The infamous

I know its shameful in such company, but I believe in keeping major components (amp, pre-amp, CDP, etc) to under $2000 each and accessories to under $500 each. While I freely acknowledge the this will not produce State of The Art, you can build a GREAT sounding stereo within these limits (especially with used and demo gear).

"if you're not afraid, you're not brave. if you can afford to lose it, it's not gambling. if you set limits, you're not an audiophile." cfb-2001

Well, Ill be shameful too! Along with Fineberg, Ill put my system; $1200 CD/ $800 Amp/ $275 cables/ $450/pr Spkr....Ive
got more in my CDs! And if I put my system next to a $50K system, Ill take mine and the $47 thousand to go, thank you!
Dont get me wrong, I love a high end Magical System and Ill most likely keep on upgrading here and there. But I think you reach a point where its all overkill, even if you are a millionaire!

A wise man once said "Why spend TRILLIONS when you could spend BILLIONS" or something like that:~)

I always find it interesting that there is so much emphasis on gear and how much it costs in relation to benefit, diminishing returns and the like. What I don't see is much talk about where its going. Certainly gear on the order of magnitude of Albert's limits would make sense if you had a proper room (read "full sized") to place it in. In my space I don't know if spending 100k would be warranted, it would probably be overkill. My room isn't big enough to justify spending that kind of money for presumably a full range system that is not very efficient that would require a powerful megabuck amp to drive it that would REALLY get the bottom octaves along with everything else. Too many variables concerning room and listening objectives IMO. Someone correct me if I'm wrong would you please?