Is there a ceiling limit on what you are willing to pay for an audio component?


A very informative fellow on youtube reviews high end audio gear. He pays an insane amount of money on ampifiers, speakers and digital sources. He tells you what he thinks about quality, price, customer service and performance on such brands as Magico, Boulder, Wilson Audio and many others.

So here is the question. What are YOU willing to pay for a pair of speakers? An amplifier? A DAC or turntable setup? I am interested in what you WOULD PAY, not what you have paid in the past.

For me, I cannot see myself paying over $5K on speakers and likely not more that $3K on any other component.... even if I had the kind of money Elon Musk has. Am I crazy in saying that?

 

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Not for a single second that I'd buy your bs. The last part about Elon Musk's money. If you had Elon Musk money, you'd buy the bestest and most expensive piece of gear without a second thought.

 

So yes, you are "crazy for saying that". And the youtuber you're talking about is Jay's audio lab. That dude is more confusing than you. And the word I'd never use to describe him is "informative". 

That dude is a strange fella, he supposedly has hundred of thousands of dollars in audio gear, but he's trying to make pennies through youtube audio niche. 

Arbitrary price caps, along with its polar opposite ad hoc arbitrary high strata spending can both be a recipe for disappointment.

Ignore drinking all the arbitrary $$ factor KoolAid with all its resultant hyperbole at both ends of futile $$ spectrum debates.

The philosophy is clear: an “affordable” speaker with comparatively “higher” price quality amplification and source makes more sense than an “expensive” speaker with a comparatively “cheap” amp and source.

@CoralKong. For 36 years I was a fervent music and hardware addict, a blithering junkie towards the end, but I finally got tired of chasing the Dragon splitting hairs over minutia.  There's definitely a reason to spend more. If you're ever in Raleigh NC you can experience something that few people will ever experience sonically short of jacking into the Matrix. I never watch TV.  I have everything delivered. I spend every waking moment unable to pull myself away. Only meeting my creator with the sound of a trillion angels singing could pull me away!!  Hyperbole, you say? Good, Now I can go back to my Dragon's lair! I don't have to chase them anymore, you do!  😎

I can say that currently I would possibly consider going $20k+ for either a pair of kef blade 2s or smaller mbl standmounts. That would do it for me. Until the next great new thing comes along at least.

Just maybe some day……

 

Or I could decide the money is better spent donating to a worthy charity.

A conscience is an interesting thing to have.

To answer the question posed by the op - no. However, I like to see a correlation between the price of a component and the inputs to its design and manufacture. Consequently,  I spend less on cables, relatively, than on the rest of my system.