How much did you pay for your current Hi-Fi setup?

[Gel]

Less than I might expect this level of sound to cost.

That’s good. 👍

 

[Gray]

Its not my fault. My Uncle started taking me round London hi-fi shows when I was about 8.
I started writing the price of every single hi-fi object I bought.
I must still have the book - but I'm glad I stopped using it 😁

Never bought any hi-fi secondhand, but I'm another that likes a bargain - e.g. current amp was already discounted by £1000, dealer knocked off another £100.
£500 CD player was price-matched down to £300.

I don't like spending money - so I really wouldn't like to know the total spend over more than half a century 🤑

 

[DiggyGun]

Which amount?
- what it’s insured for
- how much you told your wife it cost

 

[matthewpianist]

That’s good. 👍

What isn't good is how much it cost in wasted money to reach this point. Given the amount of box swapping I've done over the past 20 years, I've undoubtedly lost thousands, and had I been more tactical about building a relationship with a good dealer instead of buying stuff online or from Richer Sounds, I could have worked my way up to something very high end by now and still be much better off. It's a lesson that's taken me too long to learn, but one I'm going to keep reminding myself of now, so any future changes will be in consultation with the one dealer.

My one piece of advice to anyone new to this: Find a reputable independent dealer with a focused range of good brands, and combine their advice with careful listening and planning. It will save you time, money and aggravation, and you'll build a much more satisfying system.

 

[Gel]

What isn't good is how much it cost in wasted money to reach this point. Given the amount of box swapping I've done over the past 20 years, I've undoubtedly lost thousands, and had I been more tactical about building a relationship with a good dealer instead of buying stuff online or from Richer Sounds, I could have worked my way up to something very high end by now and still be much better off. It's a lesson that's taken me too long to learn, but one I'm going to keep reminding myself of now, so any future changes will be in consultation with the one dealer.

My one piece of advice to anyone new to this: Find a reputable independent dealer with a focused range of good brands, and combine their advice with careful listening and planning. It will save you time, money and aggravation, and you'll build a much more satisfying system.

Very well said and I too am taking note. 👍

My story sounds very similar to yours and am going to be a lot more careful going forward.

 

[record_spot]

Chickenfeed for the sound I'm getting.

Ridiculously good and all in for less than £500.

 

[Gel]

Chickenfeed for the sound I'm getting.

Ridiculously good and all in for less than £500.

Wow, nice one. 👊

 

[Cricketbat70]

What isn't good is how much it cost in wasted money to reach this point. Given the amount of box swapping I've done over the past 20 years, I've undoubtedly lost thousands, and had I been more tactical about building a relationship with a good dealer instead of buying stuff online or from Richer Sounds, I could have worked my way up to something very high end by now and still be much better off. It's a lesson that's taken me too long to learn, but one I'm going to keep reminding myself of now, so any future changes will be in consultation with the one dealer.

My one piece of advice to anyone new to this: Find a reputable independent dealer with a focused range of good brands, and combine their advice with careful listening and planning. It will save you time, money and aggravation, and you'll build a much more satisfying system.

Probably a good job I'm not in a well paying job or I may have done the same thing as you and spent £1000s box swapping. I did go through 3 AV receivers in a relatively short time. A Sherwood Dolby Prologic then just a few years later and a Technics Dolby Digital. Then finally my YAMAHA DSP-A761 in 2008.

 

[matthewpianist]

Probably a good job I'm not in a well paying job or I may have done the same thing as you and spent £1000s box swapping. I did go through 3 AV receivers in a relatively short time. A Sherwood Dolby Prologic then just a few years later and a Technics Dolby Digital. Then finally my YAMAHA DSP-A761 in 2008.

I've never been in a well paying job, just middle of the road at best. I've tried to squeeze as much performance from my money as I can , rushed, played roulette with the hi-fi by buying unheard (not gambling in the casino or betting sense) etc., when I should have played a much longer and more guided game.

 

[record_spot]

Wow, nice one. 👊

I was pretty surprised to be fair. Added the Oppo on a whim for fun which I'd had sitting for a while, popped it in this setup and it made the difference. Perfect balance for my ears.

