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SAT Comparison

MF has kindly provided unidentified needledrops of 2 new versions of the SAT arm (incl one priced at $48K).
These can be found in the latest entries on his Analog Planet web page.

Listening to the first few seconds of each track on iPad speakers I found the “winner” (for me at least...) to be “1” followed by “3” then “2” with “4” the least preferred.

Just for fun, I invited my wife, who has no audio experience or interest whatsoever, who knew nothing about the files or the hardware or anyone else’s preferences, named her order of preference as 1-3-2-4, again listening to only the first few seconds of each file. Unlike myself she didn’t need 1-3/2-3 double checks she just identified them straight off. Impressive!

I wouldn’t be so rash as to assume that “1” was the most expensive “SAT” or that “2” was the original model.
(For the sake of the expensive model I would hope so! ;)
See what you think...

It’ll be interesting to know what the wildcard “4” turns out to be...

moonglum
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
@lewm so you would have thunk but I'm astounded by how often one NYC dealer posts pictures of its "latest customer installations" of six figure systems into bare Manhattan lofts with lots of wood floors and glass windows -- not sure these customers are getting the sound they paid for!

But more seriously $48K will not go far in building a room unless you are a big time DIYer 😉
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,408 posts
 
I'm reminded of the room romance novel cover male model Fabio put his very expensive system ($2m says Fabio; Infinity IRS, Krell, etc.) into. Hilarious---all marble and glass!
raymonda
855 posts
 
I posted my thoughts a few days ago but somehow it was weeded out. I’ll summarize it here.

1 through 3 have very small difference. I prefer 1 but frankly I could change the loading of the cartridge and that could change.

I would have preferred a track that we are all familiar with so we could compare our systems with this state of the art system.

With th over a $100,000 invested in that front end that is a lot of cash for micro differences and makes me feel real good about what I have obtained for far, far less.

This proves that we have entered an new era where, "the very good is now the enemy of the best"!
lewm
12,448 posts
 
 Perhaps I would rephrase my post above by stating instead that a person who can afford a $48,000 tonearm is not likely to care about his or her listening room. Because the tonearm is just for show. Just like Fabio’s  $2 million system.  And just like those guys who installed expensive systems in their lofts in fancy parts of New York City. 
moonglum OP
619 posts
 
Dear Raymonda,
Micro-differences that can be clearly heard from a few seconds exposure on an iPad at low volume?

My wife made similar observations to the detailed ones entered by Folkfreak earlier. Then she started showboating by referring to such features as the attack and decay of the instrument strings. :O

At that point my expression resembled the punchline of a Charlie Brown cartoon. LOL!!
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