How close was your starting budget to the final bu

Adding everything up makes me feel a bit ill. I'd rather not think about it. I now think of budgets in relation to individual components rather than the total system.

Markphd, I hear ya! It makes me ill too, to focus on my total expenditures, so I quit doing that a while ago. And people who know me would say I'm sick for spending that kind of money too.

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I thought I'd be able to to do it for about $2k. I was wrong but I was satisfied with the end result.
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Well the last system I put together was for my home office... started from a forum post about a deal for a $400 speaker... cost so far? About $10k.

Off by at least 1 decimal place, but also includes 2-channel.

I have always "budgeted" (a VERY relative word) in relation to individual components as opposed to "system". Warning - this method can easily lead to "money-pit-itis", the more costly cousin of "audio nervosa" and for which there is no known cure.

People who know me also think I'm crazy for what I've put into my system, until they hear it. Then they think I'm only 1/2 crazy. My non-audiophile friends reluctantly admit my system is "better than Bose"; the audiophiles just smile....