"...Much of human happiness, for better or worse, is derived by one’s status relative to others in one’s perceived peer group..."
Only if you are susceptible to two deadly sins, pride and envy.
It is possible with the help of basic science and simple listenings experiments to create a more than good audio system that will not lag so far away from costly gear to give you total frustration...
It is the S.Q. /price ratio that is the ONLY indication of value in our hobby, never the price per se....
Anybody can buy the costlier system in the world and with money create the best room....Anybody....
Try this with 500 bucks all in all + extra peanuts ....
This is my hobby....
Frustration, envy, dont exist in my world...
But sorry pride survive more healthier than ever.....Especially when you succeed...
I dont say that to brag first but to help others who dont have money.... Be creative and trust yourself....
You will smile...
Why do i smile if my system is less good than many costly one?
Because it is possible to create a system that is not so far behind what is in the hand of those who can buy the best gear on the planet....
A piano filling your room with natural timbre and with each note a timbre hue associated is here.... Is there better ? Yes but i dont give a dam when listening Bach well tempered Klavier if the sound dont come from between my speaker at all and seems natural....
Be creative, read and think but let any audio magazine behind after picking your gear..... After picking the right gear create your own experiment in vibrations control, electrical noise floor control, and especially acoustic controls...
Call the rest superfluous...It is....
The goal is not the better, the goal is the optimal.....
The " better" is a chase to the moon....
"Upgrading" is a chase of your own tail....
Choose right first among all those pieces of gear available in a mature market for the last 50 years now at a low price , after that work through the 3 embeddings controls....
Thats it.....
