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I doubt I'd call any piece of audio gear at $16,000 "real world"

Hi-

I understand your position. I don't feel as passionately about it as you do, but I agree I'd hesitate before calling any piece of audio gear at $16,000 "real world."

My yardstick is pretty simple: adjusted for inflation, the average Stereophile reader's stereo system cost about $15,000. So, once I venture beyond $7,000 speakers and $5,000 amplifiers or digital sources, I am writing about things that are real-world relevant to fewer and fewer readers--discounting for the moment the issue whether people want to read about things they can't afford, which they most certainly do.

And I am somewhat certain that the writer had nothing to do with the headline or subhead.

Stereo equipment is a luxury good. The sky's the limit, well, almost. Going by the factoid about the $15,000 system average, KEF's $20,000/pr. Reference speaker is for a subset of the readership, so, KEF's $140,000/pr. Muon is for a minute subset of a subset. But there are more than a few, perhaps even more than 100, Stereophile readers who could write that check with no pain if they felt like it. But I also know that, just as my car budget is used Hyundai but I like reading about Mercedes amd Maseratis, many and perhaps even most Stereophile readers are interested in learning about hyper-expensive equipment.

Cheers,

JM

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