Did a satisfaction threshold exist under 1000 bucks ?

If I already know that my budget is limited, I adjust my expectations.

I’m happier if I believe that the thing I cannot afford won’t make much of a difference.

The challenge is this: if part of my mind suspects this is false, how do I convince the other part of my mind to believe it.

Orwell called this doublethink. One way I accomplish this is I find other people to help me convince myself that what I want to believe is true.

I went to Outward Bound and after having no food or water for three days, being rained on for a day, snowed on for a day, freezing my butt off, with no tent or sleeping bag and having a trail biscuit and hot tea was one of the best meals I ever had.

Great story.

The lesson I take from ghdprentice's story is that there are some choice points about audio, here:

If one wants better sound but cannot afford it they should deprive themselves, periodically, to appreciate how good their current system is.

Or, one should give up the idea of better sound and just focus on music only, not sound. (That's hard.)

Or, one should figure out what else is worth giving up to afford sound after spending various increments more.

Or, one can try to convince oneself that everyone else who can spends more is deluded. (That's hard, too. Better equipment -- room and gear -- does yield better sound.)

@ghdprentice To each his own. A few things Thoreau had right, in my view, was that progress is often oversold, people allow themselves to be hurried by forces they might not really approve of, and simplicity is too easily tossed aside. In other words, he emphasized a profound respect for experience. That's something I agree with. But to each his own. 

I can forget sound easily and focus on music because my basic acoustic needs are satisfied:  Imaging , sound staging, holography,  timbre, etc

You have arrived a totally blessed place!

Hopefully everyone else can join you, there!

I wonder if anyone has sought to downgrade their system, not to save money or because they needed the money, but because of the idea that living more simply will force them to focus more on the music.

This would be the Henry David Thoreau approach to audio -- to make it more meaningful by abandoning the quest for better sound. 

Because if I could focus just on the music, then why would I want to go back to thinking of ways it could be better? Just for myself, this is what I think about.