I found this list to be more useful than I thought it would be, given some of the comments. As someone recently shopping for a lot of gear, there were more than a few things there which would have been within reach and good to know about. I look at such lists with my own budget in mind -- which is framed roughly around a $15k system cost. (It keeps going up, but I’ve not shifted that much!)
So, looking at this list with an audiophile-but-not-extravagant mindset, a number of things would have turned my head, back when I was shopping. The Denafrips and Pagoda DAC’s for one. I don’t have a turntable, but someone on a modest budget who sees a phono stage at $349 would probably be glad to know about the Vincent. I’ve been reading about Aric a lot on these forums, and while this one is pricey, it’s not astronomical. I liked seeing the Coda on the list (so many people just go straight to Pass Labs, it sometimes seems) but wondered where the Belles was. The SPL was a real head-turner; very good looking and, again, not out of reach for anyone willing to spend $6k for preamp *and* amp. Speakers can be so extravagant and so many of the usual names dominate the reviews and forums. So, here, I was interested to see the potential value in speakers from Kings Audio, Spatial, and LSA. The Kirmuss speaker cable also seemed reasonable. My two cents as a relative newbie. FWIW.
So, looking at this list with an audiophile-but-not-extravagant mindset, a number of things would have turned my head, back when I was shopping. The Denafrips and Pagoda DAC’s for one. I don’t have a turntable, but someone on a modest budget who sees a phono stage at $349 would probably be glad to know about the Vincent. I’ve been reading about Aric a lot on these forums, and while this one is pricey, it’s not astronomical. I liked seeing the Coda on the list (so many people just go straight to Pass Labs, it sometimes seems) but wondered where the Belles was. The SPL was a real head-turner; very good looking and, again, not out of reach for anyone willing to spend $6k for preamp *and* amp. Speakers can be so extravagant and so many of the usual names dominate the reviews and forums. So, here, I was interested to see the potential value in speakers from Kings Audio, Spatial, and LSA. The Kirmuss speaker cable also seemed reasonable. My two cents as a relative newbie. FWIW.