Focal Utopia 2022 headphones which I thought were shockingly overpriced but on hearing them was immediately convinced…… and have been ever since 
.
ATB, J
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Chord Dave DAC perhaps falls into this, certainly very expensive but I’m not sure I would have called it ridiculously so. When I first heard it I was expecting to spend no more than half its cost on a DAC, but just a few seconds into hearing it made me rethink. The sound was so good that it was worth any money, just a question of whether it was affordable (and to me it was not beyond the bounds of achievability).
it was not beyond the bounds of achievability).
I think I would call my present speakers, PMC MB2, in their current iteration ridiculously expensive - They are effectively a development of the IMF RSPM I used to have, which cost something like £300 in 1970, equivalent to around £7k today, but the current MB2 is around £35k, a factor of 5 higher. Yes, distinctly better, but 5x the cost better??! (I bought secondhand for £500 in 1990, equivalent to around £1.7k today.) The MB2 is absolutely worth having, a fabulous speaker, but no way would I pay that much - so the answer was to find a pair of sufficient age to be a bargain, even though that cost (£5k) may yet be more than a lot of people on this forum spend on speakers.
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Pretty much everything I bought after my new Cyrus 2 amp (1995?)
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this is the NAIM forum……
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For me , are those Valhalla 2 cables
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When I first bought the LP12, but you get used to it.
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No - all very reasonable. Although my wife thought all of it was ridiculously expensive.
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All the components of my current system fit into this. The result is my savings took a big hit, but I am very happy listening to music through it.
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@paulbysea Mine too, but I had no regrets. I found my purchases to be fairly priced given the SQ improvement. For me, fair or exorbitant depends on budget and system priorities. Is a component’s price more than I want to spend!
I’m reluctant to tell anyone how much I spent for my Chord Sarum interconnects.
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A Shunyata Sigma NR power cord. It cost me as much as 3-4 Rega Brios!
Technics SLPS50 CD player for £235.
Ridiculously expensive, I hear you cry?
Definitely - it was 1991 and I was 17.
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Fortunately my demands are pretty modest and luckily I do not have golden ears.
So I have searched out products that are fairly priced and are at a certain level.
For example stuff in the €1500-€3000 bracket:
Naim XS3
SPl Phonitor SE
Heddphone 2GT
Sennheiser HD850
I had some decent but not expensive cables made up in Rimini.
I just cannot imagine spending huge sums on HiFi gear. I mostly use headphones these days, and I am happy with my gear.
So, no I have not bought anything that I thought was ludicrously expensive.
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Every cable / interconnect. Ridiculous - but I cannot help myself!
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1980 Linn Sondek - $1000 - outrageous!!!
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My analog front end (all in, including phono-stage, cables and isolation base) is about US $130,000 at current retail [post Trump tariff] prices. I paid somewhat less.
I have no regrets. I have about 5000 LPs and play records for 3-6 hrs/day.
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My costliest cable is a pair of Acrolink Mexcel 7N-DA6300IV interconnects, made to order and shipped from Japan. I still can’t believe that I actually bought it.
Comparatively it’s all expensive. But I suppose the Sennheiser HD800 because the cost versus how much (or little) I ended up doing headphones listening was high.
I love them but those late night sessions I bought them for never happened because kids came along and I was too tired. And now I have a soundproof living room so again, limited reason to use them.
I think I absolutely thrashed the bollocks off every other bit of hifi so got my money’s worth.
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ca. 1986 I worked for a Linn/Naim dealer and got employee discounts to buy a LP12 with fluted Afromosia plinth and a Rega RB 300 arm for about $500. The 42.5/HC/140 (seconds) and Linn SARAs didn’t cost me more than another $1000 or so. All from Audiophile Systems in Indianapolis. Scandalous!
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All of it! I struggle to justify spending money on myself, but this forum has helped hugely 
. I now think I should have spent more on TT and speakers but there’s always an upgrade to be had 
. Fortunately my wife has a horse hobby so it all pales in comparison…
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