Sogood51, I have to disagree on one of your points...there are plenty of (what I consider) reasonably priced speakers out there. The Vandersteen, Theil, and Dunlavy lines are perfect examples. You can spend less than $1000.00 or more than $10,000.00 (a stupid amount IMHO). However, each of these lines (no matter the price) use 1st order crossovers, are time and phase aligned, and will basically not be out-classed by any hardware you match with them.
I'm not a believer that expensive hardware automatically sounds better than inexpensive hardware. Also, I'm not the type of person to attempt to acquire the last 5% of audio nirvana with a cost-no-object fervor. I guess that's where I draw the line.
However, I don't believe that you can emphasize the following enough: Always take your room size, layout and flexability of speaker placement into account first. I have B&W Nautilus 805s driven with Rotel hardware. Until I have a better physical space for my toys, I have no desire to upgrade. Well, I have a desire....but I can't justify it.
I'm not a believer that expensive hardware automatically sounds better than inexpensive hardware. Also, I'm not the type of person to attempt to acquire the last 5% of audio nirvana with a cost-no-object fervor. I guess that's where I draw the line.
However, I don't believe that you can emphasize the following enough: Always take your room size, layout and flexability of speaker placement into account first. I have B&W Nautilus 805s driven with Rotel hardware. Until I have a better physical space for my toys, I have no desire to upgrade. Well, I have a desire....but I can't justify it.