What does 90% of the Absolute Best Sound Cost?

P.S.S. - Apologies for belaboring the reply but, if there is one thing that is critically important in my opinion, it's this. When choosing speakers, first consider your listening practices. If you sit in the same chair, and listen to your music, certain speakers like Magnepan's can deliver exceptional results.  However, if you plan to have your system in an environment where you will be moving around and/or other people will be listening, you must consider speakers that deliver good performance off axis, vertically and horizontally. Electrostatic speakers like Magnepans, Martin Logan's, et al can be magnificent if you are positioned in a very finite space.  On the other hand, Source Point speakers like the MoFi 888, nearly all KEF Uni-Q speakers, Fyne Audio, Tannoy, and more offer much wider listening area with excellent quality.  My Magnepans are EXCEPTIONAL on axis but, 6 feet in any direction and they suck. My KEF R7's sound amazing throughout the listening room. Very consistent but perhaps, not as good as the Magnepans in the "sweet spot".

Matt C

@mattsca 

Your question has an infinite number of answers. My brother is completely happy listening to all his music from the 1/4” speakers in his phone.  My good friend Dan still has the stereo he bought when we were in college (the early seventies) and he’s still just as happy with the sound. Everyone is so different. Me,  I’ve been buying, selling, and swapping hifi since the seventies and have I had a good (to my ears) system. 
We’re all different.

+1 @curiousjim

How do we arrive at 90%? I love the sound of Gryphon Commander+Apex, but how do we reduce it to an equivalent 90%? Turntables, how high to climb aka spend to reach the 90%? Cartridges- how to get 90% of a sound like a Koetsu?

I understand the OP wants to come up with some number to maybe be a guide, but our different subjective preferences, commitment to this hobby, and very different budgets prevents a cost to be universally fitting.

FWIW, since I am replacing everything that was in my prime system with 'reasonable' SOTA compnents, I am expecting to drop 50-65K. I am still pondering speaker choice and final amplification and processor choice but it will be in that range. I have a delightfully compliant wife who indulges my 'addiction' mostly because she benefits from whatever I choose because its freely shared. I'm expecting that sum to give my aging ears and eyes as good a presentation of music or movies as I can discern. Could I possibly do better? Possibly, but I have one shot at this due to the situation so we are going for conservative or proven new innovations in our component selection. This will be my last hurrah and I am determined to get it as close to perfection as I reasonably can on the first pass, since the first pass is gonna largely be the only pass I will get. Long term satisfaction and stable top-shelf performance is the goal here. I fully expect to make a few mistakes in my selection and fixing those will be costly. Its just how it is.

The secondary system will be considerably less money and probably feature a completely different approach. Variety is the spice of life especially in A/V gear. I am guessing this will be approaching 25k

My office system is likely to be 2 channel only and I have already acquired that equipment for the most part. I'll end up with about 8-10k in this one.

The Primary system will represent the best I can do for my situation and so lets set that at 100%. The secondary A/V system at 25k will be every bit 90% of the primary though with a slightly different flavor.

Finally the bedroom system is set at 80% of the primary. I expect to have roughly 12K in it when I am done.

Bear in mind this is buying all components new, TVs and all the rest.

FWIW, since I am replacing everything that was in my prime system with 'reasonable' SOTA compnents, I am expecting to drop 50-65K. I am still pondering speaker choice and final amplification and processor choice but it will be in that range. I have a delightfully compliant wife who indulges my 'addiction' mostly because she benefits from whatever I choose because its freely shared. I'm expecting that sum to give my aging ears and eyes as good a presentation of music or movies as I can discern. Could I possibly do better? Possibly, but I have one shot at this due to the situation so we are going for conservative or proven new innovations in our component selection. This will be my last hurrah and I am determined to get it as close to perfection as I reasonably can on the first pass, since the first pass is gonna largely be the only pass I will get. Long term satisfaction and stable top-shelf performance is the goal here. I fully expect to make a few mistakes in my selection and fixing those will be costly. Its just how it is.

The secondary system will be considerably less money and probably feature a completely different approach. Variety is the spice of life especially in A/V gear. I am guessing this will be approaching 25k

My office system is likely to be 2 channel only and I have already acquired that equipment for the most part. I'll end up with about 8-10k in this one.

The Primary system will represent the best I can do for my situation and so lets set that at 100%. The secondary A/V system at 25k will be every bit 90% of the primary though with a slightly different flavor.

Finally the bedroom system is set at 80% of the primary. I expect to have roughly 12K in it when I am done.

Bear in mind this is buying all components new, TVs and all the rest.