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

Your post is a stunning example for all... Congratulations! and my thanks for your experience communication and invitation... ... I wish i could go alas! ...It will be an encouragement  for beginners to think a bit  and experimented a bit BEFORE upgrading too rapidly ...

My best to you ...

So then, with less than $6K invested (using a 22 year old Yamaha RX-Z9 receiver, in "Pure Direct" mode, purchased new with over 30K hours on it now), plus countless hours of speaker development/tweaking (in the room they are used in), and an Oppo95 SACD...,

When people who do listen to systems say it sounds better than some six figure systems they’ve heard, we’ve met the goal?

I’ve never heard a system that throws a soundstage so big and precise, and I’ve heard Magicos, Focal, etc. and I have JBL L200/300s, L112s, One-Off Altec Big Red Supers (furniture-grade, 15.5 cu ft ext vol, custom made, tri-amped), Chartwell LS3/5As), and anyone in Orange County, CA is welcome to come by and hear it for themselves

I cannot contradict mapman wise post...

😁

Most people outside these "high-end" parts would not consider my stuff low cost. For example, I just got a nice deal on a pair of mint Sonus Faber’s from someone locally (compared to other popular options you might read as touted here), but even then still more than most people would ever shell out for a pair of speakers. It’s really not hard at all to get top notch sound for modest cost these days, even with a very modest budget and very high audiophile-level type expectations going in. It just requires doing your homework and a lot of patience perhaps.

If headphones are sufficient to meet one’s needs, you really have it made! Do the homework and find that ~$150 for ear monitors and dongle + an existing Smartphone or tablet with streaming can get you sound that is reference standard by any objective measure quite easily. That would be the absolute lowest cost setup I could identify that is capable of providing reference quality sound. Disclaimer: reference quality may not be to everyone’s liking. That is more a matter of personal preference. In that case, it’s even easier, you just buy whatever sounds good to you and that’s all that matters.

Went through a few posts here and the only conclusion I came to is that you are offended by whatever words others choose.

+1 @milpai  .

It is not wrong... 😊

+2 immatthewj

As i said i had a reactive temper... No one is perfect ... But i dont doubt myself ... And i dont need others opinions about my sound experience in my room ... I just like discussing sincerely and reading others similar experience  ...Especially since my retirement ...

Went through a few posts here and the only conclusion I came to is that you are offended by whatever words others choose.

+1 @milpai .

My thread intention then i hope it is now clear, was only that : a celebration by some of us about our relative successes in the scale ratio S.Q. /low cost, and the pleasurable occasion to read others explanations about this relative success i called : the minimal acoustical satisfaction threshold and level ... 😊

This is also meant to be  an invitation for the beginners to think BEFORE upgrading too prematurely BEFORE trying experiments  or uselessly if they are not in the ideal room condition anyway  ...