Well, of course its worth it. Compared to a Corvette.
A Porsche on the other hand....
A Porsche on the other hand....
New upper trim level Corvette or seven year old used amps?
Recently I have experienced quite a few people I know either passing on or being diagnosed with some type of cancer. And as I have never strived to be the richest guy in the graveyard, I was thinking of buying one of the new Corvettes. I also started to look at my older tube amps, good, but I had had them for about nine years, and the whole tube thing....then I started to think about some SS amps( I know, I’m going to hell). TAD M600, Dagostino M400, and then ventured into Dartzeel territory. Long story shorter: I came upon a pair of used Dartzeel 458’s, totally crazy price, totally crazy good. I have had them about a month and have enjoyed over 100 hours of listening nirvana. Had I bought the vette and drove it 100 hours, I’d have lost my drivers license, and spent thousands on tires, fuel, fines, etc.
myth buster: it’s all worth it! Expensive power and speaker cables, interconnects, speakers, and Dartzeel 458’s.
Anyone that tells you otherwise is using cost not quality as a determining factor.
Enjoy the music and Life
Matt
myth buster: it’s all worth it! Expensive power and speaker cables, interconnects, speakers, and Dartzeel 458’s.
Anyone that tells you otherwise is using cost not quality as a determining factor.
Enjoy the music and Life
Matt
95 responses Add your response
When I retired in 2017, I had my eye on a used Vette that had extremely low miles. I wanted it so bad but remembered the last sports car I owned and how many tickets I got while driving it. It was also a magnet for the Police. My insurance went up sky high at the time. My wife and I had a deal that when I retired I could get the sports car I wanted up to 40-45K. I came to my senses and bought 6 gently used McIntosh components for both systems, plus new racks for both systems as well. I saved a tiny bit of money, but I can use the systems every day which I do where the Vette would have only been driven in the Summer months. Add the price of maintenance and insurance and I know I made the right decision. My dad always told me, no matter how bad you want something, walk away and think about it for a day or two. He was so right in this case. |
Not that property taxes should be a pissing match but our twenty year bill at today’s rate will be $400 k, a winter place will do that to you I guess, but might as well enjoy while I don’t have dementia ( an opinion only I hold! ) as for the Vette, ya don’t see any uhauls going to heaven, so enjoy life a little down here... I think the new mid engine Vette will be formidable, betting it will best @millercarbons P car lap time with an average driver like me, but I enjoy the AWD all weather attack jet with the X-50 package running 1.4 bar..... crap, financial planner is calling... something about a check bouncing.... |
I too wrestled with purchasing a used Corvette the past couple of years but decided to put the bucks into my stereo system instead. I could only use the Vette half a year and then I would have to pay to store it somewhere as our 3 car garage is already full. My stereo gets a lot more use than the Corvette ever would. |
Unless you are trying to show off, why are you asking a question that is 100% personal taste? No one's opinion matters as no one other than you really knows what makes you happy or what is missing in your life that you think major retail therapy is going to solve. If you are doing it for much needed attention, then I would put forth that both the Vette and the amplifiers are the wrong choice, especially the amplifiers as these are enjoyed somewhat solitary and perhaps what you really need is more enrichment in your life that neither the Vette nor the amplifiers are going to provide. |
I can’t imagine myself with only one hobby. I’m interested in a lot of things and have pursued them over the years. Music is my # 1, so much so, that I don’t consider it a hobby, but my lifestyle. I play drums, I sing and played in the bands, and I play (listen) music...lots of music. But I also have the Corvette..(a C6) and love it too. I’m fortunate enough to live in an area where bikers and car enthusiasts come to run on our local roads. I can tell you that 40mph around the right curve is exhilarating as is a 115-120mph quarter mile. Yes, Its just a Corvette...but a car which handily competes with cars costing 2, 3, or 4 times its cost, including the P car. I thought about selling it since its sitting in my woodworking shop. But why? One of the best trips in my life was done this year in it. Very comfortable and fast enough to get by all the left lane hogs. Got to MD and played pool til 2am with my buddy. All that said, If I could only have my music or my Vette, The Vette will lose that race. BTW, yes the mid engine Vette is a game changer....some for the better, some worse (I think) They cannot continue with the 60k price. |
