I discovered this excellent forum when I bought a Nait XS3 as part of an upgrade to my aging system. I mostly come here for the Music section, but I find this subsection curious.
PMC speakers, Musical Fidelity CD, Naim Amp, SPL headphone amp, Cocktail Audio Streamer along with a pair of Heddphone 2GT cans, has cost me about €1000- 2000 for each unit. So my audio system has run to €10,000 in total. On the headphone side, my ears tell me that I have reached a very good level. On the speaker side, I realise there is some room for improvement, but not much.
I read a post on this forum about a €32,000 turntable. Online Hi Fi mags and forums talk about amplifiers and speakers with this sort of cost as if they are pretty normal mainstream prices for Hi Fi gear.
I begin to think my system is maybe Pauper Fi rather than Hi Fi.
How much must one spend to have an enjoyable sound experience at home?
Good sound is subjective, a basic setup can produce excellent sound and if the owner doesn’t want to upgrade or cannot afford to upgrade that sound will be good forevermore.
Spending a lot on a system doesn’t guarantee good sound especially if the parts don’t gel.
Not a lot really. Currently using a system around £2000 including a Nait 50. It sounds so musical it’s hard to drag yourself away. I’ve spent over 40 years chasing the holy grail and coming up short in both satisfaction and my bank balance. If you’ve got good synergy between your components (easier said than done) your 90% of the way there.
You can get a modest system that gives a lot of listening enjoyment. You can also spend a fortune on a system that doesn’t give musical enjoyment.
If you enjoy listening to your music of choice on your system, then you have a good system. This is true of every price point. Of course, a more expensive system might have more detail, better imagery, etc, but that doesn’t always equate to more enjoyment. I have only upgraded if the new component(s) give me more enjoyment of my music.
Like you @Rambus the missing link was the Nait 50 and as you say it’s just so musical.
I changed out my 6 year old Naim nait 5si for the 50 and it was one of those moments you realise that’s it ! I think my set up tot’s up to about £4000/4500 in total and i love it.
How much one needs to spend depends on SQ goals and budget but not always. For me, it is about how much components integrate into the whole of the system. Over the years I chased many expensive components, looking for the holy grail, but they never really functioned well together or sounded great in my difficult room. It was only when I began with Rega and then Naim that I saw consistency. When I moved to Naim. I started out with SN3, ND5XS2, HicsplDr, Focal Utopia and Spendor A4. Hardly entry level, but it was similar to what I spent for my prior Rega system, adjusted for inflation, which got destroyed in a home renovation. For me, sticking with a single brand, where possible produces best results. Also having a great dealer that knows your environment is key. Both my current and former dealer met my requirements in that regard. My former dealer was no longer able to provide the needed home support which my current dealer can. Switching dealers was the impetus for moving to Naim. Supporting dealers is critical when putting together a system IMHO.
You may as well ask how much one needs to spend on a pair of pants. Any pair will cover your hairy arse, but some will be happy with something from the market for a couple of quid while others will insist on a fancy designer number costing hundreds.
My previous system was a huge heavy power amp that is sought after SH, as well as a Hegel Pre amp. My Nait XS3 which was a fraction of the price of those items new, was a revelation, when matched with PNC bookshelf speakers.
I often listen in the evenings to music with a fag packet sized Astell & Kern plater, with a pair of fairly economic Shure 1540 cans. I enjoy my music in just the same way as I do with my more upmarket Hp amp and headphones.
My Qb2 makes the sweetest music, albeit fed with FLAC from my UnitiCore, but it sounds pretty good when fed by Tidal.
However, I think I’d describe it as this, I’m sure when I had a Pioneer 12d turntable, amp and little Wharfedale speakers I was just as passionate about music but now I undoubtably have a greater insight to the music.
The amount of money you spend isn’t necessarily related to the enjoyment you will get. I’ve listened to some reasonably priced systems (around 1’500-3’000€) that were way more engaging than 100’000€ systems.
Those cheaper systems I mentioned basically captured the essence of a good and engaging listening experience, that is what really matters in my opinion. Spending more won’t necessarily give you better results but if you choose carefully you will surely get better bass, texture, clarity, soundstage, etc.
But a good and honest sound? Actually less money than most people think.
Some reasonable systems I’ve tested were:
Rega IO / Rega Planar 1 / Q-Acoustics 3020 C
Rega Brio MK7 / Rega Planar 3 / Q-Acoustics 5040
But if you can consider the second hand market you can spend even less.
Likewise…as a student I scrabbled together funds to buy a Rotel CD player, Cyrus 2 amp and some cheap KEF K140 speakers. Taking into account inflation, I think this lot cost less than £1000. Sounded fantastic although my ears were much better then.
It sounds as if you have an objectively excellent system. From now on it is the law of diminishing returns. I have a second system Nait2, blusound node, sonolab speakers that sounds 90% as good as my main systems which costs 15x more. If you wanted to fiddle with things it would be source improvement as the best possible improvement is an excellent source, then maybe the speakers. You could get both of these second hand. But really, it may be best to avoid this hifi forum as it is a real rabbit hole.
In my humble opinion you need at minimum a system like Wilson Benesh Graviton, Vac Statement Pre and Monos, Wadax streamer/ server/ clock, and Magico M9, to begin to enjoy properly your favourite music.
Lots of replies confirm what I found when I went down the Headphones rabbit hole ( for various reasons I use my headphones more than my speakers). Choosing components that match, choosing substance over price and choosing carefully, can save a lot of money.