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?
Interestingly people restoring old gear are using the new generation of small powerful computing boards to mimic the operation of old unique DIP IC's that are no longer available except by raiding another of the same model (this happened a lot in the 1980's) I think it's really pretty cool what can be done for a fraction of cost of reproducing the original silicon. |
Yes - and it shows once again that when demand exists, someone will step up. As you mentioned, old, hard-to-find SIL opamps can be replaced with tiny adapter PCBs on which you can solder any modern, 90-cent opamp that is not only widely available but has far better specs than the original. An open-hardware project on DIYAudio lets you replace the notorious STK power modules - the bane of classic 70s receivers - with compatible amp boards populated with proper discrete components, ensuring those silver-faced beauties stay with us another 50 years. The one thing that’s not being replaced fast enough is competent techs. But, the runaway success of the aforementioned diyaudio.com and of countless other DIY sites shows that increasing numbers of folks - including yours truly - are taking things into our own hands. The impetus for starting this thread was the realization that my system, humble as it is, outperformed (sounded, to my ears, better than) a $80K new, Wilson Audio-based system. I also said my system cost me $2,300, but in the interest of full disclosure it took me a considerable amount of time to repair or restore non-functioning components bought at a very steep discount. If I’d had to farm out the work at $100 / hr, my cost would be an order of magnitude higher. I recommend audiophiles learn to service and repair their own gear, time permitting. It’s fun, it’s empowering, and it’ll save you tons of money!
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Great points. Mindsets and beliefs related to audio and gear are cyclical. For instance, 50 years ago lamp cord was considered just fine, so fine indeed that power cords were permanently attached to components. Now the pendulum has swung all the way the other way, but as more and more folks realize the absurdity of spending as much money on a power cord as on the component it’s attached to, attitudes will continue to evolve and the zeitgeist revert to the mean. It’s doubly interesting what you say, because 50 years ago pro and "audiophile" gear coexisted and were often interchangeable. McIntosh made both the pro MC2200 and hifi MC2205 - different face plates, same exact amp; it was OK to have a Crown amp powering your living room system; and so on. Even today, gear closely related to pro audio is actually sought after by audiophiles, as long as it presents in appropriate audiophile clothes. JBL Summit series, Bricasti, Bryston, Yamaha 5000 series, etc. Can the days be far ahead when things go full circle and pro gear is widely embraced by audiophiles? As always, education will help sort things out. |
@devinplombier perhaps you have a bias for your equipment, seeing how you fixed it. I also like what Bob Carver said about pro audio equipment, "it's made to play loud and not break". |
Kind of... but not a whole lot more than if I had bought it fully functioning. What DIY does give me though is a good knowledge of and appreciation (or not) for how my gear was designed and built and how it works. I have maybe half a dozen Carver pieces around my house. They sound good and they’re pretty. But three of them grossly overheated as designed (I fixed that), and the PCBs look like they’ve been slapped together by gibbons.
Hmm. Bob spoke the truth that time :) |
