Best to avoid those questions 
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I think in the end, the main thing is to enjoy and fully appreciate what we have without getting far too obsessed about it and hankering after the next level. Who cares what anyone else thinks. What I have has certainly enriched my musical journey and discovery, which is what it’s about as far as I’m concerned. Just to put things into perspective I paid €27000 for a new CDS3, NAT05, NAC252, Supercap, NAP300, headline2 and SL2s, with a good trade in for my 202, 200 and CDX2 which were a few months old. I stopped there and got to know my system and try to get the best from it
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Hi Graeme,
as viewed by others, not sane at all. For me the ability of a quality system to put my mind at ease is well worth it.
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I reason it like this. I retired a few years back - I always thought I’d buy myself a fast/flash motor as a retirement present. I then thought, well I’ll be driving round and everyone will think “look at that knob”, and then I don’t drive that much anyway, so it’ll probably gather dust most of the time, etc, etc. so I scrubbed that idea. I enjoy sailing, so I’m thinking boat - but then 8k a year marina fees, maintenance, felt like hassle - found another way to enjoy that hobby, so my HiFi, I listen to every day, I discover new music all the time, I enjoy it in ways not many get to do, so bang for buck, this is a much better investment for what it gives me and I’m a happy chappy 
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Big fan of the muso AB here!
Doesn’t make any sense to me to compare income in one year with the cost of a naim full system. I started buying Naim in late 1999 so 23 years or so. There is a big difference between the average annual spend, and the list price of my current system - and with careful purchasing over the years I haven’t spent as much as many would assume.
All the big things I have bought in the last five years have involved a lot of p-x ing so that the money spent in any one year is not such a big proportion of that year’s income.
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Count me in for that!
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Retired old chap here also and I’ve used similar reasoning for spending so much on my Naim gear the past year(and B&W speakers the previous year lol), the enjoyment and pleasure I get out of it on a daily basis totally justifies it. 
Cheers my fellow retired Naim friend 
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I have spent far less per hour of listening time on my Naim kit over the years than many people spend in the boozer over the same period.
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I am with you on the spend it on hi-fi (and photography in my case) and not cars. My smart car does what I need and I can’t see the point of spending more on a car. Lockdowns really got me back into the hi-fi and I used the money I hadn’t spent on holidays and going out, to reverse my downsizing, getting an ex dem 250DR and ex Dem SCM40s, which will soon have a 222/300 in front of them. Others though will make different choices, for example, a couple of people I know have bought motorhomes due to lockdowns and left their hi-fi as is. That we have the money to spend on these kinds of luxuries means we are very fortunate.
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So true.
.sjb
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Indeed, we’re very fortunate.
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Orac (great alias by the way - one of my favourite TV shows!),
I was quoting the £55k figure as my current salary (albeit for 75% part time contract) just to show how my purchasing power has changed and where it places me in terms of new range affordability but it’s certainly not the salary of a graduate trainee. I’m not precious about disclosing my salary, I’m on published payscales so anybody who cares to look can find out what a crew member with an airline earns just as they can for NHS staff, the military etc. To be honest I’ve never understood why people are so coy about disclosing what they earn, I’ve got couple of best friends who seem to regard it as akin to disclosing the Enigma code lol!!
I suppose in reality though any consideration of income v new Naim prices should really involve total household income (with partner) which puts us around £90k - which still doesn’t feel like enough to comfortably afford new Naim separates, at least from where I sit. I’ve ended up with NDX/82/HICAP/250 and in truth for what it cost it offers a huge amount of bang for the buck and has given us vast pleasure every day. Most of my income since has gone on discs of one sort or another or enhancing the home cinema part of the system (which is relatively cheap compared to Naim)
I would imagine most Grad trainees start nowadays on £25-£30k.
Hope that clarifies,
Jonathan
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I do know what those prices do. They make my 160 bolt down I paid $500 for three years ago sound very, very good…
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Heres the way i look at it- I have 1 kid completed university and 2 half way through hwre in the usa Im 53, i dont drink, and so far i dont play golf or own a boat. I count myself as very fortunate as lucky as ive been unlucky. I worked at lehman brothers and lost a lot as a result. As soon as the smoke finally cleared 13 years later i bought my endgame system. God has continued to bless me with good health and employment. Ill be working well into my 60s if not my 70s. If this system lasts me 25 years it will be some of the best money i spent. Id rather have this than a fancy car. As someone who saved and invested and then got rinsed my only regret is not buying a ripping system in my 30s with the money i saved invested and ultimately lost.
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I have seen some review of the nsc222 and nap250 being very close to ndx2 sn3. Very curious as to how an nsc222 would sound as pre to sn3 amp section
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same here - was a massive motorhead fan but now… i feel like my dad shouting, ‘turn that bloody noise down’!
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I presume you mean that much as an average per year, not that much in any one year in isolation, after all often people may save money towards big desires/needs? And why different for car and hifi?
And whilst different that is not a long way from where I have been.