CBD is a good angle to move toward re cancers, so then the listening might go on much longer... see the the AAA production made in the uk, called ’the god plant’. It can be found with a google video search and watched immediately for free. Posting this might actually save some lives. I’m deadly serious. In there... will be some low down on some serious cancer studies. Basically put, the body has an endocannabinoid communication system that allows for the organs and the like to talk to one another, and much much more. In a nutshell, This is part of why CBD can wipe out various cancers. And that.... in a medical study from big pharma that was trying to get rid of weed... they ended up not publishing their results. They declined as their chosen vassal running the study published data that totally contradicted what they were aiming for. Unpublished...due to the fact that the lowest level of cancer in all groups, including health nuts, etc...was in the heavy weed smokers. Even with all the insane tars and whatnot. Also, dementia, alzheimers, aging , brain inflammation, memory, body comfort, immune system, organ functionality, etc. All better to some small or gross degree, re the use of CBD. |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2516340/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4302404/ https://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/jgo.18.79302 Turns out bad advice can kills you! ... No, week smokers don't have the lowest cancer rates, which is not to say that CBD may not have benefits, but getting it through weed may just kill you quicker. Please don't post things that literally can put people in danger. Your need for attention is not more important than someone else's health. |
.... being wrong all the time does not mean you have a non-linear mind, it just means you are wrong all the time. If you want to be a conspiracy theorist, I am sure there is a flat-earth meeting you can attend. Telling people to smoke weed to reduce their cancer risk is literally dangerous. This is real research, by people who are qualified to do it. It clearly shows higher risk. Let me guess, you probably rail against seat-belts as well, because the odd time seat-belts do cause death? |
Nobody gets out alive, I like the perspective of many hobbies and interests sorry if I denigrated the Vette, indeed they offer world class performance at affordable prices how will we spend our day today? A fine question.... father in law 6 years into stage 4 so far immunotherapy ( experimental) has done the best, all the approved stuff and some liquid cbd like Warren Zevon said “ enjoy every sandwich “.... |
Hey, that reminds me, what the heck ever happened to atdavid, sailboat, the thermal control company dude, and one or two other Ethans? Are they on vacation? Did their self-destruct button blow itself up? Are they sent from the same underground skeptic’s organization. Maybe from the ... foundation? From AES? 😩 |
@teo_audio.......................@audiozenology..............Are you guys in the Cannabis business? So you read an article, scientific no less and you believe everything. Let me tell you something, I have indulged regularly for just about 50 years and still do. I enjoy it and it is NO different than kicking back with a beer or to or whiskey, etc. I think you get the jist. CBD oil has been a Godsend to me as my body is loaded with Arthritis and because of that I had to retire at 63 1/2 years old. My job was very strenuous and a lot of manual labor. I was the head custodian in a very large elementary school K-5 with enrollment of over 900 kids. I was all alone. Winter was the worst, some days I was outside all day during snowstorms. Had CBD Oil been available then, I would still be working. It has enabled me to do things now that I have not been able to do for the past 10 years. This is an audio forum, please discuss this subject elsewhere. |
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Cannabis has a definite medical role. My 91 year old father is on full strength oil. He is an arthritic cripple. It hurts just as much, he just doesn't care. This is a definite advantage. If you are just waiting around to die you might as well get high. There is absolutely ZERO evidence that CBD oil has any benefit on anything. More definitive well controlled studies are under way. One is at Harvard. So, we will learn more in the near future. Right now there is a lot of mythology being perpetrated by people with a financial interest. Matt I hate to tell you this but there is a study indicating that people who listen to Dartzeel amplifiers develop cancer of the incus. You should have gone for the Vette :) Enjoy your system, the Vette can wait until next year. Let the current buyers work the bugs out. tomic, did you mean X-51 package? The new Vette is certainly a step in the right direction and the price is going to go up quick as it was reported that GM is losing money on low optioned units. My only complaint is that it is on the large side. It is Aventador size. Of course I am a died in the wool 911 guy. I like little cars. I can zoom in and out of traffic with utter abandon. If I ever win the lotto I'd go for a Mclaren 720S. Will Porsche lose 911 buyers to the new Vette? Hard one to answer. Previously, absolutely not. People who already own 911s probably not. People who are first time sports car buyers spending twice as much on a 911 seems to me to be a hard sell. |
"I asked my spoiled spouse and she said “ Vette is a girls car “.... she does have a mean streak" Hah! Not too many gold chain wearing hairy chest exposing girls that I know. Maybe she means the Boxster lol. The new mid engine vette is appealing, but I just can't get over the stereotype. I'm more into buying Porsches that are a few years old with a CPO warranty. Picked up my '13 Carrera S that had a $130k sticker for about 75k when it was 4 years old with 25k miles on it. Got my wife a '13 Panamera GTS last year when her older one got totaled, also about a $130k car I got for $56k CPO. |
