Home audio or pro audio?


I went into an audio store not knowing it was only dj and professional systems nothing home audio. They did a few demos and the stuff kinda sounded better for a fraction of the cost. I have an $80k home theater system, and looks like if I went with pro imi could get more power and same sound for less than half the price, anyone ever notice this?

128x128mariobeniteziv

Pro audio is a pretty meaningless term - too general. Top quality studio level gear is not inexpensive - though not at the same level of cost as high end domestic hi fi. Although, top end pro monitors can be fairly high en in term of price. DJ or live sound gear is a totally different kettle of fish - not really designed to deliver what you would want or listening to music in a domestic setting. However, if we are just talking home theater, then I could certainly see that, given a large room, a small PA could be pretty cost effective. You might not want to listen to music on it, but just for movies it could work.

I don’t want to get pulled into this. But the goals of pro audio are very different than high end audio. In general pro audio concentrates on near field, narrow diapresion and “details forward” to hear all the nuances… allowing them to hear nuances an audiophile does not. So, they sound completely different, pretty unforgiving. 
 

Completely different… you like it… go for it.

Nothing wrong with the option of good quality pro audio gear. You just won’t read much about it here because that is a different industry targeting a different set of users.

This is how Benchmark positions their pro gear for the home, I don't think the goals are different at all:

BRING THE STUDIO INTO YOUR LIVING ROOM

When Benchmark's professional converters are used in hi-fi applications, studio-quality sound can be enjoyed in a home environment. Enjoy pure music without any coloration from the electronics. Hear the music exactly the way it was heard in the studio, and exactly the way the artists intended.

Discover the natural, uncolored, analog sound of Benchmark converters.