Moderately priced audio


So I have been a audiophile for 40 years and in that time I have seen and owned a huge amount of equipment. Lately I have been reading Sterephile magazine and attended the last 2 years of Axpona. My question is what about the people that love the craft and get tremendous joy out of their audio systems that are in the $2-5K price range. Are they to be ignored? I know this hobby holds a lot of enthusiasm by people that have great sounding systems of new and vintage gear that they are proud of and enjoy listening to. While I appreciate the sound and the technology of the systems that cost more than a house I think there is a slice of enthusiast that are silent. Back in the 70s I worked at a stereo store that your average person came in and spent $600-$1000 and got a good sounding system. And we sold a lot of them. Seems a lot less interest today. Could it be the price of what you see in magazines and shows? I am curious to see if you people are out there that love the music and get great joy out of listening to your moderately priced audio equipment. Feel free to share what you have. I know you are out there. 
schmitty1

Showing 3 responses by mahgister

Old and used Mission Cyrus speakers 781 (50 bucks) in nearfield listening,
New Starting point systems NOS dac (50 bucks on ebay bid),
Old and used Akg 701 (100 bucks) Vintage AKG 340 (120 bucks),
Vintage Sansui AU-7700 (120 bucks +upgrading components 150 bucks).

Total around 600 bucks...

I must say that the cost of all my homemade tweaks is higher than the cost of my system by 2 times... But without that my system let me totally unsatisfied and however all component were praised top notch gear of their times... The lesson is the secret is in the implementation, treatment and cleaning...The price paid is a secondary factor... Someone could say that with this money I could have upgrade 2 of my components; that is  true, but I know that this upgrade would had been unsatisfying also...Sansui is a too much "flexible" amplifier and very good in his own term to  easily upgrading it with only 1000 thousand bucks for a modern amp, the modern SPS dac is too extraordinary to upgrading it with only 1000 bucks actual dac, the Akg 340  is too good to be upgraded with 1000 bucks...Then only my tweaks  could raised all my gear to the roof or audio heaven...

And I know that my system is really an audiophile one, his musicality for his level and price is top notch...

The reason, I will repeat myself ( except for upgrading the components of the Sansui by technician) is cleaning the electrical line and the audio grid, and damping adequately all components...Exposing my method will ridicule me here I will not try that... My point is : the right TWEAKS are the secret of an audiophile sound If you had carefully choosen old or used or vintage top of the line components...The price for killing my system cannot be lower than the price paid but must be relatively much higher...I enjoy it much after this 7 years of reading how to purchase , what to purchase, how to tweaks etc... I proudly devised my own tweaks by experiments and that works miracles... I wish you all the best...
In one word the quality of sound is less related to the price paid for a system than to the method used to lower the noise floor...Best kept audio secret...And indeed I enjoy my music so much that I dont think to buy anything ….
My system is also made of  vintage top of the line headphones and amplifier, and very good speakers, and a contemporary very good dac; my experience is there is more upgrading effect to gain in cleaning the audio grid and the electrical grid of the house, and controlling vibrations, than with the buying of an expansive piece of gear... This experience of mine is gold for me, nobody says that to me 7 years ago when I begins my audio travel,on the contrary almost anybody on all forums speaks about  buying products to upgrade... And past some level of musicality, upgrading is a costly illusion... Tweaks and cleaning are the most important audio facts...