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?
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@audphile1 seems like I pushed a button and you are crashing out. You are proving yourself to be a real class act. Looking down on people who have less money than you and making primitive and disgusting jokes at their expense...? Your relatives must be "proud" of you and frame your little quote up there. Just when I think communication on public forums can't get any more vile and petty, someone proves me wrong. You need help. |
After getting the two kids through college with no debt and rebuilding a modest savings account, over the past four years I have upgraded my 1980s/1990s audio system, and I have done it for substantially less than half of the $80K figure. (Full disclosure here--I am what would be considered a very senior citizen and my ears endured a fair amount of artillery and automatic weapons fire, both incoming and outgoing, during my tour as a junior Infantry officer in Vietnam, so my hearing rolls off fairly sharply above about 12 khz.) I think the answer, as others have said, is finding the right combination of components, starting with the speakers. I was able to purchase a pair of Fyne F-702 speakers before a sharp price increase, and those speakers have formed the core of my system. After some experimentation, I have found that--for me--the combination of a tube preamp (Rogue RP-7) and solid state amplification is the best combination--a tube preamp with even a very good tube power amp seemed to me to result in less resolution and a bit of "mushiness." Replacing that tube amp with mono bloc solid state amps (Odyssey Kismet's in Khartago cases) and adding Silversmith Fidelium speaker cables have given me the sound I want. Aside from my speakers, my most expensive purchase was the recent addition of an Innuos Stream 1 with internal storage and the Phoenix USB reclocker module, which is providing superb music reproduction quality via Tidal; in fact, I have not played a CD since the Stream 1 arrived. I have an excellent sound stage, great tonal qualities of the instruments and voices, and I am hearing things in the music--such as the performer moving closer to the microphone and grace notes in classical music--that I have never heard before.Can this system be improved upon with higher grade components, most notably purchasing a higher grade preamplifier? Undoubtedly, but it is highly questionable whether or not I could hear the difference. And, after all, it is all about the music ... at least to me. |
