When I tell people what I do for a living there is a fairly regular set of questions that come up. After “Can you get me mate’s rates?” the second most common question I get is “How much does a stereo/surround sound/home theater system cost?”
In the tradition of politicians and psychiatrists, the only real answer is another question; “How much do you want to spend?”

The white ear buds. They’re ruining everything for every one. Not only are they a very ordinary sounding headphone, they are florescent marker screaming “I have an expensive bit of easily fence-able consumer electronics in my pocket, come and mug me!”

Very occasionally we get to unpack and play with long anticapated objects of consumer lust equivalent to that new F360 or perhaps a Desmodici ... I've just helped the delivery driver to unload the new Denon AVPA1HD Pre amp (32KG!) and POHAA1HD Power amp (65KG!!)

Cyrus has launched a new range of CD players with their "made for high end" transport engine. The theory (and the practice) is that the average CD player has a very generic laser read mechanism. The folks at Cyrus have gone the distance to spend the time and money on developing their own transport, greatly reducing jitter and read errors...

How much should I spend on a sound system? If you ask me, my eyes glaze over and I go to a happy place filled with Dynaudio Confidence speakers and YBA power amps. I do realise that most folk aren’t interested in spending their entire income on a stereo, so what about say, $3000? What does that buy you?