However, a good roaster costs $400-$1K+, a good grinder costs $200+, and a good (used) espresso maker costs another $200-$400. All of these amounts can escalate very quickly.
I spend far more on beans annually than I have on hardware in the past 5 years. I have zero interest in chasing more expensive hardware for a fix. But I did actually upgrade my headphones to Sennheiser hd599 when the aux cable in my old pair broke.
Having had a few pairs go like that and the hatred I have for the tinny weeny sub-hair micron strands of wire they have and fixing them. I always go for headphones with a socket connection or if hard-wired, have a second output jack that you can use to share with a friend who can plug in - as the way those are wired, you can just plug a male to male cable in and use that as the headphone input.
As for Bluetooth headphones, I go for ones which can also accept a hard-wired connection, so at least it prolongs their life if replacing the battery proves an effort beyond the scope of my elephant-hands.
I used sennheiser HD201s ($15 canadian on sale) for years until the cable broke, then upgraded to sennheiser HD599 ($149 canadian, on sale) because it has replaceable cable. Might add an aux jack to the old ones, sometime...
I ended up with bose QC25 which can be found used for $50-90 because it sounds good, is comfortable to wear, has a replaceable cable, replacable ear cups, and although it uses a battery for noise cancelation its a plane jane nimh rechargable aaa battery sold all over creation. Also the battery running down just means noise cancellation stops working not sound.
I find it amusing that the headphones people are upgrading to in the same product line are exclusively bluetooth meaning more hassle connecting, lower quality sound depending on phone and codec supported, aren't able to produce sound at all if the battery runs down and to add insult to injury the battery is built in and hard to replace. It's one more thing you need to constantly remember to keep charged up so it doesn't die when you need it with a hard to replace part that is going to go bad far sooner than the device gives out. Ifixit rates it hard and says it takes at least 45 minutes and a $30 part even if you have all the tools.
The coffee fumes are mostly annoying because the set off all my smoke alarms in no time -- even if the fumes are as good as invisible to my eyes.
It's a pain in the ass to hand-grind coffee every morning, and I wouldn't have the ability to do it before coffee, but... if you don't have hundreds of dollars, don't let that stop you from having a great cup of coffee.
However, as long as you have an oven (and don't live in the immediate vicinity of a local roaster), you'll find that the DIY roasting route gives you 90-110% of the benefit that you get from buying online boutique roasts for store bought prices.
And let's be honest, this is one of those hobbies (like drones, 3d printers, or photography) where you'll eventually find yourself wanting more than a french press and hand grinder.
Mine was 800€. To pay this, you need to be a coffee nerd, but I think it is absolutely the most important thing to get consistency and satisfaction. I use an inherited antique ceramique (no plastique) pour over filter and do not feel it has any drawbacks.
I will try Tetsu's technique.
I use a Rancilio MD 80 that I picked up for 80CHF. The guy I bought it from didn't know what he had. It's as large as my Gaggia, but grind retention be damned, I'm not giving it up.
This is in practice at most annoying, so you can indeed make good coffee without a zero retention grinder but for a 'coffee snob' the most important thing is consistency in the cup.
Same with coffee makers. I would consider myself a coffee snob but I've ditched all the fancy gear and use a $12 pour over device from OXO. That and a basic water kettle will get you world-class coffee for less than the cost of a basic Mr. Coffee unit.