how much would you say a good set up cost

oh, just in case ..all new...dual turntable(auto rules), onkyo integrated(if it was german it would be 3 grand), ohm micro walsh tall(real bass and no friggin stands), any garden variety front load cd player(no cd players are that good,or that bad)...3500 bucks total (give or take).....hey, you're ready to go up against many of the 100k rooms at any tradeshow.....ps, fill your house with records and cd's......there are lots of other combos as well.

$30 > $35K does seem about right for a new (not second-hand) near-reference stereo system. This range seems to be the current sweet-spot for tier-one rated components, based on today's new retail pricing. The good news is, that if done right, there is very little sonic-incentive to go much beyond this range, at least from what I have heard.

I don't think that most people today consider a $30K Rig a "show off System", as some here have mentioned, not at a time where $100K Home Theater Systems are par for the course, at least among the professional class - as I would imagine most of us here belong to.

I don't think that most people today consider a $30K Rig a "show off System", as some here have mentioned, not at a time where $100K Home Theater Systems are par for the course, at least among the professional class - as I would imagine most of us here belong to.

The VAST majority of people in this country (and certainly far greater on this planet) would most certainly consider those price ranges utterly absurd. Let me emphasize the word "VAST" as the ratio would be on a staggering proportion. I don't know what you mean by "professional class" but if you are referring to our level of income, I would maintain that you could isolate those in higher levels of income (in this country at least) and, though you may bring that ratio down a bit, I think you'd find that priorities are not even remotely resembling what you are intimating here..that is in looking beyond the demographic that makes up the tiny segment of folks posting on this specialty site. You are preaching to the choir here so you'll probably get plenty of folks agreeing, but out in the real world it sure doesn't prove out that way in my experience. I routinely go into multi-million dollar homes as part of my business. Audiophiles are a rare breed, even among the very wealthy. In over 25 years in my business and visiting countless people of all walks of life, people who put that kind of priority on audio/video gear are by far the very tiny minority. At least that's been my experience. I would also still contend that the threshold of investment where huge dollars yield very minor improvements is well below the prices you are suggesting. I'd qualify this with the contention that most people are not discriminating enough to either hear or care about such differences (obviously some of the present company would be excluded from that observation).

30 - 35K for a "near reference system"???? Spoken like a true retailer.