How much does your system retail for?

I have spent around 3500 bucks on my system and I really don't see the need to spend more. Working 30 years as a broadcast engineer kinda jaded me on spending huge sums of money on audio gear. Hell some of you guys got more in a listening system than it cost to produce the album you listen to. I've been following high end audio all my life and have never been able to fathom why anyone would spend ridiculously large sums of money on any system when most all recordings are laid down flat to begin with. I pretty much designed my system around what most board engineers listen to in doing a standard mixdown to master. I mean what exactly does spending 150 grand on a listening system get you other than bragging rights? I'm not trying to be confrontational, but if I went in to my production manager and asked for a pair of 50 thousand dollar monitor speakers, he'd laugh me out of his office.

"A $50k or $60 system sounds way better than a $10k or $20k system and a 10k system really sounds a lot better than a 3k system. It's just a painful reality."

I agree and disagree. I've had several people listen to my system and they all agree that it is wonderful. One of my friends has over 20K in McIntosh gear and honestly says it sounds as good as his. I have done serious tweeks on my system (rolled tubes, custome capped, wired my own crossovers, etc) but mostly it is off the shelf. That being said, what you said by the more spent the better it sounds is mostly true - only up to a point though. And I base this statement on what I've seen in production houses across the country. Personally I believe that high dollar systems are mostly a pshycological thing. If it cost 100 grand it MUST sound good. IF it cost 200 it must sound even better. So in theory there is no limit to great sound, but it is based on money not science. And technically speaking, you can re-create the recording session for alot less than 10 grand. And if you want more than the exact reproduction of the session , you are coloring the music. And that's a no-no. Isn't it?