At 16 with little money the choice was literally a car or a stereo. A car looked to me like a money pit. Especially the kind of used cars a 16 year old can afford. Not that things have changed much. A new car today is reliable but gas, insurance, registration, there's just no end to it. There is however one car you can drive for free: Porsche 911. Buy one at least 12 years old. Own it at least 20 years. My 79 SC bought for $16k in 91 is now 150k miles later a $40k car. Enough to get all my money back, including all the gas and maintenance and insurance over the entire 30 years of ownership. Try that with a stereo. Try that with a Corvette. Ha! |
Great choice millercarbon. They started galvanizing the cars in 78 which abolished the rust problem. You are however due for an engine rebuild if you have not done it already. It will cost you 10 to 15K. Just giving you the warning if you are not aware already. It is just the price of owning an air cooled car. If you really want a killer motor send the car to Flat 6 Solutions, Jake Raby's shop. Best engine re builders in the States. They are always a year out so you have to get in line. My 2006 C4S is going there next year. Generally what happens is the car will start leaking and or burning oil. It will not hurt it at all to keep driving it. Most veteran 911 drivers keep track of their oil consumption. Don't ever sell the car. Just keep up with it. Pass it on to one of your kids. It will just keep going up in value:) |
Millercarbon Check out the prices of a 1963 split window corvette, conversely look at the price of a 2019 Z06 corvette, there is a sad guy. in 1978 I bought a pair of Klipsch LaScala speakers for $1100, sold them 30 years later for $1100 stereos hold there value way more than most cars, Porsche or otherwise. If I were to get a Porsche it would an old 959 or similar, but you are right, a 10 year old high-end car is a great buy Most important thing I want to stress- Enjoy Life - however that is Especially enjoying these threads!! All the best! |
I’m a Hot Rod’er at heart, audiophile lags 2nd. Currently race NHRA Superstock classes. I drive and my older brother is my crew chief. Have for the last 20 years. I remember before getting the racing bug having a couple Corvettes. A 1973 L-82 targa blue full option car, and a Bright Red 1986 Lingenfelter 383 package. I remember a co -worker coming in my shop one day saying "I was thinking of you last night" . I of course ask why. He says I was at the strip mall last evening and I witnessed a brand new shiny white Corvette pull up against the curb double parked and this little white haired man struggling to get out of it. My co worker then went on to say he had a cane, and we were walking step per step as we headed down the sidewalk. "That’s an awfully good looking ride you got there sir",. The old guy thanks him for the compliment, then goes on to say "I always wanted a Corvette my entire working career. But my wife Suzie would never let me have one". At this point, their two paths split, one headed into one store and the old guy headed into another one, but even at a distance, you could still hear him say " But she died "……. There is nothing like a new ride, especially one of those new Corvettes |
Stick with the amps, although I do enjoy all my cars , there is nothing like a properly Sounding piece of music to brig a tear to your eyes, and Ive owned 8 Corvettes in my short 56 yrs of life, it is a different type of music if you will. Besides, I would wait for the new Z06 , or even the new GT500, vehicles depreciate, your amps will not!!!!!! |
After a few decades of moving up the performance car ladder - ending with a 911 Turbo S, I realized that these cars are totally out of their element on public roads. Driving with any level of responsibility or sanity, the car (particularly the Turbo S) was just loafing along. While it was pleasant to drive, I didn't feel like I was actually "driving" the car. On the track, it was another story - both in fun, and particularly in cost. One day at the track probably cost me $5K considering wear and tear on tires, brake pads, and ceramic brake rotors. Long story short - I sold the Turbo S and bought a Macan S as a daily driver and a Miata to have fun with on the back roads. With a little suspension tuning, high performance tires and exhaust, I've never had more fun on public roads without risking my license. And now I have more disposable income to spend on audio stuff. |
Great choice millercarbon. They started galvanizing the cars in 78 which abolished the rust problem. You are however due for an engine rebuild if you have not done it already. It will cost you 10 to 15K. Just giving you the warning if you are not aware already. It is just the price of owning an air cooled car. If you really want a killer motor send the car to Flat 6 Solutions, Jake Raby’s shop. Best engine re builders in the States. They are always a year out so you have to get in line. My 2006 C4S is going there next year. Generally what happens is the car will start leaking and or burning oil. It will not hurt it at all to keep driving it. Most veteran 911 drivers keep track of their oil consumption. Don’t ever sell the car. Just keep up with it. Pass it on to one of your kids. It will just keep going up in value:) The general rule with Porsche is buy the newest one you can afford. In my case back then it was the SC. Even then it was a stretch. But worth it because while I didn’t know near as much then as now I did know the SC was galvanized, with the 3.0 probably the strongest Porsche ever made. Even so you still need to care for them and not chronically overheat like the prior owner did mine necessitating an abnormally early and major rebuild. The 