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

@tonywinga 

Great story. 
 

I think most of us that have been spurred on to chase the very best possible have a story of two of when we heard something that was just so far above what we thought possible that it has inspired us and left a lasting impression. Me to. 

I Want to pay 15,000 bucks max...

Even if i had a billion in my bank account..

Why ?

Because i know what i am doing and why i do it...

I know exactly which components will give me the best optimal S.Q. /low price ratio in the world right now for the least of money...

If you dont know where you must go and why, you then throw money at high price tag because with ignorance of basic acoustic concept and no experience and experiments with it, you dont know what to do first, save throwing money at costly components which had enough good reviews and are the costlier one...

I did not and will not do that... All my components will be chosen for specific acoustic reason first...not for esthetic or brand name but for their probable acoustic delivery in relation with the headphone or the speakers/room chosen...

But i am now with headphone ... I will pick the two other components for optimizing the specific headphone i own... I will not replace my 100 bucks headphone for any other at any price...Or perhaps i will upgrade with the orpheus Sennheise at 55,000 bucks to make people envious...But it is way over my 15,000 bucks dreamed and top of the world system... i am not even sure that the Orpheus will be better on ALL acoustic factors... At this price i will not upgrade to experience  an improvement on most acoustic factor except one or two... 😊

@mahgister

Ok. You are completely calibrated for your income level. You completely understand the sound quality / price levels and understand the optimal point. Now, say, your income level and savings quadruples.

So, do you seriously mean to say you don’t change your buying behavior? No. BS. Absolutely not. You can pontificate as much as you want, give as much to charity as you want… but you are going to realize that the X sounds better and will only cost you .1% more of your income.

Sorry. But your income is one of the two key determinates of the sq/value equation. If you really love sound quality and your income goi]es up, so does your carefully calculated equation of sq/price. This is the way humans work.

I Want to pay 15,000 bucks max...

Even if i had a billion in my bank account..

I would only pay a hundred bucks for a designer handbag. Even if I had a billion dollars in my bank account. Why? Because handbags are not my thing. Maybe audio is not YOUR thing? Honest question.

@ghdprentice :

You are completely calibrated for your income level.

Yup. Spot on. Whoever claims otherwise is BSing others, or even worse, themselves 

Some years back I recall Jewelry Stores pushing the line that you should spend three months salary on a wedding ring for your wife.  Well, I suggest that a stereo system should cost one year’s salary- if you really want to call yourself an audiophile…

(Of course I would never spend that much.  That’s nuts.)

That is certainly not a good idea.  Most of us have to get a mortgage for a home that is 2.5 times our salaries.  And then spend decades paying that.

It is mostly a hobby for well off old men and devoted struggling young men.  Always has been.  Prices for high end gear from the 1950s to now has always been in the unaffordable range for most.

As for me I’m hopeless.  I got the bug in college and found ways to satisfy my lust for audio as best I could.  I lived in Europe for 2.5 years with a Sony receiver and some B&W speakers that I bought in a shop in Stuttgart.  The Hifi was packed away back home.  I was in shear bliss when I got back to the US and got my hifi up and running again.  Absence did make the heart grow fonder.