What is the current retail cost of your reference system?

A better question would be:

How much do you spend on average each year on gear?

Regarding my system here is what I will share.

My mentor of the past 3 years came over for a listen and said-"I can't believe you have put together a system that sounds like 3 x what you have actually spent".

That did warm some cockles. 

hysteve,

My history tracks somewhat the same as yours

both in the original and the new. Funny how these things work

sometimes.

The more interesting thing is comparing where people did and did not allocate money. Few mentioned the room. Everyone must have at least some absorbing panels. Many have dedicated power lines. Those are audiophile costs.

If you have $10k or more in a system and nothing in the room you have erred.

Nobody is counting the offset costs. What are those? You spend $5k on some audio item and that means the spouse spends $5k on something they want. Now that can jump things up in a hurry.

Music acquisition. About $27/month for Roon + Qobuz.  I do not have vinyl.

so not buying any pricey LPs. 

What other hidden costs of audio?  Travel to shows.  Extra ear exams? 

Custom ear protection?  Better car system?  Office system?

What's your time worth? Watching youtubes, reading reviews, tweaking a system?

Zoom meetings. 

I think I will quit now.