how much would you say a good set up cost

I think Tvad recommended two excellent combinations that would be very rewarding (Merlin/Ars Sonum or Audiokinesis/Atma-sphere)at the 10K level used - those combos would beat a lot of 30k systems IMHO.

Around here we have a saying regarding water craft…. “A boat is a hole in the water in which, you throw money.”

I believe it appropriate enough to consider a parallel here, “An audio rig is a hole in the living room you throw money into.”

Yep. It’s all ego. Case in point… of the rigs listed here and the figures pointed too…. Are prime examples enough. How many gave their ‘paid for’ prices, or their “MSRP retail” prices?

I never kept a running total on the expenses I’ve made to attain the sound I wanted… in fact. My heart couldn’t stand it. At some point, I reassessed my goals and started getting OK with what was on hand, instead of chasing a myth. My myth being something akin to a point just past perfect.

I got so caught up in things that I was buying stuff I didn’t need, with money I DIDN’T HAVE, to IMPRESS PEOPLE I HADN’T EVEN MET YET!

On the whole, ROUGHLY SPEAKING, I’ve thrown $29K or so in what’s on hand now. Total. For everything in all 3 systems including projector, receiver, 120 inch screen, etc.

Not counting what I did to enclose my room and redecorate it… add another $8-10K there. I’ve a bit further on to go too. Perhaps a Remington, or a Monet.

Only my Sound Anchor amp & speaker stands plus my Oppo DVD player were paid for at MSRP. That were some of my best moves though, given price to performance. On some other’s I paid quite close to retail.

I spend more time listening to my $3K BR rig than I do my main one, by a long shot. I think I enjoy each about the same.

Loudspeaker size IS important… as was said. I found it quite interesting, and as well, very frustrating, picking out the most recent speakers that are living here now… rent free by the way! There must be thousands upon thousands literally. The herd gets culled very quickly when cost, esthetics and electronic temperament are examined more closely however.

My bucket still has a small hole in it and more duckets will be cast into it, albeit, not much more.

, then there’s one of my fav sayings, “If you’ve only one ear, stereos are half off.”

It is a heck of a lot more expensive to create a nice high end video system for the visually impaired. Maybe I should have thought about that a mite longer before it’s undertaking…. Guess I’m stil a bit short sighted. ;-))

hopefully guilt sets in when you're about to overspend. the actual amount may vary, but if 'music' really rules your life,and not equipment, the odds are you won't have to spend much at all. 'never spend too much on an amplifier'-quote from a large advent brochure

oh, just in case ..all new...dual turntable(auto rules), onkyo integrated(if it was german it would be 3 grand), ohm micro walsh tall(real bass and no friggin stands), any garden variety front load cd player(no cd players are that good,or that bad)...3500 bucks total (give or take).....hey, you're ready to go up against many of the 100k rooms at any tradeshow.....ps, fill your house with records and cd's......there are lots of other combos as well.

$30 > $35K does seem about right for a new (not second-hand) near-reference stereo system. This range seems to be the current sweet-spot for tier-one rated components, based on today's new retail pricing. The good news is, that if done right, there is very little sonic-incentive to go much beyond this range, at least from what I have heard.

I don't think that most people today consider a $30K Rig a "show off System", as some here have mentioned, not at a time where $100K Home Theater Systems are par for the course, at least among the professional class - as I would imagine most of us here belong to.