Complete Proprietary Systems


These may exist. My knowledge of high end audio is fairly limited so I don't know. But, if they do, you don't hear people talking about them much.

What I'm talking about is a single manufacturer that makes all the components for a complete system. Amp. Preamp. DAC. Cables. Speakers. Power conditioner etc. All designed to work perfectly together. I know that would be a tall order as the process/tech required to build a speaker is very different from that of an amp.

I'm asking mostly out of curiosity but also because it would seem to make sense. Audiophiles seem to go to great lengths to find out which components from which manufacturers work well together and compliment each other. It seems to me that no one would know what worked best with what than a manufacturer who designed a complete system for the very purpose of optimizing and matching every component in the chain to perform exactly as designed.

I know. Every audiophile wants a certain sound and that no one system could meet all those needs. I also suspect that for many audiophiles half the fun is doing the research and putting that magic system together themselves. But I also suspect that a serious, knowledgeable manufacturer could put together a complete system together that would meet the wants/needs of a lot of people. And nothing would keep them from having different systems to meet specific demands and even at various price points. And nothing would keep them from selling any of the individual components individually.

Just a thought.
n80

Showing 1 response by mglik

Never read anything in the industry about Mark Levenson’s current proprietary line, Daniel Hertz. Mark is a controversial figure in Audio but still an undisputed legend. His interesting and rather amazing multi page bio is on DanielHertz dot com. Did you know that Mark’s great uncle was Heinrich Hertz?
In 2014, I helped him with his room at the Vegas T.H.E. Show.
The complete top line Daniel Hertz full system is about $300K but it is about the best sound I have ever heard. Big, musical, real.
The DH front end is a Mac using Master Class soft wear directly to his DAC. First time I heard great digital.