Help me spend $100,000 on a new system


I’ve recently been considering moving and downsizing my home. While exploring how much I might sell my house and land for, I was shocked that I might have an excess of $100,000 after selling and buying a smaller new home with less acreage. I’m 71 years old and can’t take it with me, so I’m trying to figure out how to spend that potential resource.

One possibility would be to purchase a new stereo system with all that cash. I would like to demo a system costing that much to see what sound quality you could get for a stupendous amount like that. But I don’t have any idea what brand/model components to look at. Perhaps you could suggest components you might consider if you were setting up a system at that price point. Also how would you budget the total amount per component including wiring.

I am not interested in adding streaming or anything else I might not already have to the system. I would be open to buying separates to replace any single component such as the integrated amplifier. Maybe a separate DAC, phono stage, preamp etc. Please tell me what you would do.

Following are the components I already have to upgrade. My system consists of Magico A3 speakers, a Luxman 507uX MK2 integrated amp, a Marantz Ruby KI CD/SACD player, A VPI Classic 2 turntable with a Fatboy tonearm and a Lyra Kleos cartridge. Wiring consists of Audioquest Rocket 88 speaker cables, and VPI house brand wires that connect to the tonearm. I forget the brands of the other wires and cables, but they are of similar quality to the above.

I also have a Shunyata Hydra Denali 4000 power conditioner with a Venom power cord (I think) that I will continue to use without upgrading.

I would welcome any of your suggestions and utilize them next time I go up to Washington DC to visit dealer showrooms for demos. Thank you much.

It does sound weird to consider spending that much on a system costing over three times what I paid for my first home, so I hope I’m not sounding uppity here.

Mike

 

 

skyscraper

Showing 1 response by 12many

@mahgister I always enjoy your posts and find them insightful.

@skyscraper Congrats. It is hard for others to build your system because it depends on the type of sound you like and the music you listen to. Big money can be spent on a system that does not pair well with your music style or taste for sound profile.  There is great advice in this thread. I would spend some on improving your room both the acoustics and just to make it a place you really enjoy being. I am fighting my room right now even though I have spent a good bit of money on components.  My next spend will be on room treatment. Plus, for me, part of the enjoyment is being in a clean, comforting, relaxing space.

I would not start from scratch, but swap out a few things. I would also hold some money back for upgrades down the road to improve the sound or mix it up. I also encourage you to try streaming. It opens up such a vast amount of new tracks, again, part of the fun at least for me.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.