How much are you worth ?

My system cost the same as I have in the bank which is too little. My vehicle was bought outright new and cost twice that. I don't own a home, have no real debt besides month to month expenditures and come and go as desired without quarrel or expectation. My life is that of a businessman and adventurer, two things with much in common.

Having bought most of my gear last year it has taken until now to learn enough to begin to know how to get the most from it. There is still more to learn which is exciting. Someday my knowledge will justify even better equipment, but not until this set is maxed out. Tonight the sound is superb.
BR>Guess that makes me wealthy beyond my wildest dreams.

my system would cost more if i hadn't lost 75% of my money in tech stocks over the last 12 months :-(

If money in the bank includes 401k's and equity in your home, then my systems as a percentage of my net worth are negligible. Being a contrarian I stayed way from tech stocks last year (even though I work in the semiconductor business) but find there's money to made in the tech stock market now. So rather than plowing money into an overheated stock market in 2000 I spent it on some long overdue system upgrades I decided I "needed". For the life of me, I can't think of anything I want or need for my audio system, this is disturbing. I'll keep buying records until the hardware need becomes obvious. Jeff

Ryllau, Well my accountant has different philosophy
He believes that:
3 yearly income should be allocated into housing
1 year income for a car
1 month salary for a fine watch

And for Audio Hmmm, I would say I 'd go for "up to" your yearly income. (at a retail level in terms pricing) Is it good or bad...let me put it this way I 'd rather drive Ford but listen to Mercedes-Benz in my room if you know what I mean.

It also depends are you really into the music and do you have a really big record/CD collection

Good listening

My system turned out to be one of my better investments. I was fortunate to have participated in a biotech IPO about a year ago and invested 75% of the returns back into the market, bought the requisite sports car (10%), etc (5%) and bought a really nice system here on Audiogon. The market dropped shortly after knocking my market holdings down by 70% (bad days!!!), cars always lose value, but I could still sell my system for about what I paid.

By the way, this was not my first high-end system so please do not label me as nouveau-audio-riche. Prior to the IPO, I sold my Levinson/Classe/Joseph Audio system as part of the downpayment on my house.