Are you Guys Rich or What!?


I have an old system, nothing special, Adcom, Vandersteens etc and I recently set foot for the first time in a "high end" shop, hoping to get to the next level of audio nirvana. When I saw some of the prices for monoblock amplifiers, cables, the latest speakers etc, I practically fell off my chair when I realized that I could blow $50-100K pretty easily on this stuff. I am not rich. Do you big budget system guys all work on Wall Street or something or do you eat macaroni and cheese most nights to put a few bucks away for CDs and your next upgrade?
thomashalliburton5534
Nilthepill - only 1/2 right - if I won the lottery tomorrow I would go get that 100K system, but I would return to this site as well. I'd have to brag somewhere.....
Hell, if I won the lottery who needs audio. I would hire the Rolling Stones as my house band, ok, maybe not them, but I bet I could get The Emerson String Quartet: Schubert, Mozart, Spohr,Brahms,Beethoven string quartets live in your house! Everyday! Wow! Now is that being morally bankrupt? Actually, if I won the lottery I think I would buy a Hinckley 53' sailboat. Hell with audio let the waves be my music.
Kthomas and Shubertmaniac, As I said whatever makes you happy. Live and let live.
I was suprised at the roll that we got going on this one. I want to also say that I did not mean to guilt anyone or make them defend their decisions. I believe it is your money and you should do with it how you see fit. What I intended was for us all to look at how much is too much. I think that we have done that here. I also wanted to remind those in the audio community that there are many many folks in great need. My personal value is if you have 100K to spend on entertainment (not professional business applications)then you mightthink about your local church, charity, or organizations and lend them a helping hand. It is people that have this kind of money that can help if they want to. I am going to climb off my high horse and go home to install my new spk cables I picked up on this site for $240.00. It may not be the absolute sound to some of you, but I am hoping to hear an improvement over the free stuff the dealer gave me when I purchased my spks. It is hard for me to imagine laying out 10K for some NBS stuff or whatever, and achieving a proportionally higher amount of satisfaction. I guess it's all relative. There is a point though that anything in life can be overdone. I am not the one to tell you if and where that point is. It is for each of us to decide. If I did win the lottery I would not run out and buy 100K worth of audio. I would buy a lot of stuff, but would keep the system I have. Ok, I would probably upgrade my cd player to the EAD Ultradisc 2000, and some new cds, but that's it!
It is beginning to sound like a sermon here, and not Audiogon. Axomoxa, it seems to me that you are still judging people by your own yardstick of limitations. My point is that it is possible to donate 100,000 to charity, assist friends and family, help little old ladies across the street, and still spend $100,000 on a sound system. You seem to think that the person buying such a sound system has only that much money, and splurged it all on a stereo. Your "too far" seems not very far to me. I bet it would not be too hard for you to imagine buying a beautiful Vac integrated amp with Synergistic Research cables, Avalon speakers, A Theta transport with DCS upsamplers, 100 favorite CD's and a nice Eames leather leather chair to listen in if you tried. I hope you win a million dollars in the lottery and get the chance to put your money where your mouth is. Good luck to you, either way.