So I love audio gear, but I am not the type that is committed enough to have ever gone to an audio show before. I live in Texas, and we do not have extensive options here for high end audio listening, but I had an interesting experience this weekend.
I have a buddy that is big into hifi and is looking to upgrade his 8 to 10 year old system, and he invited me to go listen to audio gear with him this weekend. We spent a couple hours at a local dealer listening to $ 18K plus speakers, a streamer preamp that is $ 40K, and a lot of really nice gear. I am not going to lie, I was really impressed and thought to myself "yeah, I need to find the funds to splurge on those $ 18K speakers".
Then I come home and listen to my home audio system composed of a Candela preamp, Kismet in Khatargo mono amps, and my liquids. I literally caught myself saying "Klaus is a freaking genius". I would be a fool to spend $ 18K on a new pair of speakers.
Maybe it is my own bias, but this system sounds awesome and every bit as good as anything I heard this weekend.