heard a serious system today

[Djcoolray]

Well....

There's one born every minute !

The age old question, how good does good have to be ?

 

[Northwinds]

There is no point of diminishing returns, we just run out of money LMAO

Seriously, more power to those that can afford to spend the cost of a nice house on a stereo. I am happy with what I have so there is no audio envy in the least. My system impresses everyone that hears it just like I am impressed with others systems I have heard. If it sounds good, it is good regardless of price

 

[prisoners]

I frequent my local dealer who's 'A' Room is always impressive. It typically exceeds the six figure mark quite easily but I'm never dissatisfied with my own system when I come home. Truthfully even if I had the means I'm pretty certain I wouldn't spend that much. I'd probably improve my current stack with a new pre/ power pair but I don't feel compelled to do anything. It's been a long journey and I've learned a lot about synergy among the components.

 

[Djcoolray]

This is a bad attitude. If he has the money and wants to spend it, it is not yours, why do you care? If the person likes it, that IS ALL THAT MATTERS. Your statement goes to the fact that your jealous you can't spend that. That is what is sounds like, sour grapes, plain and simple.

No...

I don't look at equipment based on cost as technical specifications define the end result.....and it's an assumption on your part that I do. I understand that some people have no other way to procure great sounding equipment except to spend large amounts of money and that's on them. Spending money has always been the easy way out for those that don't want to bother. Some people enjoy the hunt while learning something and some people get off on using a credit card to open up a box and pull something new out. Buts that's their choice !!!! I was talking about the addiction to sound as in the stimulation of the cortex and how no matter what we EXPERIENCE.....it's not good enough and we always want more.

The fact that people have to have rooms of old equipment, rooms full of shelfing and vinyl or spending large amounts of money indicates an obsession !

Also being defensive...

I was just saying by way of what we all have in common.....is there actually that much of a difference as in more than a slight difference. If I have a state of the art new system built by McIntosh and the best they offer...could newer equipment being offered be that much better.

And the only thing I am jealous about is the system a friend of the family has.....a rebuilt monster Sansui QRX-9001 quad receiver and two pairs of the infamous Yamaha NS-2000's......

But, it was chatting with you anyway....

 

[Djcoolray]

You can't borrow HIS EARS, so you can't know what he hears - PERIOD. TO YOU IT DOESN'T SOUND BETTER. TO HIM IT DOES - who is right? The owner or your arrogance?

Sorry...

I think this conversation is over your head !

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Given that there are over 10 million households in the USA who have more than $1M in assets, with 1,300,000 households having at least $5M in assets, there are quite a few people who can drop some serious cash on their A/V systems.

If I had $5M, I would have a serious audio system. I've heard a few across the years, not all impressed, but some were fantastic. To my ears, definitely better than the best $5,000 to $10,000 systems I've ever heard. It is entertaining to listen to a properly setup high, high end system.

Heck, if I had $5M, I might spend $100 on an interconnect. Well, maybe not.

 

[C.A.P]

if it sounds good do it!
Ears are like women. not one the same but all good at times ! money cant buy love but it can put a smile on your face !

 

[matteos]

I think I would be much happier with a $25K system and a Ferrari in the garage

I'd be even happier with a $25k system in my Ferrari!

 

[JoeESP9]

No...
And the only thing I am jealous about is the system a friend of the family has.....a rebuilt monster Sansui QRX-9001 quad receiver and two pairs of the infamous Yamaha NS-2000's......

But, it was chatting with you anyway....

Your statement says one thing. You haven't heard what the best available has to offer.

 

[Djcoolray]

Your statement says one thing. You haven't heard what the best available has to offer.

Hold that thought until after you've listened to a pair of Yamaha NS-2000 speakers hooked up to any low distortion, high wattage, wide bandwidth reciever....

I understand that with today's technology there has been some wonderful equipment created. Thing is passion for ones work sometimes is a catalist for greatness that is unparalleled by the need to create a profit. This makes replication of what obsessive people create too costly to reproduce and make a profit. So, even though there is great equipment being sold, the possibility exists that it could be much better.

 

[onwardjames]

AKFest, 2008. Line array and 100k worth of McIntosh. Got to hear my own recording of "What A Wonderful World" on guitar that I had brought.

Made my eyes water. Could literally hear the squeak of my crappy old office chair deep in the background, as I shifted for some chord change.

Does this make me unhappy that I don't own this gear?? Shit naw. Love my heap of crap.

