For those of you who had spent over hundred thousand dollars for your sound system.

I suspect that the Uber wealthy entrust component selection to the "experts" and don't care how much it costs, so long as the well paid experts make sure it works optimally, and is something that the owner can brag about to their Uber wealthy associates in a "my D is bigger than your D because my system cost $$$$$!" way.  God bless them! I sincerely hope that some day my bankroll is big enough to leave scuff marks on the ceiling with my nose, too! In the meantime, I will be satisfied with experiences I can enjoy with my middle class budget.

Having worked since I was 15 and a wife that made me invest all the time. We retired a nice nest egg. We never had any kids. During the pandemic, I decided to get back into audio and get out my old cd collection. This eventually led into vinyl again. I have not added up what I have spent but is is close to the 100k. I do not regret any of it. I enjoy every minute I spend listening. 

Almost all of the people I know who have ultra high end systems do not at all try to impress anyone, if anything, they hide their addiction.  If anyone, aside from audio friends, knew how much I spent on the gear, that would totally confirm their suspicions that I am nuts.  

How would I explain that a 4-meter interconnect cost $18,000?  How would I explain that the midrange drivers in my system were made around 1949 and currently cost around $30,000 for a matched pair?  This is only discussed among other audio crazies.

I don’t regret it at all. For me, it was money spent over the course of a number of years, and part of the audiophile “upgrade” process so to speak. In fact, it still goes on today. That’s what make this hobby a hobby for me. If I had spent the money all at once it might have not been as satisfied, and a hard pill to swallow  I think that’s the key. I’m glad I did it that way. 

I could have never gotten here without going on near fifty years experience at least listening to relatively high end systems. The building in earnest has taken place over last nearly thirty years. As with some others, I purchased much used components over the years, sold with little loss, incremental gains.

I can't see how you can gain  knowledge of what your sound preferences are without experience of having heard and/or built a number of systems over some years. I built systems with SS and less efficient speakers, push pull tubes with various power tubes, medium efficient speakers, and finally a variety of SET with extremely efficient speakers. I've had single driver, two way, three way, multi driver speakers, box, open baffle, horn speakers. I've had any number of turntables, belt drive and direct drive, many dacs. I've gone from cd's to streaming, with streaming being rather like building an entire system in itself. I've modded much equipment over the years, even learned how much individual parts can change sound quality.

I've gone from overly analytical to overly romantic systems. I've had systems both lacking and excelling  in various parameters of audiophile attributes.

All this costs time and money, I couldn't have done it any other way. The amazing thing is, while I'm still modifying and changing peripheral items in system, I could live with exact present system for the rest of my audiophile life. I've been experiencing completely satisfying performers in room experience for perhaps two year now, while some of the minor changes I've made in that time have been lateral or backward moves, listening sessions have remained totally satisfying. I consider I'm now in final phase of audiophile experience, the place where you've attained the goals you set so many years ago.