AUDIO PRICE INSANITY PRICE VS. PERFORMANCE WORTH IT?

Facebook look up calvin johnson dallas texas. Howard Payne university. 

True price is not a guarantee. I had some toy Sonus Faber and a kst150 amplifier and for under 4K I had a pleasing sound. 

My listening room is worse than a trade show room.  I was able to listen past that. Background.  I just spent the last 10 years  on a hyper search for the best gear. Me and 3 of my friends have heard the best.  I listened to a 750k system in a perfect acoustical enviorment. Raidho came to his home listening cottage along with solutions and set it all up with measurements etc.  He used ansuz cabling. He actually had 3 different high end systems 3 years at a time and I spent substantial time with it.  I and my friends have also had Veloce, allnic, Sonus Faber, Vienna acoustics, revel, rel, audio research, high fidelity, cables, Mit, kr audio, mark Levinson, Gato audio, esoteric, MIT, Clarity Cables, kimber cables, atlas cables, Tara labs, classe, Marantz, soulutions, Resonessence labs, Sony, Ayon, dynaudio, Melco, Lumin, esoteric, focal, rogue, Melco, Hegel, oppo, Clarus Cables, McIntosh, musical fidelity, luxman, Bryston. First I would like to say because of system matching and the research I have personally put in. A 10k beating my system is possible but highly unlikely. I think there a people who haven’t heard the best gear so the reference point they have is limited.  What I have found is there is an improvement once you get around that 10k Mark is substantial. I’m not saying you can’t get great sound with less but 10k is a great price point.  When you get to 25k and up you usually get better technology based improvements. Usually soundstage, transparency, lower noise floors, dynamics, bass performance, treble performance. I think once you get past that there is the 60k and up systems. They are a different animal IF THEY ARE DONE CORRECTLY AND MATCHED PROPERLY. ALL OF THIS DEPENDS ON IF YOU MATCH YOUR EQUIPMENT, ROOM, CABLING AND SOURCES PROPERLY. I’m not asking people to agree with me these are just things based on my last 10 years of independent research. Your experiences are probably different. I think I did in 10 what it takes most of us 25 years to do.  I have had access to a lot of gear cabling and listening enviorments. My system is currently up on my Facebook page. I’m proud of it and after I listen to higher priced gear I don’t come home disappointed with my gear. The best system I’ve heard was the late Dave Baskin of design Audio video. He had raidho 5.1 with all solutions electronics and ansuz cabling. It was about 700k retail but it was truly the AUDIO MATRIX AND TWILIGHT ZONE. For that money it should have been. Yes it kicked any systems a** ever and I never want to hear something that good again cause I was about to foam at the mouth. Anyway my Gato FM6 speakers, KR Audio va900, Resonessence Mirus Pro, clarity Cables, high fidelity reveal cables, atlas mavros, Sony es5400 modwright, Melco server system ticks all my personal boxes and kicks a**. You can find your path cheaper or more expensive. You ear is your ear. I’ve come to the conclusion that a lot of high price gear is better but you can spend less and get to a better place if you match your gear, have great cabling and sources and put it in the right acoustical enviorment. Just my thoughts based on my 10 years and all the brands and systems I’ve heard.  

I’m out after I add my rel 212se subwoofer to my current system next week I’m out. I’m out of the chase. I found out that it can be more of the chase and less of the music. I’m only in it for  the music now. Life is short. R.I.P TO MY BEST AUDIO FRIEND EVER CHARLES THREAT. Without him I wouldn’t have my system. But I learned to live listening to and not chasing gear. Today could be our last!

@grannyring technology has improved. My gato FM6 have scan speak drivers and ring radiator tweeters and specially designed crossovers that definitely are cutting edge and allow for vast sound improvements to be heard. My Dac is made by the inventor of the ess Sabre chip. My integrated is niche tube KR audio out of the Czech Republic. I have a great mix of new and old. However technology has made big steps in the last 10 years.

Expensive is not always better. Now these are retail prices not what I paid. 14k speaker.  4k subwoofer. 9k integrated. 6k Dac. 2k server. 3k cdplayer 8k in cables and power cords and power conditioners. Now I didn’t pay retail I bought a lot used and traded some things. But my journey is done.  If I take out one thing in my system I have learned that it can affect the rest so I’m staying pat.  

Let’s see how this one works. Maybe another is in my future. Lol

I think we start at a certain place finanacially and sometimes the chase presents opportunities to spend more.  Sometimes you get better gear when you do. However, better gear and the RIGHT gear for your system can be two different things.  You have to play the matching game extremely well. 

If you look at my components and speakers most of them are not big name brands. They are KR Audio. Gato Audio. Resonessence Labs. These are my major components and they are not huge Audio names but they are quality.  Gato Audio and gamut have some of the same designers in the past. The gato has great drivers tweeters and crossovers with quality parts and tons of research done. The KR audio va900  is a tube amp with a solid state pre and tube power and the companies own tubes.  The Resonessence people are owned by the creator of the ess Sabre chip.  I chose these for a reason not just hype. That’s important.  No one will have my system. It’s very niche and sounds great. 

One last thing! I have noticed a lot of the big names comoanies are owned now by venture capitalist who are only profit motivated. Not audio motivated. That’s another reason why some of these outrageous prices happen 

Room is so important. People forget. The room is the start 

Even with expensive gear. If it isn’t matched right it can suck. The crash course I went on taught me matching.  I got my main components and used my cables to tweak a little. Knowing the characteristics of all of your gear is important. 

Yup make yourself happy and enjoy.  My system is killer good. 

To each his own.  My experiences have led me to the system I have now and it’s worked for me. I listen to live music. I’ve tuned my system to my liking and I have added what I need to get it just right for my ear.  Enjoy the music not the process.

I hear all these opinions. You can get good sound out of lower priced systems. But If you put the right more expensive gear in the best position to to succeed most of the time. You can get tomthat next level. Better transparency, seperation, detail and imaging. If you use it properly it can really be a treat.