Silliest audiophile equipment of all time?

Freemand, I doubt there are very many americans in $140,000 homes who are evaluating Wilson Alexandrias. However, at the peak of the housing bubble, you could probably have found a mortgage broker willing to finance purchase of Wilson speakers with a no-money-down ARM and a balloon payment after five years. Now that's livin' large!

Jax2, You may be referring to Audio Consulting, whose Silver Rock transformers make an extraordinarily good, if expensive, TVC or modded CDP analog stage. RAM & Audio Consulting are nature boys insofar as they embrace wood chassis, exotic lacquers, and wiring insulated in natural fibers. The wood knobs seem excessive, but who knows for sure as I have found that much of what Kyle & Serge offer is effective.

Swampwalker, I agree with you regarding the silliness of $500 wood knobs, but with the qualification that in a passive TVC, a knob of exotic hardwood in combination with a hardwood chassis might be desireable for resonance control or RFI rejection. Both Audio Consulting & Promitheus use the approach in their TVCs. My recollection is that RAM/AC offered the knobs as a full-boat option for the the $5K DIY TVC kit. Doubtless the notion of a $5K TVC in kit form is putting a smile on your face about now...

Of course the price of four Swiss knobs buys an entire Promitheus Reference TVC-- which tells us as much about Asian manufacturing costs and trends toward global deforestation as it does about Swiss silliness.