 

[onwardjames]

My system impresses everyone that hears it just like I am impressed with others systems I have heard. If it sounds good, it is good regardless of price

Wish I were geographically closer, Ron. I'd bring some good beer, and we'd spin some Sabbath and whatever, and have a few pints, and get those Cerwins to part our hair.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I respect one's individual preferences. When someone asks what speakers should I buy, I don't know how anyone else can know this.

That said, I've heard NS-2000 speakers and while I thought they were good, I wouldn't put them on my top 25 list of speakers. I could see someone really liking them.

 

[GP Hill]

I would love to hear how good music could sound .

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Attend Axpona in Chicago on April 15-17. Many of the highest end audiophile manufacturers & their products will be there.
http://www.axpona.com/

 

[theophile]

Heard several 200-500K systems over the years and only one person had it right: Albert Porter and his system sounded perfect to me. He's also the only person that I've met that had a perfect system and he's a true music lover with a very nice LP library,master tapes, and Tape Project tapes. Most of those people that had grandiose systems usually had a very limited music libraries yet they want to give advise to everyone else as to what to buy and what sounds right and what doesn't. They also tend to change components as often as they change clothes- too much money and too much time on their hands.I've always been a fan of smaller yet well made setups.

-Greg

I recently listened to systems that I would estimate cost at least $50k and was less than impressed. One setup was a Mark Levinson/Aerial Acoustics combo sourced with a VPI Classic TT. The second was a McIntosh setup with a Sooloos music server (what a rip off) running a pair of new B&W 802 D3s. My big take away was that after years of listening to vintage audio equipment and old jazz recordings, my listening preferences lean HEAVILY to the warm side. I appreciate resolution but YIKES. Both systems were physically impressive and had their sonics merits, but I could never live with a system that didn't allow me to enjoy music regardless of recording quality.

We're all heavily biased. Our systems are a reflection of our preferences. I'll be the first to tell you that it can be hard to listen to an audio system you've never heard before without prejudice. Money and performance are not nearly as directly related as one may think. So there you are in a showroom listening to a system that costs more than your home - do you really think you can just enjoy it for its presentation versus thinking, "it should blow my mind as it costs more than my home"?

I've visited hundreds of audio dealers when I was a sales manager in the audio industry. I've heard some spectacular systems and some not so spectacular ones. Cost was never a guarantee of performance. The systems that impressed me the most were the ones at which the operator knew how to utilize the media to showcase its strengths based on my taste in music. Just because some audiophile recording is perfect in every way does not mean that I'll like the music. I've actually been told, "I could never play that on this system" when asked what I may like to hear. How silly - as if the song I wanted to hear would cause the components to become damaged in some way.

My last trip to a super high end dealer was mixed as all of the music I listened to on the various systems was FLAC from an in store server. Finally I asked the salesperson if he had a turntable in any of their demo rooms. He sat me down in front of an all Linn system with an LP12 as the source and played something I was familiar with. That was the system that sounded to my ears better than all the others. Funny how that works ...

No it isn't. I have heard a surround system with 5 German Physics speaker 3 subs and all the equipment to support it - the speakers were 1 million dollars alone. Did it sound any better? It just sounded different. Would I want it - NO - I actually preferred my modest surround instead - just me though.

I have also heard a system consisting of:

Wilson Alexadria XLF's
2- Wilson Thor's Hammer subs
Dan D'Agostino pre and monoblocs
2 Parasound JC1's (for the subs)
dcs Vivaldi Playback Stack
Brinkman Spyder TT with 2 arms (One stereo - one mono)
D'Agostino phono Pre
All TOTL Transparent cables

If that isn't a serious system - I don't know what is. Unless YOU are defining 'Serious' is and the problem there is each of us have a different definition of what 'Serious' is.

Not everyone wants State Of The Art sound. So let's get rid of those who don't first. If you are happy with what you have, no matter what you have: GOD bless you. Happiness comes from within. Not from a sound system. A trillionaire may not be happy with the world at his feet and all possible advantage coming exactly when and how he needs it. Whilst a begging mendicant monk may be the possessor of the highest bliss possible despite all possible difficulty and all possible opposition being faced. Happiness does not respect outward circumstance. So let's divorce the following from all those who might say "I'm happy with my ________ ". There does exist strata of sound quality and truly obscenely great sound quality matters to some people because it is a priority to them. They value the qualities that incredible reproduction of recorded sound brings to them and are prepared to learn what it is, how to attain it and what factors mitigate against it. One of the thing they learn is:

High price is no guarantee of great sound. Getting off your listening chair and listening in person to some high priced systems is a very educational lesson.

