Are there other people like me ? Amazed by their low cost system :)

I don’t have a big budget but that doesn’t mean I can’t have great sound. And if I had to choose between time and money, for what would benefit me more to improve my system, I would choose time (learning, searching, experimenting).

In my opinion you are completely right ...

😊

The pride and joy we must have as the experienced result of our own creativity exceed in duration by far most costlier upgrades... And sometimes as in my case the ultimate upgrade will exceed 15 times my actual 1000 bucks system value ... I dont need it even if it will be better for sure...

Minimal acoustical satisfaction goes a long way... 😊

But many people dont understand what i spoke about...

Because their system is too faulty and a stopgap they cannot know about the minimal and maximal satisfaction threshold differences..

We dont learn that by going to showroom where the room is never optimized , we learn that by learning in our own room experiments...

I'm constantly delighted with the sound of my system, and quite proud of it's low cost compared to .......

I have nearly all restored vintage, as my virtual systems show:

https://forum.audiogon.com/users/elliottbnewcombjr?_gl=1*x51yz6*_ga*ODgyNzE5NDc3LjE2OTg1MjM1MDg.*_ga_SR0PMVVEN1*MTcwOTY2MTg0MS4xMTcuMS4xNzA5NjY0NDg5LjIyLjAuMA..

Other types of Investments do come into play:

Lucky with inheritances and gifts; asking and applying advice from members here or elsewhere; researching; 45 years experience; mr. fix it tools and skills; loving a 'great deal', i.e. working to recognize, find, pounce on a great deal for me or a friend; just dumb luck.

I believe you ought to like something each time you look at it, whether in use or just there.

I'm most proud of my Turntable with 3 Tonearms. Not only do I love using/hearing it, I marvel at the fact that I put it together for a total of $5,500.

JVC TT81 Quartz Direct Drive Spinner; JVC seven layer Plinth (with dust cover!); 12.5" tonearm (new, from Russia); Acos Lustre GST-801 Tonearm; Mission 774LC; Fidelity Research FRT-4 SUT; 3 Cartridges: MC,MM, Mono; Two New Phono Cables.

Restored/Maintained Vintage Equipment in my office and garage/shop systems are also a source of joy and great memories of each piece acquired. 

Marvellous system great creativity,.... Thanks for posting elliottbnewcombjr

I feel less alone.... 😊

Interesting virtual page :

https://forum.audiogon.com/users/elliottbnewcombjr

The main reason I go to audio shows is so I can have a reference to compare my system to. You get to listen to expensive and professionally tuned systems and determine where your system stands. If you don’t listen to other systems how could you possibly know? Highly recommended.

Shows/hotel rooms are terrible places to audit what some equipment is capable of. It is best that such audits happen in the houses of audiophiles with treated tweaked rooms.

The best example of this is a blind test in Spain where they had 30 audiophiles do a blind listening test of a $500 front end. A dirt cheap $200 Crown, class D amp, using the cheapest cables vs. a $12,000 front end. Conclusion of the test: 1/3 picked the cheap system...1/3 picked the expensive system ...1/3 couldn’t tell a difference.

The buffoon in the white coat getting high n mighty on the linked vid doesn’t seem to understand that there is a big difference in the test subject pool.

For example, i have 5 violins, an instrument i’ve been closely associated with for 40+ years. I could play something on two of them and no one in the room would hear a difference between the 2 instruments. But, i sure as hell can...If you played some violin solos on different equipment, it is fairly easy for me to pin point which is which. Play something else like....some twangy country or Diana Krall squealing away and i could give a rats behind on what i heard or not, failed a blind test or not.

It would be silly to say that every test subject out there is trained the same way, has the same ears. The typical "audiophile" is maybe not the best test subject if you wanna get hardcore with the blind test (play it to the bone).