How much does your system retail for?

Our rig is between $9 - 11k less cables and computer. Best part, wife enjoys rig too. Wired for Sound SX1000 monos,STP-Preamp, DAC-2 DSD, Denon DVD 3910 For SACD playback.VPI Prime with Soundsmith AIDA, Cardes Clear light I/C cables, Cambridge 640p phono stage. Synergistic Tesla speaker cables, KEF LS5o and Fritz Grove speakers too when xtra bass extension is tolerated in rest of house. All of this greatness is crammed into a 1000 cubic foot room. Approx 9x11x8. 🎶 ❤️😎😎😎❤️🎶Much cheaper than therapy.

My Sony CD Walkman and Sony ultralight headphones: $27. Batteries extra.

About 35K, headphone rig only. I gave up on speakers as my room is trash.

System #1 about $10,000 all in.  

System #2 a little under $2,000.

The latter is in the man-cave and therefore is the system I spend more time with.  Although modest by high-end standards, I spent a lot of time with speaker positioning and a few low-cost tweaks and, damn it, it sounds great.  I can, and often do, listen to it for hours at a time.  I had plans to start upgrading that system, but now I am afraid to change anything.

 

In today money with inflation calculator my audio system will cost 5,000 Dollars..

I pay it 220 bucks if i counted the real price i pay by a streak of luck...( i pay 20 bucks on Ebay for my 500 bucks dac 😊)

But the actual real value without this luck would be more near 500 bucks at the moment of purchase ...

Anyway i learned that the more important aspect of audio is not the gear price but more the way we embed the gear pieces in their 3 dimensional working dimensions: mechanical, electrical and especially acoustical...

I am not envious of any system anymore, even those system better than mine by design ... Why?

Because there is a minimal threshold of acceptable sound quality which can be translated in acoustic cues rightfully accessible by the ears because of the controlled speakers/room optimized relation...

For me with dynamic, bass clarity, imaging, soundstage it is the ratio listener envelopment/ sound source width, or LV/ASW ratio, the more important one and the most difficult to get right with timbre perception  relative  naturalness for my ears ...

 

My best to all...