New D'Agostino Monoblocks...$250,000

This thread is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.  Most people in the world have trouble getting enough to eat, forget about buying a high-end stereo or even a car.  So if ultra high-end stereo offends you, take a look in the mirror and realize that you are in the 1% on a global basis.  What you spend on audio gear is just as offensive.  I say live and let live.  Let the rich buy their $250,000 amps, you own your car, nice house and high-end system without guilt and do something to end poverty.  Pointing fingers at others does no one any good, as Bob Dylan learned a long time ago.

repluso, Dylan became famous for writing "protest" songs. He soon moved beyond that phase of his career but people kept demanding that he write more of them. Dylan called them his "finger pointing songs" and said that he just wrote them because that’s what people were buying at the time. He understood that aiming his hand in a soldier's stance, to paraphrase "My Back Pages" wouldn’t end war or injustice but made him part of the problem of divisions between people.

His protest songs are great songs but the way to change things is to do something positive yourself, not accuse others of being the problem.

Conspicuous consumption rules! The rich deserve everything they desire.

sfseay, I’d guess that the cost of your system could feed quite a few hungry people. I’m surprised that you don’t realize that we are the rich.

So, you’re going to keep a band set up in your house 24/7 so they are available whenever you want to listen to music or maybe 100 bands so you can listen to different kinds of music? That could get expensive and inconvenient. That’s what a stereo and recorded music are for. Live music is an occasional treat. Have you ever thought about that?