Five "Golden Rules" of HiFi?

1)strive for tonal neutrality - use careful synergy to obtain it
2) see live acoustic music to know what instrumentation is meant to sound like
3) research thouroughly, buy used or from a direct manufacturer (Teres/Galibier/Salk/Sora Sounds (ZYX)/AVS are examples) Large companies have huge marketing and middleman charges
4)tame your room first
5)invest in good cables, power supply and isolation
6) loose yourself in the music not the equipment

No - I could probably afford a condo in SF if I wanted to... but, I have this thing about the Chinese supporting American banks with funny money, and housing bubbles popping. Not to mention all the internet tech people who paid with confederate money IPO notes, and are currently going into foreclosure making banks harder and harder to deal with for everyone. Not everyone on 'Gon can though buy a house thoug, or live somewhere like Manhattan and I don't think any audophile company's attitude should be "Screw them". And there are many, many great solutions for apartment dwellers, not the least of which is a thousand dollar pair of headphones and a headamp in the $1000-2000 range, which will, I guarantee, kick the crap out of every $100,000 system on 'Gon. Seriously, you don't like headphones? It was really just sort of a joke - but you know, pro guys wear them for a reason, and they are single unit diaphragm, and the expensive ones go down low and up real high, so they have no crossover problems, and no phase or time coherency problems. With some single ended tube equipment they will knock your socks off even if you're jaded like you or me. It's real, real hard not to like them. It's real real hard to like even a good pair of electrostatics by comparison which come the closest. I was talking as much about space as money.

only 2 rules.......1. one's love of music has nothing to do with equipment or media. 2. one's love of equipment or media has nothing to do with music.

Biomimetic: Thought I detected a note of sarcasm in your post. My apologies.
I actually DO like headphones.
The problem is I like them SO MUCH that I turn 'em WAY UP!
My aging eardrums take days to recover.
This doesn't occur with speakers.

As far as buying the house; I assumed this post was for the youngsters getting into our sport/hobby (spobby?).
I let my passion for the holy grail blind me to first-things-first common sense purchases.
Have you ever heard of the farmer who, having hunger today, ate his seeds instead of planting them?
We know what happened to him some time down the road.
I just wanted to put this out as a warning.

1.- LOVE the Music
2.- Don't trust nobody exept your ears. Exept if they are teaching you and not saling you somthing.
3.- Proportion of expences in a Stero. 35% Speakers, 25% Power amplifer, 20% Preamplifier, 10% CD player & 5% cables. (APROXIMATELY)
4.- Be carful with used equipmet.
5.- NORMALY HOW THINKS IT'S ALWYS RIGHT, IT ALWIS WRONG.