Best system for opera lover at $30,000

OK, I'm back- I have listed many options and brief descriptions for each. Life's more fun with choices. SPEAKERS: Sadly, the absolute best speaker for the opera lover is no longer available. The Sonus Faber Extrema ($10,000 with stands) would be an excellent choice if a pair could be found from someone crazy enough to let them go. Simple, elegant, unobtrusive, and stunning sound quality, especially on human voice. Actually, most of the Sonus Faber line would satisfy. Second choice is the Aerial Acoustics 10T ($8000 with stands). Detailed, awesome soundstage, open, and also good with voice. Semi-unobtrusive and relatively small footprint for a large speaker. Third choice is a little different. Martin-Logan's CLSIIz ($4500) with dedicated Arici stands ($300) would be superb. Limited low-bass response (still to 40Hz), but not a factor on opera. Could match with good sub (I like REL) for full range response. The room is more critical as placement needs to be well into the room for best performance. AMPLIFIER: I would recommend solid-state amplification for simplicity, ease of use/maintenance, and possible remote/hidden placement. Tubes are HOT!HOT!HOT!- your friends may not want to display a light bulb rack! For SF Extrema, Audio Research D400MkII (discontinued- find used), Mark Levinson No.333 (also discontinued) or other high-powered Levinson, McIntosh MC500 (yes, McIntosh). Aerials are great with Pass Aleph 2's (discontinued, but widely available on Audiogon) but should work well with the new Pass lineup. M-L CLSIIz with McIntosh MC500 (this is a great amp!), Pass Labs (any high powered), and especially nice with the Classe' CA- series amps. PREAMP AND DIGITAL: Levinson, Levinson, Levinson. The most well thought out, easiest to use, and best sounding digital gear on the planet. Mates well with just about everything I have heard. Ergonomically superior to everything available. Have not listened to the new gear, but should be outstanding as well- have never been disappointed. VIDEO: Just about anything will work as a DVD transport; I wouldn't spend too much money here. If they have a laser disc collection, Pioneer Elite rules. For TV, Sony WEGA XBR 36". FM TUNER: Yes, there are good opera performances on public radio as well. Magnum Dynalab Etude or MD-102 with their indoor antenna would be a great source. CABLES: For Sonus Faber and Aerial, use double or triple runs of OCOS EvoIII speaker cable. Tara Labs is also good with Aerials. Do not use OCOS on CLSIIz. Instead, try Monster Cable M2 or the new Audioquest G8 (relatively cheap). Interconnects, in my opinion, are not as critical- any quality cables of choice will do. I know this is a bunch, but these are great system choices. I will recap with one more reply. Hang in there, Fielden

OK, using the previous reply, I will only list the budget for each category and let you guys choose. SPEAKERS: $8000-$10000; AMPLIFIER: $6000-$8000; PREAMP/DIGITAL: $6000-$9000; VIDEO: $$4000; FM TUNER: $1400-$2400. Here is a typical system I would recommend: Aerial Acoustics 10T ($8000); Mark Levinson No.333 ($8000); Mark Levinson No.39 ($6000); Magnum Dynalab Etude ($1400); Sony WEGA XBR36 ($2300); DVD and Laser Disc ($1600); Cables and antenna ($2700). That's $30k! Good luck- hope you get some help from all who reply. Fielden

I was raised by opera lovers, which means as a child I was an opera hater. Then when I became involved in high-end audio I finally got to hear opera well reproduced, and found myself almost overwhelmed by the emotion conveyed. Now I can keep my parents paralyzed for hours by putting on "The Pearl Fishers" or "Rigoletto" on the system I demo in my living room. Opera is the most emotional music there is. It is souls bared, both in the performers and in the audience. So what I am going to suggest here is a system that conveys the enormous emotional vibrancy of opera. I suggest the Sound Lab Millennium-2 full-range electrostatic speakers, Wolcott Presence amplifiers, Thor preamp, and from your original post I cannot tell what kind of source you friends would want. With good discounts (which I offer) they would have a source plus cabling budget of about seven or eight grand. The system I'm suggesting here is built around the Sound Lab electrostatics, which excel at voice and instrumental timbre, which in turn is what conveys that rip-your-heart-out emotional impact opera unleashes.

I listen to opera a great deal and am exceptionally pleased with this coordinated system. Balanced Audio Technology VK-50SE preamp, VK-60 amp, and their CD player. Speakers are Avantgarde Unos, cables are top of the line Nordost. Sound is detailed, smooth and very involving. Soloists seem to be right in the listening room. Jazz is spectacular!

At 30K total there will be significant trade offs, particularly in what you might compromise. I think it would be very easy to leave your friend disappointed. Several very important considerations. First, how much experience with live opera do they have? If it is a lot, where do they sit in the opera house? My wife and I have heard about 150 live operas all over the world and about 800 live symphonic performances. This is not a trival matter and will greatly influence their preferences in the balance of the system. Operas are long, 3-6 hours so listener fatigue is a big consideration. Do they like Wagner and Strauss which means the ability to have good detail played loud with lots of bass or are they bel canto fans where the delicacy of the vocal line is paramount. DVD fans (a whole different discussion) or vintage recording fans (vinyl required) Additionally, since this is for a couple, don't underestimate the likely psychoacoustic differences between the male and female. I have been upgrading my system and recently listened to most speakers in the 10-25k range. Along with my wife were two other women who listen with us regularly and have heard a lot of live opera and symphonic music. Their preferences and perceptions and descriptions, of Dunlavy,Theil, Vandersteen, Martin Logan, Revel,B&W, Sonus Faber, Wilson, etc did not often match mine or the standard reviews but they were consistant to each other. Spectral amps received a thumbs down, tubes a thumbs up.(BTW we bought the Dulavy SC-V which the three of them ranked first, it was my close second choice. Finally, room treatment is of paramount importance to sort out the compexity of a large scale opera. A little goes a long way but alot still improves things. In addition to a dedicated room with passive treatments, I use a Sigtech which is astonishing on Wagner, Mahler, Bruckner and Strauss. I hope this helps. Your friends are going to have to listen to some equipment to settle on their preferred trade offs.