How cheap can you go and still be happy with the sound?

I have come to realize that music can be enjoyed on almost anything from a portable radio to a pair of EV Patricians or whatever.... but getting to true perfection is as unreachable a goal as going faster than the speed of light...and the closer we get takes more and more money for the next increment of improvement.

Sometimes I find myself listening to a recording that if I close my eyes I can almost suspend my disbelief in the illusion of it being live. In those rare moments it feels miraculous that such a thing can happen and I cherish each one of them. I had one such occurrence the other evening when watching a clip on Youtube about how Steinway pianos are built. In the video, there were numerous snippets of audio of one of their pianos being played in an acoustically favorable environment by world renown musicians and there were bits and pieces of those snippets that suspended my disbelief momentarily. I was truly shocked that I could get that level of quality out of a youtube clip but it was right there in the room with me. Certainly not all recordings today are made with the care that audiophiles would appreciate, but this one was and when I think back to what it was like in the bad old days listening to records with the pops and clicks and rather poor standards that applied to their manufacture, I think we really are in something of a golden age now. Speakers are better than ever, the electronics certainly are very good in general, and some of the source material is way better than we ever had on vinyl. That's not to say all vinyl pressings were of low quality, because that is just not true, but many of them were not nearly as good as they could have been. That I am north of 70 and my hearing is not what it once was has not diminished in the slightest my appreciation for good recordings or good music. Playing an instrument helps keep your appreciation of well recorded music fine tuned as well as your appreciation for those who also play ( and much better than I do ). 

Music meaning is no more, no less, in the sound, that our thought content is in our gesture speech act. They intersect without being identical as twins conjointed for life.

I value my very good system speakers or headphone but it has nothing to do for or with my taste in music.

But because it is better to convey the same spoken message in a good clearer and more beautiful way with a clear throat, i want a very good audio/room system.

@livinon2wheels 

Your username says it all.  And, yes, being upside down with your head under a dashboard with feet sticking straight up out the top of a sports car is not as appealing as it used to be.  Those air compressors are noisey little <expletive>.

I don’t subscribe to any audio hobby anathema with a  “race to the bottom system price-wise “ as a yardstick to measure audio performance satisfaction.

i have four systems ranging from $5K to $50K. The “A” system is the go-to critical listening rig. Each of the others has its own bespoke utility and performance quotient that makes me comparatively “happy” in the context of “ good enough”.to meet its planned use.

@waytoomuchstuff I agree with you there, I spent quite a few years in SCCA chasing whatever flavor appealed to me at the time and it was mandatory to do my own work on the cars due to the cost of farming it out. It didn't help the cost of having a competitive car went up about 10-15% per year and eventually got to the place where it was no longer financially affordable to compete regularly. Never lost the hunger for it though and to this day attempt to have a slow, track ready car that I can at least go play on track days. That option is, due to inflation, going away now and so I am officially retired from motorsport involvement. Enjoying recorded music feeds my soul in a vital way that I cannot give up regardless of cost. Since feeding that hunger is necessary to continued sanity, I am attempting to rebuild several systems I had in my home before it burned this past spring. This is by necessity a slow process. I bought a pair of Ohm Walsh 2000s that I am pretty fond of for my office/music room. In combination with a pair of SVS PC2000 Pro subs, and a 500wpc VTV/Hypex NC502 amplifier, and an Emotiva PT1 Dac/preamp and my trusty crusty Dell THX certified computer, I have a nice sounding 2 channel setup for listening to music or watching videos. So for something like 8K approximately its pretty darn good. Is there better out there? Doubtful you could find better for the same money, but who knows? It was all bought new so its under warranty and should last a long time before needing to think about replacement. At 72 its unlikely I will ever need to replace any of it either due to age related issues or because it has fallen that far behind technological advances. Though now that I have said that, Murphy's law will prove me wrong.