If you had to start all over again in this day and age

I once let a brother-in-law hear a $100,000 system in one of our stores.

He turned to me and said, "this doesn't have anything over my Bose system" and added, after I told him how much this system would cost; "people who buy this stuff must hate money".

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arro, your bro-in-law did and does make a point to be considered.  If we were to 'begin again', would we have what we know now in mind?

Likely not...so a Bose 'system' would be perfectly acceptable.

We're 'victims' of our eras....and errors....*s*  It's taken all this time to get 'here' from the 'there' behind us....

I, for one, might be 'where' I am 'now', considering the $ of 'hi-end'...or just another ear budded smartphoner.....;)

The merry-go-round over the last 50+ years of multiple systems and upgrading, has gotten me to a point where I’m ‘almost’ completely satisfied with my sound. What I did not quite understand in those earlier years of changes, is that you have to find your sound first. That takes getting off your butt and listening, like going to shows and dealers before buying a damn thing. If you can’t hear the difference you’re probably lucky. Get something pretty at your price point and be done.

Patience, can be a bitch. I was too impulsive then. You know, when you have money to burn or you’re saving up hard for something specific from reviews or whatnot.

I am lucky to have finally found the sound that I love about ten years ago, and it doesn’t matter what others prefer as well. This doesn’t mean that I’m done. I still want to replace my line stage, because it’s not the best match for my other gear. So, I’m working to match the level of quality of my equipment to the sound that does it for me.

So, if I were to start over again, I would take the time to listen to all types of systems, find that sound, then go after it, and build upon it.
Kenny

Kenny: prophetic "if you can't hear the difference, you're probably lucky".
I've been cross country twice on motorcycles. Lost about 25%-30% of my hearing as a result of the constant cacophony of the exhaust even with muffed helmets. 
I no longer hear the nuance details in components as I used to. That might indeed be "lucky".

With the same amount of money, I will buy the same pieces of equipment and do the same control methods for the embeddings....Only more refined perhaps if I must recreated them, because now I have learned how to do it.... :)


I think that top Hi-Fi S.Q. is much more in the hand of the acoustician than in the hands of an electrical engineer...Not many people know really that,  and it is especially true if you dont have money to spend.... But it is true in all case....