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

I am not an audiophile (neither the ears nor the funds) so I can enjoy various mixes from used components (craigslist, goodwill) - Celestion F3, Hafler DH-200, CA 540p, Dual 506, etc. under a $150 each - my latest finds. (And I have an equal number of non-functioning gear unfortunately - I don’t always get that lucky)

Could I spend 15K if I was "forced" - probably, but I dropped such an ambitious goal from my bucket list.

(But if I were near a bluetooth portable speaker, I would genuinely want to use it as a football)

just keep saving and you’ll get to this range

that's great! I thought I would never! 

@simao - sounds easy. It must depend on the balance where more money comes in than goes out. I am not a economist so these things are pretty mysterious to me.

@nonoise 

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

I don't that exists in my town. Maybe for $11

There is another saying in my circles, for those who love to travel: 

anyone can travel around the world from a lot of money. Only the smart one can make it work on a limited budget.

Somewhat similar in audio, you might get to learn and explore more from less money. My hifi is midfi mostly but sounds terrific 

@livinon2wheels re Hafler - it's a pretty amazing piece of hardware. I opened it the other day and it looks pretty old and rusty inside like if I had touched it, it would fall apart into ashes. BUT, it still sounds awesome