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Moderately priced audio

So I have been a audiophile for 40 years and in that time I have seen and owned a huge amount of equipment. Lately I have been reading Sterephile magazine and attended the last 2 years of Axpona. My question is what about the people that love the craft and get tremendous joy out of their audio systems that are in the $2-5K price range. Are they to be ignored? I know this hobby holds a lot of enthusiasm by people that have great sounding systems of new and vintage gear that they are proud of and enjoy listening to. While I appreciate the sound and the technology of the systems that cost more than a house I think there is a slice of enthusiast that are silent. Back in the 70s I worked at a stereo store that your average person came in and spent $600-$1000 and got a good sounding system. And we sold a lot of them. Seems a lot less interest today. Could it be the price of what you see in magazines and shows? I am curious to see if you people are out there that love the music and get great joy out of listening to your moderately priced audio equipment. Feel free to share what you have. I know you are out there. 
schmitty1
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,757 posts
 
That $1000 system in 1970 would cost $6552 today. People get stuck thinking the value of money is static and are shocked by $6552. The only thing that doesn't change are the hours and minutes required to make this amount. I.E., It takes the same amount of time to earn $6552, in 2019, as it did to make the $1000 in 1970.
everest_audio
285 posts
 
In my opinion, there has never been a better time for getting great sound on a budget. Grab a Bluesound Powernode 2i and a pair of decent speakers and the quality is shockingly good for the money. Sure, we go much higher than that, but for many, this is a great system and is very affordable.
jtcf's avatar
jtcf
1,599 posts
 
My system is made up of moderately priced components.It does take some research to seek out and put together a budget conscious system.It's not as glamorous and exciting to discuss or dream about owning someday:) Presently I'm enjoying simply tweaking with various tube,cable,and vibration control devices.Keeps things interesting.Most of my kit is on my system page.

Vincent CDP,LTA MicroZ2,Aric Audio Transcend Push Pull amp,Tekton Impact Monitors,SVS sub(probably adding more subs),GIK room treatments.
jetter
2,979 posts
 
As an example of an affordable system, all brand new:

Magnepan LRS             $650
Schitt Freya                     700
Schitt Vidar                       700
Rega Apollo CD player 1,100
All Canare cables             300
Total                               3,450  


mahgister's avatar
mahgister
12,961 posts
 
My system is also made of  vintage top of the line headphones and amplifier, and very good speakers, and a contemporary very good dac; my experience is there is more upgrading effect to gain in cleaning the audio grid and the electrical grid of the house, and controlling vibrations, than with the buying of an expansive piece of gear... This experience of mine is gold for me, nobody says that to me 7 years ago when I begins my audio travel,on the contrary almost anybody on all forums speaks about  buying products to upgrade... And past some level of musicality, upgrading is a costly illusion... Tweaks and cleaning are the most important audio facts...
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