i find it interesting that the *room* has come up in this thread so much, & i think that's a good thing, cuz, imho, the room is the single-most-important component of an excellent system. my listening room is ~25'x38', w/8.5' ceiling, & it is by *far* the main reason i get good sounds from reproduced music. it allows *real* bass from a good subwoofer set-up, among other things. and, ironically enough, i find this more important on simply-miked acoustical music than, say, reggae, for instance. also, a lot easier to get a good soundstage in a large room - less speaker interaction w/walls/furniture, etc. re: how much $$$ will get you how close to "100" an a scale of 0-100, i can't really say, but, for example, if $10k will get you to 80, then i think it would take $20k to get to 85. that being said, i would rather listen to a $10k system in a room my size, then a $20k system in a room, say, 12'x18'... so, improvement of sound vs dollars spent is largely room-dependant. doug
Price/performance curve
Hey you guys who've heard 'em all, could you help me understand the price/performance curve of audio equipment? I keep seeing people write about truly high-end gear and I'm wondering what the price points look like in terms of sonic improvement. So let's say that our scale is 0 to 100. 0 is basically white noise, 100 is you are sitting in the ideal spot at your favorite symphonic hall/jazz club/blues or rock forum and nobody in the audience is even breathing too loudly within audible range. For the sake of some reference point, let's say a decent boombox is about a 15, a decent set of components (say Sony/Pioneer/JVC electronics, Boston Acoustic speakers) chosen from your local mainstream audio outlet is a 30 and a decent set of entry-level components made by more musically inclined manufacturers (NAD, Paradigm, etc.) in the $1,500-2,000 range is a 50. What do the price points look like as you go to 60, 70, 80. 90 and 95+? I ask because I see people spending vastly different levels of money on this stuff and, while I don't expect to ever spend in the high five figures that some of us have doled out, I'd like to see where this road leads.Suggest alternatives on the scale if you like. I'll bet you all have some very interesting answers.