Audio Equipment

My apologies for my off-topic post but there are few vetting places left anymore so I thought if anyone would have an inkling about this it would be an audio engineer on Audacity.

I’ve so appreciated what Audacity has offered over the years and the remarkably talented and generous people on this forum.

I’m trying to help a friend investigate “residential” audio equipment. They want something better than just Alexa but don’t have $10,000+ to spend.

I know that’s a wide gap but she’s probably leaning more toward a less then $5,000 budget which is not professional sound but would get her a better listen than Alexa.

Would you be so kind as to share any audio equipment site you’ve found to be truly objective and independent in their discussions?

Thank you so very much.