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Does your system sound better than most demo's?

I just got back from a music show tonight and must say that even though I have heard some systems that sound way better than mine, mine sounds way better than many that I hear at shows or in show rooms, and it actually makes me pretty happy.

I heard a new wadia integrated unit (intuition) tonight that retails for somewhere around $8,000 for a class d amp, pre amp(?) and dac all jn one very sexy looking piece, playing through a pair of $20,000 sonus faber's and my system (8,000 total ?) absolutly sounds better. Makes me really appreciate my set up.

On the other hand, the sonus faber amanti's with $34,000 wotth of moon pre, amp, dac did sound fabulous and so did the b&w nautilus with all classe gear (4 of there new 250 watt class d amps), but still, I wonder, and believe that I, could compile a system that would crush either of those rigs had I a $50,000-$100,000 budget like what those cost.

I think part of the fun of this hobby is using knowledge to make up for your lack of funds. It's like showing up to the race track with a stripped out supercharged M3 and spanking all the rich guys in there Ferrari's and Lamborghinis.

I want to go to a show where they are focused solely on sound and not how pretty and shiny the gear is; sure I like it to look good, but more important is the way it sounds because when it comes down to it, when the fun begins, the lights are off and my eyes are closed.
b_limo

Showing 1 response by rar1

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rar1
1,815 posts
 
I remember a Stereophile show at the NY Hilton that I attended about 8 years ago. One of the demonstration rooms was sponsored by a well known NYC dealer and was featuring components from Musical Fidelity, Thiel, and Focal among others. The presenters were reps from MF's US importer at the time and they were very strong in their assertions that MF and Thiele went well together. In fact, they were claiming to all be proud Thiel and MF owners. I had never read of these two brands pairing in any periodical or web-site, so I was psyched to hear the demos.

I was in the market for new speakers. I owned 3 MF components; a power amp, preamp, and cd player. I was seated 3rd row center for an hour's worth of demos of MF and Thiel, both CD and vinyl sources, and I just could not get what they were claiming, even with prompting by the presenters. The speakers were in my price range, so it was not a mismatch based on price.

I walked away from this demo thinking that this had to be some type of marketing ploy. I know that there are those who will say that show demos rarely sound good and when the demos bomb, any number of room issues are cited. And yet, I have been to rooms where the sound was right on and the room was pretty much identical to every other room.

So the point of all this? Other than the story, admittedly I am now very skeptical of the pairings at these shows as I don't think they prove anything about component cost and synergy.

Rich
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