How cheap can you go and still be happy with the sound?

Let’s not be ridiculous. Good sound has a cost and it should. I don’t think there is anything under $10k-$15k that would qualify. Assuming one source.

@inna I totally understand that..., but, frankly or somehow, i either managed to lower my expectations on scale, etc while sitting nearfield.....or maybe, it has to do with the fact that an enormous amount of recordings to this day can be traced back to some Yamaha monitor....not too sure, but, it sounded quite good/was enjoyable for charity price.

Let us presume that this is an enthusiast forum and a lot of us have some ’over the top’ gear.

On the topic of speakers, my observation has been that one needs a huge room and has to be listening at rocketship level spls to truly "get their money’s worth" with the flagship speakers, for example...Infinity IRS, the big Schweikerts, Borresen or even my former TAD Reference, etc. Otherwise, their potential just feels unused.

At rocketship level spls on dense tracks, they can continue to retain their composure and fidelity levels. But, I certainly don’t wanna go deaf and I’ve never had the type of ceiling heights, etc that do them justice.

For example, i always felt that PS Audio’s ’reference room’ was too small for those big infinity speakers.

Another example, there is a guy on YouTube sitting around with 'over the top' flagship gear (you know who) in a repurposed garage with his back right next to the wall (facepalm).

After scaling down with the ’below flagship’ level, their potential feels maximized with the rooms i have and spl levels I listen at (On that note, i still probably listen louder than most guys on this forum).

Don't get me too wrong, I can sometimes kind of enjoy listening to iphone when I have nothing better at the moment.

Yes, this is audiophile forum and standards should be high enough. $10k is not much really.

@inna ...This is more along the lines of why i started this thread. In my case, i've never been able to enjoy the sound coming directly out of a phone DAC....with some dragonfly or similar dongle...maybe.

I am no longer able to enjoy music in a car. The noise floor is just too high. I recall being able to enjoy music in a car once upon a time.

But, there are a handful of things around a 1000ish dollar budget i am still able to appreciate when i hear it.

Assembling a great sounding system with a big budget shouldn’t be that hard.  Synergy between components and the room matters but at 5 figures and up you are probably going to get some decent sound even if you throw darts to pick the components.

  Building a satisfying system with a modest budget is a much greater challenge 

@mahler123 +500... I ended up spending an arm and a leg on the former before i knew enough to build the latter. I think most guys who've already spent an arm and a leg tend to stay there and probably never investigate any modest gear (pricewise) thereafter, unless if it was for a secondary rig or something. I can think of a few reasons why.

@deep_333
 

So sorry you can’t enjoy music in you car anymore.

When I’m mowing the lawn, music through the earbuds does make the time go by. Or when I’m in my car, I still tap my toe and slap my thigh to the beat, but I definitely prefer listening to music with my main system a whole lot more. 

Jim

@curiousjim

I wish i could....unable to get past the cabin noise floor (feels jarring now). I used to go on road trips (not fly) just to enjoy music on the road. The spouse was wondering why we were listening to podcasts and guys yappin on youtube instead of music on the last trip.

For all those saying that you need at least 10K as an entrance fee to good sound, just keep saving and you’ll get to this range.

https://futureaudiophile.com/how-many-audiophile-whales-are-there-really/

@simao, there are lot more 'unawakened' audiophiles in the real world imo/ime. A percentage is probably not born that way, he is made that way from exposure.

My insurance guy stopped by the house out of curiosity last year. He listened to some stuff and said something along the lines of.... "Shhhii, can't get back to the stuff at home now"...(I suppose he had some multi-room sonos type of whatever). After i sent him home with some stuff i had in storage, my insurance rates have gone down this year .

For me:

A balmy, early summer’s eve,

My favorite chair on the back deck,

A Sony Walkman CD player (used) - about $20,

A pair of 30 yr. old Bose headphones - $100 (back in 1990),

A six-pack of beer - about $8 including tax

I had a pair of Sony sscs5 speakers for the deck (bought for ~80 dollars on a amazon sale). It was... meh ok. I put the GR research upgrade kit in it, ~300 dollars and it has become a creator of happiness.

Can't do the liquor anymore... but, the Sony does work well with the coffee/cigars on my deck. 

A couple of reviewers talking about high-end gear that sounded lousy and budget gear that sounded better.

All that glitters ain't gold

I think it’s impossible to get 100k, very high end system sound with 5k. But you can get maybe 75-85% of the way there. That last 15% will cost you exponentially more as you near 100%.

I do think however, that you can get 98% of 100k system sound Q for around 25k. For example, a preowned Hegel 590/600, and preowned Perlisten S7T or Boressen X6 towers. IMO you’d need to spend a lot more to get significantly better sound.

@megabyte

A Borresen, Schweikert, etc might kill a 5k or 10k rig, but, i have heard rigs in that price range, which sounded better to me than others in the high end...Mbls, Sonuses, etc.

Sure, the Sonuses or D’Agostinos look real pretty (audio jewelry and prestige pricing), but, i wouldn’t be shocked if someone preferred a rig in some lower range (5k or 10k) purely for sonic reasons over the latter. Not everything in the high end is worth its salt sonically, if the consideration of audio jewelry is discarded, imo/ime.

I hope I never get to a place in this hobby where I can't enjoy a system because I know that a different group of components might sound better. That would be just as bad as not being able to enjoy a good meal at a cheap restaurant because I might have had a better meal somewhere else.

@chenry   +1