lizard84
Abider
I wouldn't consider a $10,000 system to be anywhere near "cost is no object."
One could go a long way on that budget if buying used gear, which is what I've always done. But the list prices on my system total up to $19,000 and I've made several cost cutting sacrifices across the years.
I would be hard pressed to name a sub-$10,000 pair of speakers which I would considered to be all that "high end." Although I know some consider the $6K Maggie 3.7i to be such.
When a Toyota Corolla runs one around $17K-$18K, I just don't consider spending $10K on audio to be all that big a deal.
While I agree that $10,000 isn't anywhere close to a "cost is no object" system, I think it just as wrong to pick a dollar figure and say anything under is not a high end piece.
I also would be one of those who would name Maggie 3.7's as high end, furthermore I'd add the 1.7's to the list of high end pieces. Given a smaller room and and 600 hours or more on them you would be hard pressed to make a major improvement spending 3 to 5 times more, that's not to say one couldn't do better but the 1.7's hit well above their weight class.