djones Yes we are seeing more of the active speakers with DSP and some are impressive. I had about 3 minutes with the Dutch & Dutch 8c and I will admit I was impressed. Incorporating this into many of the standard budget conscious systems presents some questions since many are doing double duty as a theater also. Maybe I’m just overthinking it but it doesn’t allow for much tinkering. I am on amp #4 in my present setup, each had a different character and highlighted different aspects of the sound. This allows for some customization or tailoring to suit your taste.
1st Post Intro & Ramblings
Hi all, I have been a member for about 10 years and never posted anything although I do read a lot. Figured at some point I would, 10+ years later......
Profession, Audio Visual Tech 22 years. I mostly work in house corporate, conventions and trade shows. Spent some time building clubs, worked a few concerts and home audio has been more of a hobby for a very long time and I have designed and built a few very high end setups years ago. I always hated working professionally on home audio, the customers and sales people are either to cheap or knee deep in marketing and cannot take advice from professionals. My experience has led me to be more aware of the budget, a vast majority cannot spend $10-20k on a stereo and yet some of us spend that on a just 1 component.
I think that will suffice as an introduction, next I will post some of what I have learned along the way. Keep in mind, most of my recommendations come with a budget mindset instead of $$$ all out performance $$$.
Profession, Audio Visual Tech 22 years. I mostly work in house corporate, conventions and trade shows. Spent some time building clubs, worked a few concerts and home audio has been more of a hobby for a very long time and I have designed and built a few very high end setups years ago. I always hated working professionally on home audio, the customers and sales people are either to cheap or knee deep in marketing and cannot take advice from professionals. My experience has led me to be more aware of the budget, a vast majority cannot spend $10-20k on a stereo and yet some of us spend that on a just 1 component.
I think that will suffice as an introduction, next I will post some of what I have learned along the way. Keep in mind, most of my recommendations come with a budget mindset instead of $$$ all out performance $$$.
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- 88 posts total
Ok back to budget. Since I buy & sell I run across some great deals from time to time. A recent find was the well regarded Odyssey Stratos Extreme Monoblocks. After posting them for sale, I received quite a few emails asking the same 2 questions, why am I selling them and what am I replacing them with. (Legal disclaimer again) In my opinion, they are hard to beat at $3,500 new, they do deserve your attention. Used on the other hand is different, they reside in the $1,500-2,000 mark with shipping. At that price point in the used market I believe there are better amplifiers to be had. |
Yep .... you can still get a great toe-tapping audio system without spending the wad or even straining the budget . I have four systems ranging from $1,000 to $40,000. The one that I listen to the most is my comparatively modest home office system starting with TRIANGLE standmount speakers and an ARCAM integrated amp streamed from a PC and MAGNUM DYNALAB FM tuner. https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/triangle-borea-br03 Below is a recent audiofest review echoing the budget/quality matrix sentiment starting with the TRIANGLE BOREA speakers above were reviewed below. (NOTE the prices are in $CAD below, so it’s a third cheaper in $USD equivalent) https://novo.press/montreal-audiofest-report-part4/ “ .... Canadian importer Motet Distribution partnered with several local dealers to spotlight its portfolio of high-end audio brands at this year’s Toronto Audiofest. Motet distributes several high performance audio brands including Plinius, Auris, PMC, Triangle, Lumin, VTL, Music Hall, Hifiman and iFi. In one room, Toronto retailer Star Electronics / Motet demonstrated that you can achieve some great sound without spending a ton of money. The affordable system here showcased the Triangle Borea bookshelf speakers ($599), Triangle Tales 340 subwoofer, Music Hall A15.3 integrated amp ($750), Music Hall C-DAC15.3 DAC / transport ($750) and Music Hall mmf-2.3wh turntable. The music had me tapping my toes in seconds flat. Vocals were vibrant, clean, articulate and full of emotion. Guitars displayed detailed string textures as they danced around in the mid / high ranges. The bass was also surprisingly deep and well articulated for such a small and inexpensive system. Overall, this was perhaps the highest value system I had the pleasure of listening to at the show. Amazing value! ...” |
The small companies like that are most likely the future of high end. Harmon went buying out a lot of its competition for a few decades and now Samsung purchased Harmon. I havent been keeping track but there are a handful of companies that own a large percentage of the mid priced and down market. Quality suffers when this happens and why I try and pay more attention to the who designed the product vs the brand. |
- 88 posts total