This is a most interesting thread. I agree with many of the posters that people tend to look at the things that they lust after, I know I do. I think that I can relate well to both sides of this issue. My first system(and only system prior to my current one) was an NAD integrated, a Nakamichi CD player, and vandersteen 1A speakers. I loved that system nearly as much as I love the one I have now. It probably cost a greater percentage of my net worth at the time as well! It was all about loving music and wanting it to sound good. I didn't know much about the physics of constructing a system. I just happened to stumble into a high end dealer looking for those tiny Bose cubes (embarrasing but true story...thought they might impress the girls!) and he showed me things I had never seen before. Fortunately he talked me out of the Bose and introduced me to the high end. I learned from that experience that quality could be less expensive than junk.
I don't think there was an Audiogon then (1993), but if I knew about it, I certainly would have looked at all the fancy systems, but gotten ideas from the simpler ones. I certainly think my current system qualifies as Mega Buck. I have never actually added it all up. I started constructing it about 3 years ago. I really knew very little about high end audio or how to put a great system together. Audiogon has helped me a great deal, and I have looked at thousands of systems on this website. You can learn a great deal from the experiences of others. I am guilty like many others of looking at pretty systems filled with super expensive components more than the others. I agree that it is human nature to do so.
I would say, however, that most of the people who have mega buck systems now, at one time didn't! Only the most petty and insecure would look down on someone else's system based on cost. I think many of the mega buck people are secretly afraid that some of the less expensive systems might sound better than theirs. I know I hope I don't encounter one of those!:-) I would feel like a Jacka** for wasting my money. In reality any system that costs over $10,000 is a megabuck system. That's what my wife thinks ours costs and she is apalled.
I don't think there was an Audiogon then (1993), but if I knew about it, I certainly would have looked at all the fancy systems, but gotten ideas from the simpler ones. I certainly think my current system qualifies as Mega Buck. I have never actually added it all up. I started constructing it about 3 years ago. I really knew very little about high end audio or how to put a great system together. Audiogon has helped me a great deal, and I have looked at thousands of systems on this website. You can learn a great deal from the experiences of others. I am guilty like many others of looking at pretty systems filled with super expensive components more than the others. I agree that it is human nature to do so.
I would say, however, that most of the people who have mega buck systems now, at one time didn't! Only the most petty and insecure would look down on someone else's system based on cost. I think many of the mega buck people are secretly afraid that some of the less expensive systems might sound better than theirs. I know I hope I don't encounter one of those!:-) I would feel like a Jacka** for wasting my money. In reality any system that costs over $10,000 is a megabuck system. That's what my wife thinks ours costs and she is apalled.