Where do you put your money?

since the house has pretty much tripled it is “ free “….. the vinyl about double….some of the protection copy masters are…well you get the gist on appreciating assets…

the rest is just temporary

but for grins…Seattle system

Speakers 36%
Amps 28%
Pre 9%
DAC / Server 9%
TT / Phono 8%
Cables / Misc Vibe ctl, etc… 10%

or California , get with it…also free

Speakers 25%
amp 4% ( stole it and rebuilt )
NAS /DAC/Pre 11%
TT related 50%
cables / etc…. 10%

impossible task for the vintage gear……i rebuilt the ESL 63 from auction trash…..

You sure got lucky on the ESL 63's!

Glad to see most have kept a good sense of humor about this one.  Obviously a difficult subject to approach and evaluate. However it's obvious that there are as many ways to approach this hobby as there are people. Of course my numbers seem skewed, but it is natural since I built a listening house and not a listening room in a house. Hence the very high percentage in room construction and acoustic treatment. Other than that, I think my percentages being higher in music than equipment shows I may still be a little more music lover than audiophile. Even so I am often anal about my system as the door sign on my house of stereo describes. Anyway, thanks for partaking and have a great weekend.

"Looks like you have your room to a point to just get speakers in their optimum position. Good job.
IMO, more significant than any aftermarket tweaks, fancy cables or other audiopoolery".

Yeah, well some of us don't have the luxury of dedicating an entire room to audio. . . but if I did, a pool to relax in while listening might be quite nice, especially as the climate continues to heat up. 

Newly designed multi-purpose room ... sticking to 2-channel purpose only (all equipment except bass traps already sourced, but traps are included in the price below)  ...

Room construction: ??? (let's assume $0 for this exercise as it will be built anyway)
Room treatment (Partial DIY): $2,000 (~47%)
Speakers (DIY): $1,400                       (~35%)
Amp: $500                                           (~12%)
DAC: $140                                           (~2-3%)
Laptop: $150                                       (~2-3%)
Cables: $100                                       (~2%)
Echo Dot: $20                                     (0.5%)

Source material: $13/month  (~3% per year)

Since it was done over a 30-year time period, I have no clue what I spent on my ripped CDs and Bandcamp before going totally streaming. I'd estimate maybe $4,000 ... about the same cost as everything above.


ATMOS home theater system in same room is distinct and costs more (the subwoofers alone were $2,200 total (used)), but obviously shares the room treatment cost.

Obviously, I put way more stock in room treatments and speakers than anything else.