Dan,

I can clearly understand the experience cause to me, its about the same or more.

For sure, when a fellow audiophile visits, its the time I do my CONFESSIONS where I am really MYSELF! The truth and nothing but the truth!

When I am alone with my system, music and videos, I am truly really enjoying the session from near midnight right thru the early hours of dawn usually on Friday thru sat early morning. This is where I am really listening to what I know best and what I dont know about that I had just discovered - in the piece I am playing or some performance I have yet experience from my setup.

Other than that, whenever someone else asked, be they a friend, colleague, family members or my wife, my remarks are always the same - its really not worth that much actually plus I have already forgotten how much I have paid for them. A couple of thousands for the whole lot. My wife will always chip in to add "and the cables are free".

Happy to say, the later for me are days gone by.

I now can truly sit down, enjoy the music and if someone asked for the value or monies I put into the system, I would just say ... my friend from HK gave it to me as he got sick of it and changed to a new system. As for the cost, I dont really know how to put it. ... All I paid was the freight ... S$3.8k!

Cheers!

__________________
Turntable
Dr. Feickert Twin-DFA
TriPlanar Mk VII UII
Miyajima Shilabe Cartridge
Lehmann Black Cube SE Decade

Meridian
504 FM Tuner
Sooloos C15
Twinstore [3TBx2]
808i.3 CD/DAC/Preamp
800v4 CD/DVD AV Computer (DAX)
DSP8k SL Speakers

Multi Player
Oppo BDP83se NuForce Edition

Power Dist & Cables
Shunyata Hydra Talos
Shunyata Venom 3

Interconnects
Cardas Clear

Extra Gears
AKG K701 Headphones

Jerry.......Beautiful.

__________________
Dan


Living Room System: McIntosh C2300, MC601 (2), MCD1100, MS750, MR85, Sony DAT 60ES, Nakamichi BX-300, Micro Seiki DD-40, Ortofon 2M Black, Sonos ZP90, Oppo BDP-83SE Blu-ray, PMC EB1i, Fathom f113 w/ Sound Anchor stand, Power Plant Premier (2), PS Audio Soloist Premier SE (3), Rollerblock Jr.'s, Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's & PC's, Kimber 8TC with WBT Solid Silver Angled Locking Banana Connectors.
Studio System: McIntosh C1000C/P, MC2301 (2), MCD1100, MR88, Michell Gyro SE w/SME 309/Ortofon Cadenza Black, Sonos ZP90, PS Audio Power Plant Premier, PS Audio Soloist Premier SE, Sonus Faber Amati Anniversario, Rollerblock Jr.'s, Wireword Silver Eclipse IC's & PC's, Wireworld Silver Eclipse speaker cable.
Studio Home Theater System: McIntosh MX120, MC452, Oppo BDP-95 Blu-ray, PS Audio Soloist Premier SE, JBL LSR-6332 (2), JBL LSR-6328P (3), McIntosh XLS112 (2), Sony 52XBR9, Tributaries Silver IC's, Wireworld PC's.
Vintage: McIntosh MA5100, MR74 tuner, JVC XL-Z1050 K2 CD player, Wyred 4 Sound DAC2, Tandberg 3008A and 3026A, JBL4312A , McIntosh 4300V for deck speakers.

My next door neighbor has $50k worth of Wave Runners that he uses three times per year if he's lucky and my brother in law has over $100k tied up in two Harleys, trailer, Ram truck and outfits. Put 1200 mi. on the bikes last year. He's actually thinking of selling the bikes and getting a good stereo!

Maybe ...if they got together, sold everything, they could afford a decent 2 channel rig....

__________________
Shindo/DeVore Super 8's

One good thing about music: When it hits you, you feel no pain.

Bob Marley

I dont know how much these are worth new and the residual value today. But Jeff, with your experience and contacts, to advise him how to put together a decent setup (the word "decent" here is very elastic) for him to enjoy should be easy.

__________________
Turntable
Dr. Feickert Twin-DFA
TriPlanar Mk VII UII
Miyajima Shilabe Cartridge
Lehmann Black Cube SE Decade

Meridian
504 FM Tuner
Sooloos C15
Twinstore [3TBx2]
808i.3 CD/DAC/Preamp
800v4 CD/DVD AV Computer (DAX)
DSP8k SL Speakers

Multi Player
Oppo BDP83se NuForce Edition

Power Dist & Cables
Shunyata Hydra Talos
Shunyata Venom 3

Interconnects
Cardas Clear

Extra Gears
AKG K701 Headphones

A good friend of mine has listened to my system and had really nice things to say. The cable part had him scratching his head, but he never said one negative thing. He is a hunter and collects rifles and guns. His collection is beautiful and cost more than my hobby. While we really have no interest in trading our interests, we both understand the passion the other has in a hobby.
We all need hobbies, and what you pick to spend your time and money on is between you and your loved one.

__________________
Mike
~~~
Home Theater- Mcintosh MC205,MX150,MS300,MVP871,Pioneer BDP-51FD,Roku,Pioneer Signature Elite 141,Furman It-Reference15,SF Cremonas
Two Channel Room- Mcintosh MC501's,C2300,MCD500, Cremonas,ClearAudio Emotion TT,Furman It-Reference15

Having to paddle up stream against all the anti cable, "you don`t need to spend much money on this" or "all (amps,sources,etc) sounds the same" crap from so called audio enthusiasts is far worse. That attitude rubs off on the general public and i think is the main reason why we get so much flak from people who don`t take this hobby seriousily.

If you ever go into a Dicks sporting goods store you will see they have a large room filled with hundreds of different fishing rods, reels, tackle and thousands of lures. The lures are better at catching fisherman then fish just as our cables are better at catching us. I do not want to turn this into a cable debate but I have heard pretty good sound systems in cars, I have enjoyed systems running off a receiver with bookshelf speakers in my past. No doubt the crazy bunch we are have a passion that we all share that is not easy for a non enthusiast to understand. The bottom line is I don't make excuses when I have a friend over and they ask about the cost. I just say this is my cave and I come down here to relax and listen to music and most guys say to me I wish I had a cave like this.

Just don't mention my name!

A few of my friends like to bring some of their music over to listen to on occasion. They have modest systems at home, earn nice incomes, and have no intentions of spending over a grand on anything but a big-screen TV. Nobody has been curious enough to ask me how much was spent... we just have a few pops and snacks and listen to tunes on my dime

__________________
Main: McIntosh C500C/T, MC501(2), MCD500, MR85, Marantz SA-KI-Pearl, Magnum Dynalab MD-108, Klipsch La Scala II, JL Audio F-212, Audioquest, PS Audio, Billy Bags.

Man Cave: McIntosh C46, MC252, MCD301, MR85, Marantz SA-15S2B LTD, Klipsch Cornwall III, JL Audio F-113, Denon DVD-1600, Mitsubishi 55", Audioquest, PS Audio, Sanus.

Office: Rotel RC1082, RB1080(2), RCD1072, RT1080, RLC1040, Magnum Dynalab DT-5, Marantz SA15S2, Luxman K-111, Klipsch Forte II(4), RSW-10d, Audioquest, PS Audio, Sanus.

MBR: Luxman R-115, Denon DBP-2010CI, Klipsch Chorus II, Sony 52" NX800, Audioquest, PS Audio, Sanus.