Is there a ceiling limit on what you are willing to pay for an audio component?

The muscle man on YouTube has about as much experience with hifi as I did when I was in my 20’s. His Wilson’s were not even set up properly by Wilson Audio or a dealer. He got them used and they were set up for the last guy’s room!
Anyway in terms of budget. You shouldn’t have one until you get the sound you want. You really need to spend what you need to spend to get the results needed so you don’t need anymore equipment after that. If you don’t get to the goal you are pissing in the wind chasing a fantasy dream instead. So if you get to your goal sonically who cares what it cost you? I never had a customer tell me their retirement dream costs too much!

@ghdprentice

@kennyc

yep …, well said, sirs! There is no “limit”,full stop. The ONLY factors are the thickness of your wallet, paired with the bespoke personal preferences in this crazy hobby.

@jbhiller

You express a good point about the merits of exhibiting a general politeness in a public forum, However I can also appreciate the point of view expressed of other readers… it may not have been intended by the OP, but this post can be viewed as little more than a dig of an upper tier product envy, that is not a good look in any case.

Pretty simple: my audio system has to stay within the cost of my current sports car, < $125k. It’s a compromise my wife and I made years ago, 1 hobby can’t be more expensive than the cost of the other. Also, must pay cash for everything. Don’t have the cash, for house, cars, toys, no purchase.

Apparently my limit is just below 20K for my system but in my mind it should be below 10K. I'm apparently weak and rationalize more than I should.

Quck story:

We have a (very) extended family member who happens to be a centi-millionaire. I can’t remember whether he just bought, or sold, an asset for $90M. This amount of money was a staggering to me. Sorry for the confusion.

He just turned 60 and still has the modest ($1K) system he purchased while in college. A while back his receiver stopped working and he complained about what it would cost to get it repaired. I had a spare Nakamichi TA-2 receiver in my loft that I packed up and shipped to him as a "loaner" untiul he got his old receiver fixed. That was 8 years ago. Oh yeah, he has a $50k piece of artwork hanging above the system. Maybe the the artwork missed up the acoustics and he just gave up on the whole hi-fi thing as a result? Probably not.

We had a retired truck driver as a customer years ago. He loved music and the stuff needed to reproduce it. He liked audio more than he liked his decades old daily driver that we’d load up with pretty decent hi-fi gear quite regularly. Sometimes things wouldn’t fit in his car, or were too heavy or bulky to handle, so we’d provide the grunt needed to get it there and put it in place. He liked to set up and mess with his own gear. I’m pretty sure his investment in audio was in the double digits related to his total portfolio. The centi-millionaire -- .01%.

When the perfect storm of love for music and reproducing that music accurately at home hits you, it can be quite invigorating. The wallet opens, and money falls out. As with any "indulgences", true enthusiasts are quite involved and want to get up close and personal with all things connected to the hobby. This would include an appreciation for the "state-of-the-art" -- whatever that is. Audio has it’s Bugattis. And, it’s used fox-bodied Mustangs. True car guys "get" the differences. The subtle. And, the not-so-subtle. And, so do true audio enthusiasts.

So, if your audio ceiling is set at a modest level, and you have the financial headroom to purchase truly exceptional audio gear, you probably need to pick another hobby that you fully resonant with. Like art?