 

[Gel]

I was pretty surprised to be fair. Added the Oppo on a whim for fun which I'd had sitting for a while, popped it in this setup and it made the difference. Perfect balance for my ears.

Do you stream on your system too?

 

[Gel]

I've never been in a well paying job, just middle of the road at best. I've tried to squeeze as much performance from my money as I can , rushed, played roulette with the hi-fi by buying unheard (not gambling in the casino or betting sense) etc., when I should have played a much longer and more guided game.

I have wasted money on wireless stuff, that has been no good, but I shop for bargains and know I can sell for not much less than I buy, but have lost a lot of money that way. I learn better ways to buy gear as I am getting older, whereas for example I paid £4500 for my system 18 years ago, I now know doing a 2.1 system I get similar sound for a lot less money, than saying having a 5.1 system.

Over the years I have listen to music more and more on my speakers so can drastically cut down the cost I pay for stuff. One example with wireless stuff I paid £2000 for the Formation B&W Duo brand new but then bought a refurbished sub for it for £550. So £2550 I spent on it but then shortly after owning it I sold it to Emporium HiFi for £1550, so lost £950 there. I bought and sold 2 Oppo 203 4K Blu-ray players too.

I spent a lot on TVs too but have been lucky because I soon regretted it to because the prices of for example OLED TVs dramatically dropped but I ended up with screen burn after 3 years ownership and got virtually a full refund. I then spent that money on an expensive Samsung 8K QLED model, but I ended up with a full refund from that too after 2-3 years, so with all these refunds I built up quite a bit of money but that has all gone now on holidays and on my family, which is where most of my money goes but I have decided to stop treating my family now after spending a fortune on them, so I should’ve quite a bit of money going forward now, but to be honest I don’t like spending it on myself and should now save a bit of money.

 

[Noddy]

I suspect most don’t want to list prices and I don’t blame them.

KEF LS50 Meta plus AudioLab 6000A amplifier £1,500
KEF S2 stands ~£225 used but as new, £450 new.
Wiim puck thingydoodah £89
Ercol Artisan solid oak TV unit £200 used, £1,000 new.
Cables, just decent copper cables from Amazon.
Cambridge Audio P100 SE wireless headphones £200.
Sennheiser HD600 bought 20 years ago.

Then there’s a £1,000 Arcam Solo piece of junk that failed after a couple of years, and some sibilant PMC speakers I hated, and the Cambridge Audio P100 headphones that broke when I fell over in a wood, the build quality is not good.

 

[record_spot]

Do you stream on your system too?

Yes, Wiim Pro Plus and Cambridge 200M DAC. Not so much these days. Also Cambridge Alva ST turntable and Musical Fidelity X-LP phono stage, but the Oppo is taking up the bulk of playback just now.

 

[Shrek]

What isn't good is how much it cost in wasted money to reach this point. Given the amount of box swapping I've done over the past 20 years, I've undoubtedly lost thousands, and had I been more tactical about building a relationship with a good dealer instead of buying stuff online or from Richer Sounds, I could have worked my way up to something very high end by now and still be much better off. It's a lesson that's taken me too long to learn, but one I'm going to keep reminding myself of now, so any future changes will be in consultation with the one dealer.

My one piece of advice to anyone new to this: Find a reputable independent dealer with a focused range of good brands, and combine their advice with careful listening and planning. It will save you time, money and aggravation, and you'll build a much more satisfying system

We do this through our life,it could be a kettle microwave or a hifi.Tech changed so much in the last 20 years.Look at Air fryers and cars .Part of life.Bit like saying wish i never went out with that girl 20 years ago 🤣

 

[ianrjones]

I have not finished buying, but I have already overspent by far.
A used Bently coupe can be had for £15,000. I wonder what the sounds are like in that.

 

[Cricketbat70]

I've never been in a well paying job, just middle of the road at best. I've tried to squeeze as much performance from my money as I can , rushed, played roulette with the hi-fi by buying unheard (not gambling in the casino or betting sense) etc., when I should have played a much longer and more guided game.

I do at times wonder how much money I've wasted in general. When I bought most of my hifi equipment I was in a better paying job than I am now and my wife was working but hifi purchases were at the budget end. With Rach being ill she hasn't worked since the pandemic and we definitely cannot afford any new hifi equipment if any of it goes belly up now.

