Did a satisfaction threshold exist under 1000 bucks ?

Thanks for the beautiful and moving  story...

My very best to you...

My wife and I were supposed to be in Cape Cod visiting her mother this week, but my wife caught COVID on the plane coming back from Europe.  The weather here in the Midwest is glorious right now.  I had already taken the week off, so I am hanging outside on the back deck to get away from her and catching upon on some work on the laptop.  I have a Sony Bluetooth Speaker that cost around $250 that picked up for less than half of that at one of the online discount sites.  It blows the pants off the ancient B&W Patio speakers.  I played a couple of different versions of Beethoven Pastoral Symphony yesterday, just perfect music to accompany the day, and it was heavenly.  So yes, one can achieve Audio Nirvana on the cheap if all the stars are aligned

My recommendation for all is to be as open minded and receptive as possible when looking at all the different relatively cost-effective ways one might satisfy their hifi music yearnings these days,

It’s not like the old glory days of analog 2-channel hifi, like back in the 1960s and 1970s, anymore. If one thinks only in terms that defined things 50 years ago there is much one may miss out on in regards to maximizing one’s investment in good music. Technology has come a long way, opened up many new doors, and taken on many different forms. It just has! Don’t miss out!

Yes it is true especially in the speakers case and in dac...And in amplification too...

Self powered speakers can be very good...

Dac at low cost can be very good... More so than a cheap turntable even if at the top as some had experienced the turntable is better... But i cannot verify that at the top, the one claiming this own a 500,000 bucks system...😊 I dont doubt him for sure but he will not contradict me about the sound quality value of low cost dac in low cost good system compared to cheap turntable in low cost system ...

Sound experience  is mostly acoustic at the end , and first gear designed but only first... Acoustic experience and perception  is the recording  core and the listening  periphery...Electronics is in the middle as a microphone or as speakers ...

My recommendation for all is to be as open minded and receptive as possible when looking at all the different relatively cost-effective ways one might satisfy their hifi music yearnings these days,

It’s not like the old glory days of analog 2-channel hifi, like back in the 1960s and 1970s, anymore. If one thinks only in terms that defined things 50 years ago there is much one may miss out on in regards to maximizing one’s investment in good music. Technology has come a long way, opened up many new doors, and taken on many different forms. It just has! Don’t miss out!

The bass extension of the M-Audio Av40 4 inches driver is described as : 85 hertz...

In 50 hertz test tone i feel the sound... 😁

What did i did ?

I increase the volume of the rear port-hole with full lenght straws (17 ) glued together and put inside...I  had modified the volume and neck of what is called in acoustic an Helmholtz resonator... each speakers is a resonator... ( i tuned 100 resonators in my past acoustic room by the way )

The highs are clear as crystals also , i help the focus and separation with a cardboard empty paper roll around the twitter...I know it is not esthetical! But i dont give a damn... And i am proud of my homemade acoustic tricks...

Imaging is very improved now... Soundstage too...

The mids and human voice are fluids and perfect and saxophone feel as one real one ...

Cost of speakers 12 years ago : 100 bucks

I just test the bass with this:

And i felt the bass physically, i just listen to this right now and i miss nothing :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ0mBQsrbqc&list=PLnQJF3Qi_4_DT_NKFgfSy7pLhHb9W9Dka&index=107

I damped the box with concrete and isolate them and use my homemade designed "Golden plates" on the cables connections and dac to improve the texture of the sound... ( shungite+ copper plate ) ... I put them in a dedicated acoustic corner...

These small active box are so good now that even Steve Guttenberg who reviewed them and gave them 8 on 10 , 12 years ago, will be amazed...I was not so much amazed BEFORE my embeddings controls this month... I had no more any other choice of speakers this is why i thought about their optimization... I succeeded ... What is a basic good small box is now a fantastic cheap pair of speakers almost audiophile... I will not upgrade because i am afraid to do so UNDER 1000 bucks...

There is no relation between the sound right out of the box and now...

Then in audio before upgrading you must embed all components right and surprize! upgrading is no more so appealling or necessary...

No subwoofer is needed for me and for most music...

One of my best audio eureka moments was earlier this year.  My system is based on "carefully curated components" within a reasonable budget.  I have been through at least 20 amp/preamp combinations and ultimately settled on Convergent SL-1, a few choices of SS amps and tube amps, Magnepan 3.6R, and sub $1k dac or turntable to feed the SL-1.  Earlier this year a friend and I visited the local McIntosh dealer, where we were treated to a demo of a Moon Audio DAC, Mc amp, and huge Sonus Faber speakers.  Our host played a very familiar Dave Grusin tune.  While the $250m system was very enjoyable, I left the store feeling very good about my system.  Perhaps my ears were the limiting factor, but it's nice to find the plateau where the gear satisfies the ear and the focus is then on discovering the music.