What Does 80 Grand Get You Nowadays?
A system was playing in a shop. I sat down and pretty soon I thought gosh, I’m glad my system sounds better than this.
That system - just preamp, amp, and speakers - cost about $80,000 new.
I didn’t make the speakers at first, because Sabrinas look far better than the usual Wilson house look. They were driven by one of those new high-end Marantz amps, and I don’t think that was a match made in heaven. The Marantz was driven by a Dan D’Agostino pre that looked like a Minion had been crushed in a hydraulic press. Audiophile music was streaming, but I did not catch whence issued those dulcet ones and zeroes.
I suppose that system constitutes high-end for some. Now, it certainly sounded competent, but it also sounded boring. I thought, this is the Audi SUV of audio: competent and boring.
Conversely, I was impressed and pleased to no end that the end sound of my modest system from the last century could play in the same league as an almost-six figure modern system, and do so in a more engaging and fun fashion - to my ears, at least.
I’m biased, of course; and I am certain many high-priced systems out there leave mine in the dust. Still, I would have thought $80,000 guaranteed a better baseline sound.
How about you, have you heard a lot of gear whose sound was way out of whack with its price?
@devinplombier I was trying to be funny and provocative in the same time, but yes of course: audiophiles are OK with hideous looking stuff. I hate the devolution I have gone through, I used to have high aesthetic standards. Personally I love old Marantz amps from the 70s and I am hoarding Denons from the 90s. They sound fine. If that's all I could have, I would be fine. |
@devinplombier, there's a lot of negativity in your original posting. It's as if you have to bad mouth somethings in order to feel good about other things. I question why you started this thread. Are you trolling? btw, a good dealer is going to experiment with mixing and matching components. The only way you know some combinations are better than others is to actually try the different combinations. |
@onhwy61 I think it's a very important post. I don't think anyone argues that in general a $10 anything will be better than a $5 anything. I see two points here:
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My experience in that shop was (clearly) not positive, and I sought to tell it without embellishment nor caricature. Should we only say nice things? I started this thread to spark a honest conversation about the relationship between sound quality and money spent. This, I think, is something we all relate to, although in practice we go about it in very different ways.
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Yes synergy is important.matching the output of the pre to the amp and then the speakers is importand.have high end krell dagostino and it's fine with no minions popping out.maybe i could put them to work and pay for the equipment like the goose that laid the golden egg.wilson has some great speakers i have the max paired with mcintosh monoblocks sound great.marantz is not the only manufacture with class d it's comming of age. Wish I had a brick and morter store close.enjoy the music. |
