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I had to select something on your scale, so I went for $15k . . . but come on! Doesn't it depend on just what equipment we're talking about? A $15k amplifier is fairly expensive but 15k speaker cables are *very* expensive!!

Which product? I wouldn't consider $1,500 speakers expensive, but I'd sure consider a $1,500 power cord expensive.

Until last year, my sysem was made up of components in the $1-2k range. But when my childeren took over the living room of our 2 bedroom apartment, I declared a freeze on the stereo, but saved the money I would have spent. We have since bought a house, and I had enough saved up to afford B&W 804 Nautilus speakers and a Proceed BPA2 amp. So now, I have to consider twice as much as my most costly component as where 'expensive' starts.

I think that there should be different price ranges for different product types

Expensive is in the eye of the beholder, I'm sure nothing is too expensive for Bill Gates. But for me $2Kish is for speakers, and $1K for electronic components. I'm middle class, and barring a lottery win or marrying money that's all I'll be. Spending at that level is possible, but involves real sacrifice in a world of mortgages, car payments and the opposite sex.

b/c

It's very personal. I just feel anythinng over $4,500 is expensive and eventhough I would love to own a piece of gear like that, I just cannot justify spending that kind of money with my income.

The most costly single item in my system is an MD recorder for which I paid $150. Obviously $500 is "expensive."

It depends on the piece of equipment. I might consider $1500 to be a lot of money for a phono cartridge, but very reasonable for a nice pair of loudspeakers.

The performance level of the component(s)and the price you are willing to pay determines your expense. Only a few can afford 4K power cords, 10K speaker cables, and 30K+ components. There are bargains at all price levels, you just have to take the time to find them.

I'd say that once you get over the $2000 dollar price level per each piece of gear that's getting up there into pretty expensive territory. If you look hard and research enough, you don't need to spend more than $2000 per component to get a reasonable and realistic reproduction of acoustical space in ones living room. Come on people, we don't need to be able to hear the first chair violinist break wind!

Doesn't it depend greatly on what the product is? A pair of speakers at $500 are a lot "cheaper" than a 1m interconnect at the same price. And a $7 magazine is definitely expensive!

I would say anything that cost more than a month's pay after taxes have been removed. That at least gives you the glimmer it's reachable.

It depends. I think a $2,000 pair of speakers would fall into the moderate price range, while a $2,000 CD player would be expensive. And a $2,000 amplifier may be at the mid to low end.

Pure economics-- has to do with income!

As a consumer electronics retailer, I understand that "expensive" depends on two things: How much money the customer has and what the percieved value of the product is. In other words, what is expensive to you might be a bargain for the next guy

Even the "pro" gear that I use for two-channel audio recording costs less than $2K/item. Good recordings have a larger impact on sound quality than do $5K vs. $2.5K components, and certainly have more bang for the buck.

if it wasnt expensive it wouldnt be a hobby?

It's all relative to your income.

Depends what the item is doesn't it?

You call me a poor guy or whatever, but $2000 is expensive for me, even if I could afford to buy it. However, this doesn't mean that I would not buy such equipment just because of the price tag. I audition products regardless of the price, then determine the product that I like most (within a realistic price range, of course). I consider that product my goal for my next upgrade until I get enough money to buy it. The bottom line is, expensive or not, as long as it sounds excellent, and the price vs performance ratio is justifiable, then I'll buy it when I can afford it.

It truly is, a relative value.

$5,000.00 is the point at which components get expensive. My reasoning is that I would find it hard to justify spending this much on a single piece of audio equipment.

Components over $5k each are addressing a very select few: platinum credit cards and golden ears. That said, Stereophile must stay in touch with the best equipment, where >$10k is common.

This really depends on the component. eg. A $2000 cartridge is probably expensive to most people, whereas a $2000 speaker may not be.

With a 2k per component budget (counting speakers individually) you can put together a system that will stand tall against any system musically.

if your asking when diminishing returns set in (or simply when the extra buck is no longer worth sacrificing, when it goes back into the food and shelter account!), i'd have to say $1000

At $2k per component, you would likely be looking at about 10 to 12k for a complete system. I would consider this to be "high end," but also a real world system.

This is not easy to answer. I would spend more on a pair of loudspeakers than on speaker cables. However I am aware of diminishing returns as the cost goes up. Those who are cost conscious should investigate used equipment. Those of us on limited budgets can take advantage of the capriciousness of the well heeled audiophile.

Anything over two grand is expensive to me. Once a unit gets below that, I start thinking of ways to justify how I going to get it.