Thanks.
Latest Absolute Sound
I just got it yesterday and they are reviewing amps from 12k to 97k. I sat back and thought who is really buying this stuff. I know the average audiophile Isn't and the one's that actual have the money are always looking for deals via Audiogon. Is this just audio porn for the readers or are people actually buying this stuff.
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I heard that speaker a couple of years ago in Vegas and I thought it was one of the most musical speakers I have ever heard. Most rooms I was in and out in 5 minutes. I stayed in that room just listening to music. It was so enjoyable. If I am ever in the market for a high priced speaker this would definitely be on my list. Btw- my list is very small. I haven't heard to many expensive speakers that I think are worth the money. These definitely are. It's a shame more people don't know about these. |
About TAS.....I let my subscription lapse. I might have renewed except for the very elitist sounding letter they sent, almost threatening if I let it go. I get as much info that I need from S'file and from Fremer's web site. As the political season heats up, TAS might publish something about Trump's system, LOL, but I can do without TAS and Trump |
I don't think any one has gotten rich over buying Hi End gear and from a business standpoint it is a poor investment but a necessary one for audiophiles. Realistically there is a point of diminishing returns as you climb the dollar ladder of high-end and eventually you reach a point that one is no longer paying for good sound but for bling only. That doesn't mean this high priced gear does not draw an audiophiles curiosity and it is very interesting to look at. I wonder how often audiophiles splurged on a piece of gear that was far more expensive then what it replaced, only to find out it don't sound as good or there was no synergy with the other components. Funny sometimes the entry model sounds better then the next model up because it has a simpler circuit. |
atmasphere4,602 posts02-05-2016 1:26pmThe latest issue has at least one review of an amplifier that costs under $5K. Perhaps they've seen this discussion that's why :-) geoffkait2,774 posts02-05-2016 7:27amThat dude driving around a new Bentley did not get it from Enterprise Car Rental. There are actually luxury and performance car rentals in Miami. I once was a servant of a very rich family and their young adult son decided to rent 911 twin-turbo. Having realized that he was inadequate in his driving, I asked him to move away from driver seat to void heavy consequences :-) |
I think the business plan of ultra expensive stuff is great…Bugatti already has 100 orders for the not yet available new supercar, 200 grand for audio components with no (or few) moving parts are common, and hey…exclusivity worked for Bernie Madoff, so why not? I feel a self satisfied smirk coming on when I think about my relatively inexpensive hifi rig (lots of used but geekily vetted items), and recently a friend commented on my great sounding Linn turntable (bought used and re-wired) by saying, "Most people would consider 500 bucks a LOT for a turntable"…and he's right. |
Throwing tons of money into a product does not necessarily make it work any better, Often it ends up on the outside as window dressing. They have to justify the cost somehow. Those manufactures are simply testing the limits of what they can get and having you pay more for the extreme art of how they box their circuitry. They need to spend that money on their circuits. That's where the real enjoyment of music lives. Roger |
I wasn't too pleased, either, with the current issue. I'm sorry but it looks like the Japanese equipment makers are trying to invade the High End again -- Sony speakers, Yamaha separates and $53K amps from Technics! The last straw was a good review for the $4K "revised" Technics SL-1200 direct drive with the "refinements" that 40 years brings. I'm sorry, but ever since I heard a direct A-B between the Linn LP12 and the same Technics back in 1974, I'm NOT going the direct-drive route no matter what TAS or other reviewers are saying. |
I would cancel my subscription to TAS if I could afford the crazy $36 per year subscription fee!!! $36?!?!?! For a handful of printed pages and pictures??? Does Robert Harley think we are all millionaires? How dare anyone make a product that I cannot afford!!!! I think we should tax the 1% so that everyone can buy the same $300 amplifier, $400 speakers, and $150 CD player. Better yet - why not raise the taxes high enough on the 1% so that the 99% can just be given this very average universal system as an entitlement? After all, isn't music a right? Why should anyone with money, no doubt stolen from the poor working class, be able to enjoy better sound than the rest of us? RESIST! BREAK WINDOWS! DESTROY ALL EXPENSIVE AUDIO GEAR!!! |
All the audio rags cater to their advertisers. Peachtree must have had some conflict with Stereophile...the review was "weird" to say the least. https://www.stereophile.com/content/peachtree-audio-nova300-integrated-amplifier Probably didn’t buy enough ad space. my favorite was the old Stereo Review before it went H/T. Lot's of more realistic priced equipment. |
i love buying 3 year old Porsche about half what the first guy paid.. yep people do buy them just like Audio the sticker on my last Turbo was $160 with the factory X-50 powerkit but i dont kid myself to the initial purchaser is was probably like a cheeseburger but trickle down helps us all on the audio front i tend to buy new from dealers i trust who support me well... |
30k is probably the sweet spot for a high performance system if is well balanced and only has 1 or 2 sources. An excellent digital front end (analogue of comparable quality would likely drive the price upwards) a good integrated amp and speakers setup in an appropriately sized and treated room should offer all one could reasonably ask for in sound reproduction. |
30K? Baloney, and I've always felt that discovering the hidden bargains in new or used gear is utterly more rewarding, and trusting YOUR ears is all that matters…I've bought things like "previously owned" solid silver cable that sounds great, well regarded and astonishingly coherant speakers for a third of the list price, 2 perfect subs for a couple hundred bucks each, etc., and the results, although sometimes underwhelming, allow vetting the stuff to my taste (the fun part, and unloading gear via the net is easy), and the results can be astonishingly musical and can cost FAR less than 30 grand. |
It's fine to review aspirational products. The review SHOULD include a valid listening test to determine if product 65k really sounds better than say.. product 2k. Or if it has some other useful features - e.g. a lifetime warranty, or a history repairing everything they ever made - even back in 1968. not that you can find such reviews in print or online... oh BTW, roosfa - I doubt if Trump reads that or anything else - now, if they put it on TV he'd watch it and then Tweet |
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The biggest limitation is that most people who work in audio for a long time all believe it is still 1980. Many are ugly and fat and never spend a lot of time doing research or tests. When you do not understand music and sound you will never understand audio either. I asked many people in audio what the properties of sound are. And I asked what the most important part is what influences our emotion. I also asked how the human emotion works? They all had no idea. So I asked to an audioshop owner which properties you will take out when you replace this cable. (which brand he sells for over 20 years) He said; I have no idea. And when you replace it by the other cable you cannot tell me which properties you will bring in? I have no idea he said. So I said: this means you never have any idea why the sound and stage of an audio system is what you hear? He said: I don’t know. So I said: this means that you connect an amp, speakers, source and cables and you will listen to the endresult? He said: yess. But you have no idea which properties you take out and which you bring in when you change one part in your system? He said: I don’t. This proofs for 100% that all these people do audiogambling. This also proofs how limited most people are in their knowledge and insight. |
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