members and their systems

I don't mean to be unfriendly but your question strikes me as kind of.. odd. Would you approach a stranger and ask how they manage to afford their boat/car/vacation house/Rolex/kid's private schooling, etc ? That's not generally considered polite behavior in this culture. 

If you are feeling frustrated about the "high cost of audio", I can sympathize, up to a point. Steve Guttenberg, for one, has posted multiple videos about low-cost systems on his Daily Audiophiliac Show on YouTube. Needless to say, you can always buy used/demo gear.

Over twenty years, I've slowly upgraded to the point where I've got about 25K invested, including cabling and tweaks. I have friends with much, much more expensive systems and yes, their systems sound good but only "different"-- not "better" than mine-- to my ears. Spending a lot of cash is no guarantee of ending up with a system that pleases you. You need to learn to listen and discover which factors of msuic reproduction are most important to you. 
 

I have friends with much, much more expensive systems and yes, their systems sound good but only "different"-- not "better" than mine-- to my ears. Spending a lot of cash is no guarantee of ending up with a system that pleases you.

Very good remarks...

Most people think that this is money which give S.Q.

Up to a limit yes...

But at any price it is acoustic control of the room the greatest luxury...

My 500 bucks system is one of the best there is for his ratio S.Q. /price, thanks to basic psychoacoustic laws....

The interesting things about members and their systems is it seems folks enjoy their systems...and isn't that the point?

Whether you have a $10k system or you received a stereo from a friend or family member that upgraded their system does it really matter?

  @mrklas:

 "...it seems folks enjoy their systems...and isn't that the point?" 

I sure hope so!

I am amazed at the number of people I hear about on this site that have $100K invested in their current system (not including losses taken on past gear traded in) and how many are just counting one system that they use and not multiple components they switch in and out.

I would think that most $100K systems are bought by multimillionaires/billionaires who don’t spend a lot of time evaluating, thinking about or listening to their systems as they may be in a 2nd or 3rd house. They probably have a designer type making the decisions for them, and I would be shocked to see them posting on  this site.

Please prove me wrong so I know that the equipment is being enjoyed. I hate wasting anything and not using something that a creator/designer of components is a waste. Just like cars that never get driven and are held for investments. Dr. Porsche and Mr. Ferrari would be turning over in their graves.