HOW LONG DID YOU HAVE TO WAIT TO GET....

I also started in my twenties and with very little money to spare. As I was in the midst of assembling my dream system, someone broke into our house and stole the amp, RtoR tape deck, turntable and ONE of the speakers ( go figure ). Today I thank the thief. I got some insurance money, started over and twenty+ years later I realize I will never stop. The fun is as much in the search as in the discovery. Jorge: the only important thing to remember is HAVE FUN!! That's what makes a
dream true.

Well I started out 8 yrs ago with a very small pair of boston acoustics speakers and a denon receiver, which I thought was the best.Always read stereophile and saw the Levinson gear and said I will never have that!! Well Iam now 31 and I have a Mark Levinson 335 a Mark Levinson 38 a Theta Miles and Martin Logan SL3s and Iam now in the process of buying the levinson 39. It took a long time to get hear and when you do you will appreciate what you have more than the person who had it handed to them on a silver platter. I am dont have a lot of money at all so your not alone. One peice of advice I can give you, As you upgrade get a peice of gear that you now will stay if you dont have enough for what you want just wait or you will be selling what you just bought for a loss and thats something we have all been through. so good luck you will get there. here is one more example, If your budget is low simplify your system like I did I bought a 331 for 2,400 and a theta miles for 2,000 now the theta can be run directly into the amplifier it was designed that way so you cut the cost on the preamp. tkae little steps but be sure they are the proper ones. best wishes Dan

Jorge; Jeff and Snooker (above) have it right IMO. Much of the enjoyment is in the journey. But to answer your question, I seriously doubt that I will ever actually possess a "dream system" as the target is always changing, and sometimes rapidly. In the mean-time continue to build your music collection as you improve your system. The music will never go out of style-- even as formats change. Enjoy the trip. Craig

garfish is right. i've been at this 30+ years and have a system most folks would classify in the "dream" range. as for me? i'm about to upgrade my pre/dac and entire analogue frontend. -kelly

Go take a look at the " what does your system retail for" thread. No matter what you have, you all ways want that next little step to whats better. Try to get your system to a level that makes you happy and take your sweet time from there to get to the top dollar stuff. The longer you wait the cheaper that used stuff will be when you get there. Good luck.