Over $150,000 in ten years

I have spent over $150,000 on audio equipment in the last ten years or so. I do not tell you that to impress you. I tell you so you know where my opinions were paid for.

Everyone has an angle. Influencers need your clicks, dealers and manufacturers need your money, and for the sceptics everything is snake oil. My angle is that I bought it myself, with no sponsors, no free gear and an amount well into six figures that I never planned to spend.

The figure also paid for the mistakes, and those are the useful part. I paired $30,000 worth of speakers with the wrong amplifier and wondered why they sounded hollow. I chased room problems with gear for years. Every one of those lessons cost real money, which is exactly why I can tell you which ones you are allowed to skip.

And it is not finished. From here, any upgrade on our list costs more than a small apartment in many cities around the world. That is why the room and the foundation came first; at those prices, nobody gets to guess.

A number like that is not a credential. It is a receipt, and I would rather show you the receipt than ask for your trust.