150k miles are since the rebuild. It’ll easily go another 100k at least. Easily. I mentioned mine not because its anything special but the opposite, they made thousands of these yet still they appreciate. People unfamiliar with Porsche will have no idea what I’m talking about, but "mint" has a completely different meaning to us. "Mint" to most means unbelievably perfect, like new. "Mint" to most is a pinnacle. In terms of Porsche it is just the way they are supposed to be. The closest in meaning we use is original. This is much like the way someone who thinks they know high end will talk about how great a system makes certain music sound, while the one who really knows will say instead it merely does much less harm to the signal than most others. The difference may seem like mere words until you look in the real world and find my car, what every 911 enthusiast would refer to as a daily driver, chock full of flaws, is nevertheless in far better condition than ones I have seen sell on Bring A Trailer for $40k. In other words if somebody thinks they know a "mint" SC for $35k either they don’t know anything about Porsches, or the seller doesn’t, or both. This is not by the way Mike so much me talking to you as the rest of these, uh, guys. You’re sending a C4S to FSI, that is more Porsche cred than I can match, and I was PCA Region president, Driving Instructor, etc. etc. Congratulations. Whatever level and however long it takes it will be stronger, smoother, snappier, more reliable and with a better warranty than anything ever to come out of Stuttgart. My plan is to sell the SC next year, order a new one in 21. Mostly because its been my lifelong dream to take factory delivery and tour the passes and forests. Also because track driving at 62 isn’t near as important as consuming miles and flying up mountain passes in comfort. Lifelong dreams aside though, to drive a Jake Raby 911, wow, would I love to hear how that goes. Well done. |
Easy to decide: GET THE CORVETTE. Full disclosure: I own a '66 and went to the Corvettes at Carlisle this August and saw the car. OMG, as the kids say. It is a totally amazing car and I am obviously a huge C2 fan. The most surprising part was seeing the car in various colors AND I have pics of it "blown apart"--that is, the INSIDE of the structure. I will be glad to send them to you if you wish--this is SOME CAR, believe me. AND, the most amazing and elegant color was a Caddy borrow called Zeus Bronze. Now, I HATE brown cars with a passion, but once again, OMG! I live in what most people think is a "ritzy" town--been here for 50 years and it wasn't so "ritzy" when I moved here, but that's another issue. Anyway, cruising up to the club in this thing would displace the MANY exotics normally seen there--you know their Italian and German and American names by heart--this car in that color--get right out of town! Since it may be sold out where you are, possibly wait for next year as they have, according to Tadge, the chief Corvette engineer who spoke to us, MANY surprises coming--including a sound system that had to be dialed BACK it was so good. Cheers! |
Always amazes me how some "hobbies" cross-over to others. Bought my first car at 19, a '68 427 ragtop, still have it. Still makes me smile. Don't drive it as hard as I used too. Have a 2016 Z-51 vette, fabulous car, but the downside (as someone mentioned) is that once you have been on the track with it a number of times it is really hard to drive on the street. Porsche makes beautiful very capable cars, have driven many, never had the desire to own one. Same goes for Ferrari. But, I was an audio fan first, so that really is my first love. The only downside is I can't take it on vacation, the upside is I've never got a speeding ticket while on the couch. BTW Chevy has officially stated that the C8 for 2020 is sold out. I'm waiting on that Grand Sport variant. |
The New Vette is certainly a hell of a car and without a doubt an amazing value in this category. I doubt you will see many 60K ones out there. I played around with a build and to do it right you are running closer to 80K. Still quite a machine for that kind of $$. I might even attempt to get a test drive. BUT, no matter how terrific it is, it will not replace my 2006 911S. In fact, I would not trade it , even up, for a new 992. I just love my car. It wraps around me like a driving suit. Its sounds right, it does not have electric steering and it has 3 pedals. My audio setup is really sounding great to me and has really re-established my interest in listening to music. Worth the $$ I spent on updating it. If it were a choice between the music machine or the 911 I enjoy 8 months out of the year, the car would be staying. I would miss the audio system but I would miss opening the garage door and (still) saying--that's my car? How did I get so lucky ? , even more. I intend to keep my 911 till I can no longer drive it comfortably. |
Miller, Porsche prices tend to be pretty regional, so what may go $40K where you are, goes for much less in other areas. Where I am, $40K will buy you a <15 year old 911 with <60K miles. You may even find one on the fringe of that for close to $30K. i.e.2008 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S/SPORT CHRONO . 60K miles, $38K + taxes and licensing. That’s not a one off either. 2008 Porsche 911 CARRERA 4 6SPD 997 SUNROOF AWD ... 52K miles, $34K + taxes and licensing. $ for $, the Cayman is a better sports car. To the OP, as nice as the new Vette looks, you can rarely use that much power. I would take out a Cayman before buying the Vette. |