how much would you say a good set up cost

I think it is very possible and reasonable to have a decent system for $2000-3000.

I have spent a whole lot of money in this hobby only to learn that you don't have to spend a whole lot of money to get good sound.

I had 30 k invested.. I was able to achieve far more ergonomic, better frequency response, and better performance all together after understanding more principles of the game a few years later and now having only 6,000 total invested :-)

Plus you just feel far better about yourself when you sit there starring at a couple of amps that cost you 1 fifth the cost over others that don't sound better. So it all depends on how dirty your willing to get your hands, and how many little risks your willing to take to get you there.

If you have money to burn and it makes no difference and this is not the route to take, because its a long one.

By the way I would never consider at this point from experience spending more, because I know for my personal taste it will not satisfy, this is just "Audio" its actually not that difficult nor is it anything hi tech involved quite honestly.

There is ultimately no specific cost to pinpoint this optimal performance level you seek, it will vary quite a bit from personality to person.

I will add this final note(maybe a hint) most of the big money necessary would be spent into a great room.. Those don't come cheap at all.. And can at a minimum set somebody back anywhere from 500 to 15,000...

Undertow beat me to it. I'd agree that the room is potentially the most expensive, most often neglected and critical links to getting great sound from any system. Everyone has their threshold of both investment and discrimination of investment/improvement ratio. Comparing to others doesn't really make much sense - there will always be those with both more and less invested and who are happy as clams or frustrated with their lack of synergy. That is reflected already in the range of answers here and on other similar threads. I like Lincoln's answer to a similar question: when asked, "How big should a man's legs be" he responded, "Big enough to reach the ground."

I agree with Musicnoise, once you get past the crap stuff from the box stores and into nicer equipment, you are paying huge sums for that next 1% better sound. Generically, I think about $2000 thoughtfully spent gets you a very good sounding system. Everything after that is just small incremntal improvements. It is fun to mess wit the stuff though.