Ken Fritz's $1M Dream System update

Never miss a chance for a political dig. It’s the American (Audiogon?) way….

I was wondering where we all can come to cry about the results tonight. Two separate threads, obviously.

I think it's sad women are not part of taking an interest in this hobby in a meaningful way. Maybe this explains why there are so many single chairs in listening rooms which I think is really kind of sad

a single chair in a listening room is the symbol or loneliness or selfishness. 

Unless of course the wife took the other chair out to the patio....

This system's use was limited to a minuscule sweet spot of only a couple of seats when in a concert hall there are hundreds and sometimes thousands of seats. A music system or home theater should offer a shared experience with friends. That is the problem with how wasteful the system was. The children should not have working on it or any other hobby they do not choose forced down their throats. 

To be honest with ourselves, can we really notice the difference between an overpriced system and one that most of us can afford without having to have unrealistic sensitivity to sound characteristics? Even for the few who do, concentrating to evaluate subtle differences in soundstage and the like will cost the attention to the emotional content of the music. 

There is no reason to envy systems that cost six figures with the likes of speaker cables that cost five figures and sound better by placebo effect.  

Honestly this year at axpona I’ve heard two outstanding system one is the Borensen c1 set up $35 k and other one is the Wilson Maxx Dan Agostino amp and preamp If Iam correct. My guess the price close to $500 k. On the 35k I heard amazing musicality and energy, palpability   On the expensive set I heard musicality, energy, liveness, like you are in the concert hall. 

@drbarney1 I was so flustered every time I had guests over (often) in my new custom listening room listening to giant headphone (not as bad as electrostats) Legacy Focuses. I finally sold them and switched in my living room Sig IIIs. Great. Then I finally could afford the ultimate speaker brand for dispersion without sacrificing sound quality, the Von Schweikert VR9 SE Mk2 upgraded. I often prefer listening off axis now, stereo or mono. Some people enjoy one or two person audio systems, particularly if they are single or don’t care to share. Duntech/Dunlavy and many stat speakers are for them.

As to comments concerning a $million system-it’s the reason I found Von Schweikert’s so late in life. My wife heard their show system in 2017 and for the only time in her life, felt emotionally congested and wished we could have a system like that. We do now and it cost 20% of that by buying used Von Schweikert speakers although I was ready to purchase their less expensive VR models. My best friend has VR35 exports and they sound very similar to my speakers lacking only in the dynamic range and deep bass but his room is a typical condo. I wish I had purchased his speakers a decade ago instead of the Focuses. Plus an SOTA pair of amps, near SOTA DAC/Pre-amp and CD transport. Wow!!! I’ve heard at least 1000 audio systems in my life, mostly at shows and salons. I don’t change equipment often and now my friend/dealer has set me up to life.

Family first, business second, then my music/video hobby which does consume about 25% of my time. 

@mikelavigne Similar response except I never want to retire.  Married 42 years (I'm younger).  My wife demands season opera tickets as she doesn't like to listen to it at home (or even on 75" 4K TVs).  Plus, i am an amateur recording engineer with over 150+ recordings in major and salon venues, recording archivist to 2 composers and now have acquired too many LPs and CDs (61,100 total physical media).  Despite all my family illness traumas, my music is a respite which I use every night for 2 hours prior to bed and go immediately to sleep.  I'm a happy pessimist (especially happy when things turn out for the better)

What is all this backlash against single listening chairs? God forbid a man have a hobby he can enjoy in solitude! I have as much company as I want in my life already. Sure it was fun having a great stereo to share when I was actively dating, but these days I really enjoy immersing myself in peace.

@mulveling 

Hear, hear….

I has been in this hobby since 1978.

 

During those years, I had gone through more than 10 speakers and some monster amplifiers like Jadis 500.

 

But I made balance between my hobby and relation with my three children.

 

They also enjoy listening to music and play some instruments themselves.

 

Thus I had never got complaint from my children.

 

I expect to have fifth grandchildren next June.

 

It would be nice if I had chance to listen to Ken’s system.

 

I may have had taken over his whole system including his house.

 

I still respect his passion but he had gone overboard with his family relationship.

 

But I do not want to criticize him too much.

 

May Ken rest in peace.

 

Thomas

 

 

I have no problem with people wanting to listen to their music in solitary positions. My best two friends and several other friends are single and deserve to listen as they want to. The caveat being that I want anyone listening with me in my listening rooms share equally which is why I desire a wide dispersion speaker. There is a limit wherein my former ML Monolith III stats when my girlfriend (now wife) experienced them said no way! They are beamy and I have to keep my head in a fixed position (plus lack of textured detailed bass, lacking in dynamics). So, out they went and I been happy with wide dispersion speakers since (the major fault of the Legacy Focus).

I am lucky to have a listening room.  It's not big , so there's not much stuff in there.  One recliner in the sweet spot.   I throw a bean bag chair in there if my girlfriend wants to join me .....   no I don't make her sit in that. 

I want to be solo when I decompress 

 

The 1 million system included the room (house addition). To add a room that has such thick custom concrete walls and all the other acoustical details within, you would easily be in the area of $250K in today's dollars. Only going to get a fraction of that back when the home sells. 

I consider my listening room to be "large" at 800 square feet, but 1,600 square feet? Not sure I would want to spend the money to fill such a space up with sound. Ken had a typical audiophile dream, but the size of his dream - and the help he enslaved to meet his demands was not eccentric- but extravagant- if not unreasonable. Strikes me as extremely selfish.

He could have spent a million on a building/room that was commercial in nature and provided a financial return for his family. It would seem that it was always about Ken and his self-centered dream. 

I read all the articles and watched the video on YouTube of Ken showing his son around his room. His son seems detached and simply along for the ride. 

In the end, I felt Ken was likely compelled by Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), a mental health condition that involves an inflated sense of self-importance and a need for excessive attention and admiration. Those with NPD have difficulty understanding and caring about others' feelings. 

Why even speculate? The man is dead and built what may have been a great system. So ridiculous, these days, to attribute negatives to the pursuit of perfection. Spend your money your way and extend the same courtesy to others.  

Let's be perfectly honest. Most others don't have a $1 million dollar system but still have relationship issues with family.

There is possibility the family drove Him crazy. I feel also He did not get the support and understanding from his family. Sometimes people around are more than enough to drive you crazy.

True most people dont have $ 1M dollar systems. But who cares? Making judgements about how much we spend on anything takes us down a dangerous path.

Even the best of audio systems are equivalent to works of art virtually no one sees or appreciates, what a lonely obsession.

Lonely by what standard? Perhaps certain people get little enjoyment in sharing the experience. All of these things are very personal experiences and it is foolish to apply your standards to any of this. Makes our society seem broken somehow.