What money cannot buy is the ability to optimise what has not been optimised, the ability to determine what needs to be optimised and the insight into the competing offerings on the market to seek out what might be able to optimise the sound. What is between a set of ears determines whether a system succeeds or fails. Not the fullness of the wallet. Having said that, aside from the second hand market, diy, and miracle purchases - State Of The Art sound for a complete system will rarely be available for a week's salary at the minimum wage. First if one wants either SOTA sound or somethings approaching it, one needs to have heard it or something approaching it. Experience. That intangible stuff between the ears that money can buy, but in the absence of unlimited cash reserves, can also be obtained by persistent searching. Second, in the absence of unlimited cash reserves to allow one to buy and sell everything to get that first hand knowledge, the understanding of the concepts which underpin great sounding equipment and underpin the assembling of great sounding systems.

Lack of understanding the concepts which underpin great sounding equipment often leads to leaping upon misguided trends which can sweep the media and the public. There are a mountain of concepts which need to be understood which underpin great sound. Many do not wish to take the time to investigate them. Lack of understanding the concepts leaves one vulnerable to falling victim to opinion, fashion, marketing or lies. Opinion, fashion and marketing needn't be misleading. They may be in particular times and circumstances, correct. There are however plenty of lies. Along with misguided opinion, fashion and marketing. This is why conceptual understanding of what underpins great sound can enable one to navigate through the maze of opinion, fashion, marketing and lies. In order to discern which are valuable and which are dead ends. An open-mind is required. Time spent investigating and researching is also required. One may be seeking the 'voice in the wilderness'. Most truly great sounding equipment sounded great because the manufacturer grasped something that other manufacturers had either overlooked or didn't consider sufficiently. Mavericks can be a blessing in Audio. Persistent sifting of concepts will be necessary.

Lack of understanding the concepts which underpin the assembling of great sounding systems leads to a revolving door of adequate but not great resulting systems. Here the danger becomes one of having acquired magnificent components which do not work well together or which are being utilised in such a manner as to fail to attain the greatness that they are truly able to ascend to when utilised by one with the requisite understanding. A trap which many dealers and purchasers fall into. They have either Golden components which fail to make Golden systems or they have Golden systems and fail to have The Golden Touch to bring the best out of the Golden system.

The most valuable thing that a seeker after spectacular sound quality can possess, after unlimited cash reserves, is experience. Too many lack both. Most who had unlimited cash reserves would never be called upon to expend them in the search, if they had a similar fund of the necessary experience.

 

[Mojo Warrior]

This is how the audio world takes from the rich and gives to the poor.

Income redistribution audio style.

Eventually, it all ends up at a thrift store for the bottom feeders to relish.

 

[Rach3maninoff]

Forgive the crappy cell phone pic - I know that Dali Rubicon 8's are not as misshapen as they appear in this picture. The place? Ember Audio - Video / Gallery, located in the arts district of Winston-Salem NC, and reputed to be the only boutique audio store in the state. I stopped by here a couple of weeks ago, after finding out it was located only a few minutes away from my work. What was nice about the experience was to be able to actually listen to some of the equipment that I read about on AK.

At the heart of this system was an Octave V110 driving the Dali's. I had forgotten what brand the CDP was; however the short time that I spent there allowed me to listen to a few tracks from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and be transported to a different realm. The tube sound? Luscious. The soundstage? Amazing. The price of all this stuff? To be honest, I didn't check any prices until after I got home.

The bottom line? Although listening to this system was a choice experience, I'm not ready to take out a 2nd mortgage on the house yet. I'm still happy with the small living room system that I've been able to build for minimal cost, and will continue to make improvements as time and finances will allow. When I'm ready to take that plunge, I'll know exactly where to go.

 

[Old Guy8]

I've heard one under 50k system in a boutique audio showroom with I believe B&W Diamond speakers, around $15k. Sounded very nice. I do wonder what part of it is the acoustic treatments and dimensions of the room. I make do with where I can find room. Not special proportioned room for music and without wall treatments. Of course, very flawed, mid-fi equipment. And I forgot, flawed, senior hearing.

 

[totem]

I do wonder what part of it is the acoustic treatments and dimensions of the room.

Many here would be shocked just how much better there current systems can sound. But then that would take the fun out of buying different gear.