The end of my hi-fi journey... or just the beginning?

This is my first hi-fi setup, which I put together at the beginning of 2024. It was long overdue: for the past ten years I’d been living in rented apartments, always postponing the idea of building a proper system until the day I’d have a place of my own. That day still hasn’t come—but this time I decided I couldn’t wait any longer. I spent several months in the listening rooms of local hi-fi dealers, auditioning various models from B&W, DALI (Oberon and Opticon), ELAC Vela, Focal, Revel, Dynaudio, Monitor Audio, KEF, and PCB Speakers. I started with bookshelf speakers and later switch my attention to floorstanders. I was searching for something that would truly move me, but it was either not impressive or it was way above of my budget. During this process, I came across Musical Fidelity and was immediately impressed by the clarity and the effortless way their gear delivers power — that quickly became my number one choice. When it came to speakers, I decided to go with second-hand equipment. An audiophile friend convinced me that I’d get far better quality for much less money, and he was absolutely right. I found DALI Mentors on a local site and drove 150km to listen to them. The moment I heard the intro guitar on "Wish You Were Here", I knew that was it. Since I love deep bass, the next addition was a subwoofer. Once again, thanks to my friend—and after a 100 km drive — I picked up this 36 kg beast from the early 2000s for a fraction of the price of a current entry-level REL sub. I mostly listen to jazz, ambient, techno, and house, and less often to vocal music. The system really shines with jazz and electronic music, and performs weakest with rock. The sound is detailed, clear, and dynamic, with a well-defined soundstage. It’s still good for late-night, low-volume listening — but it really comes alive when you give it some juice.