mostly a combination of Belden and Mogami pro cables (New and used ~$150)

The Sierra LX is an amazing pair of speakers that can scale up quite a bit with upgrades upstream. I think the sound quality would have gone up substantially if I had swapped the Aiyima with something like the Buckeye Hypex NC502MP 2-Channel amp ($750). I have since upgraded the DAC/Pre, changed the amplifier and added a good power supply to the Wiim streamer. 

OP "How much do you have to spend?” 

to achieve what, respect from millionaires? you can’t win that poker, since there always will be another $100000 power cable, with “review”, available, claiming …improvements in SQ! grocery shopping with Louis Vuitton bag is more successful? LOL 

being audiophile, analog circuit designer, for many years, I would agree with richgeova’s comment, who found his/her way to achieve desirable SQ!

we can go round and round on this

i take the question asked as one who is starting out, building a system, and the value of the money really matters, there is NOT money to burn

the question is asked as to what cost of a system gives very good sound, such that more spent would lead to considerably smaller returns in terms of sound quality/realism

i’ve helped numerous friends and music lovers build systems, not to mention my own kids -- i always say a decent simple well chosen high end (two channel single source) system is a couple grand, a very good one is 5 grand, more than that you are getting into serious hobbyist/esoterica and while the performance definitely keeps improving, the rate of improvement falls dramatically relative to money spent

all used gear smartly purchased of course 

@fritzenheimer - your opening post seems like you’re asking $ allocated, which doesn’t make sense because we each have unique disposable income and unique budgets for audio components.  So the answer is individual subjective- there is no one size fits all.

If you’re asking minimum expenditure to reach a “satisfying” level, then +1 @jasonbourne71 - roughly about 5k.

If you’re asking how to allocate $, then a rough guide is in %: 40–50% of the budget to speakers, 25–30% to amplification, 15–20% to sources (DAC/streamer/turntable), and 5–10% to cables/accessories. BUT this is only a rough guide that might be helpful for new setups.  

But I highly suspect what you’re really asking for guidance on next component move. If so, then it’s usually the weak link in one’s audio chain that needs to be addressed. If you want guidance from us, list to your audio chain components, the sonic direction you wish to go, and your budget. If you plan to upgrade other components, share that info also as well try so we can make better suggestions of  compatible/synergistic components.

OP, please clarify your intent/inquiry

I have the following. I am pretty happy with the sound, but was contemplating upgrading to KEF Reference 1 Metas which would be another $10k. Wondering whether putting out another $10k would result in significant audible improvements  I probably have about $13k in.  

NAD M33 Integrated Amp

KEF LS50 Metas

2 KEF KC62 subs, with wireless transmitter/receivers

Graham Slee Reference M Phono Preamp

Post-2016 Rega P3, with Ortofon 2MR Bronze

Rega NEO PSU, Groovetracer Reference subplatter, Groovetracer Delrin platter.

Oppo UDP-203 Blu-Ray/SACD player.