I’m sure that most of the people on this forum would spend 80k on their system if they had the disposable cash. Myself included.
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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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. |
@mike4597 thank you for your service! And good on ya. Enjoy the system. Rogue is awesome stuff. I had RP-1 and RP-5 paired with ST100. Great sound. |
The only thing i learned in that hobby is price often means "ignorance"... Acoustics basic with simple electrical and mechanical knowledge is enough to make any system a decent sound quality experience... And a living room is not an acoustical dedicated room... DSP and mechanical acoustics control of the system/room means more for the evaluation of the sound quality of a system than the price tag of brand ... Than 80,000 bucks is enough now for me to reach acoustic heaven few times... |
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