??? What Is The MOST Expensive System You Ever Heard ??? What Was Your Opinion ???

For me it was probably one of Jeffrey C’s High Water Sound systems…. These rooms are my favorites at the many audio shows I’ve been to.. Have heard many all MBL systems…. IF the recording being played is a perfect “audiophile “ recording, great…. NOT a system for listening to regular music I listen to on a regular basis

The most expensive system I can remember hearing was a Naim Audio based system that in today’s inflation adjusted dollars would be worth somewhere in the area of $150,000.

I’ve always thought it ironic that most of the audio enthusiasts who can afford the most expensive gear tend to be older people whose hearing is not as acute as it was when they were younger. As such I have wondered about the wisdom, strictly from a common sense standpoint, of investing such a princely sum of money on a state of the art audio system, when the final component in the audio chain (namely one’s own ears) is not equal to the rest of the system.

Of course this is just my subjective opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt.

1.6M system. 

I’ve been able to hear many ‘high end systems’. In my experience there is a correlation between price and sound at a macro-level that can make the difference in the experience from interesting to awe inspiring. 
 

Electronics have their own characteristics (e.g., Audio Research, CH Precision, Jeff Rowland,et.), as do speakers (Wilson, Stenheim, Focal, etc.) and overall system set up including use of subs. 
 

The most impressive to me was CH Precision and Stenheim. In the end, it’s personal preference and I have had awesome experiences listening to systems designed differently than mine. 

I have no clue what the most expensive system was, since I have been listening to equipment since I was a child and I am now 72. That covers a lot of ground. Maybe a better way to state it is to ask what is the best you have heard in terms of today's replacement cost. With inflation at a conservative 7-10% currently and in recent past, the most expensive system would most likely be a recent one unless it was sooo out there in price that it just trumps everything before or since because the scale of price was orders of magnitude larger than anything else. Maybe a best way to ask is what is the most expensive 'stupid money' system you have heard? I cannot answer that one easily. I would have a hard time justifying much over 50k for a single system under any circumstances however, that's probably what will be spent on the primary system in the rebuilt house. So is that stupid money? Not really, but much over that would be for me.