Over the years I've spent over £1000 on 1:18 scale diecast cars. That was a cheap hobby when I started, prices for even the cheap end, burago, £15 when I started collecting are close to £100 now. The better quality AutoART £40 when I started collecting are nearing £300 now and they are not the dearest by a long way. I have 29 1:18 scale model cars.

Then I got into DSLR photography, again the budget end with a Sony Alpha camera after they had bought minolta and buying off ebay, the money I've spent on lenses.
Why do we always pick expensive hobbies?

 

[DIB]

Last summer I downsized completely , flogged off all my old stuff, and bought myself a WiiM Amp Ultra and a pair of Dali Oberon 1 speakers from Peter Tysons. The WiiM was £499 and the speakers were £349.

Best decision I've ever made in my hifi life, a brilliant combination.

Loved the Dali sound so much that last month I decided to move up to the larger Dali Sonik 3 and those were £599, again from Peter Tysons. These came with a set of QED speaker cables that I didn't need so I flogged them off on Ebay for £35 so the speakers effectively cost me £564.

The WiiM Amp Ultra doesn't have a headphone socket so I recently bought myself a little Fosi Audio K5 USB headphone amp for £35.

 

[Steve983]

I just totted up what I paid for all my hi fi gear. Most of it is old and refurbed, some just old and a few pieces that are new. It surprised me what it came to = £2800 😀

 

[Paul.]

Lyngdorf FR1 speakers £900
Lyngdorf TDAI 1120 streaming amp £1041
Both ex display or old stock with warranty
Speaker cables £16 🤭

 

[DIB]

Speaker cables £16 🤭

You were ripped off 🙂

 

[Paul.]

You were ripped off 🙂

Yeah could have got a reel of two core for that but wanted to be bougie and get the £3 a meter ofc stuff 😂

 

[DiggyGun]

Last summer I downsized completely , flogged off all my old stuff, and bought myself a WiiM Amp Ultra and a pair of Dali Oberon 1 speakers from Peter Tysons. The WiiM was £499 and the speakers were £349.

Best decision I've ever made in my hifi life, a brilliant combination.

Loved the Dali sound so much that last month I decided to move up to the larger Dali Sonik 3 and those were £599, again from Peter Tysons. These came with a set of QED speaker cables that I didn't need so I flogged them off on Ebay for £35 so the speakers effectively cost me £564.

The WiiM Amp Ultra doesn't have a headphone socket so I recently bought myself a little Fosi Audio K5 USB headphone amp for £35.

Glad to hear that you’ve got a system that you are enjoying.

I downsized my main system a few years ago, going from a ten box Linn / Naim system to a one box Linn system.

Now looking at setting up a second system and keeping with the same ethos. So getting a Wiim Amp Ultra with some Dali Sonik 1 speakers. I’m OK headphone wise as I have a pair of Apple AirPods Max that will work with the BT on the Wiim.

Had two main criteria, had a budget of 5000 PLN, (£1000) and the speakers had to fit within the cube of an IKEA Kallax unit.

 

[RJW232]

QUAD 34: 1200 guilders in 1989 (545 Euro)
QUAD 606: 2200 guilders in 1989 (1000 Euro)
Castle Howard S2: 4800 guilders in 1996 (2181 Euro)
WiiM Ultra: 399 euro in 2025
Technics CD-player (used) in 2026: 10 euro.

 

[Entrigo]

Technics SL1300G - £2100 (new - RRP £2800)
Vertere Phono-1 £560 (used - RRP £1500)
Rega Elex-R - £560 (used - RRP I think was around £1000 in 2022 when discontinued)
Marantz SA8005 £400 (used - last RRP I think was around £1000 in2018 when discontinued)
Wiim Pro Plus £150 (Used - RRP £220)
Topping D50III - £180 (used - RRP £225)
Focal Aria 906 £600 (new - RRP £799)
Focal Clear OG £800 (new - RRP £1200 I think)
Lehmann Rhinelander £140 (used - RRP £400 in 2009ish)

So paid roughly £5.4k for a £9K set up, not counting inflation.

As others, I also love a bargain...