plaser,
"In fact I’ve noticed for bookshelf speakers especially after around $3k there is hardly much improvement except for the price tag."
Nothing much to argue with here. Bookshelf designs are usually compromised by size, hence often used with subs.
"On the other hand the difference between $2k amp and $10k is night and day and same goes for turntables and dacs."
A lot to argue with here.
I've long believed that DACs and amplifiers, if matched in drive and power output, sound more or less sound the same.
I didn't notice much difference between my NAD, Naim, or Creek amplifiers, although I have only ever used efficient easy to drive speakers, apart from a pair of Quad ESLs which didn't work out for me.
Perhaps you could provide some examples of what you define as 'night and day'?
As verdantaudio said, loudspeakers are where the real gains are to be found. As there are so many different approaches and design philosophies it is really a question of giving them a listen.
"I went out and tried to find speakers under $5K that were better. I could find some that were different (Scansonic, DeVore, Acoustic Zen and Monitor Audio) all sounded different (and very good) but I wasn't convinced they were better. Some sounded much worse but they will remain un-named."
My findings too.
I also think that cabinet issues are a difficult (and often downright expensive) limitation to overcome. Therefore some of speakers I would love to hear next would be some open baffle designs like the Linkwitz Pluto's/Orion's/LX521s.
I'd love to hear some Magnepans too, but right now there's zero indication of when the shows are going to restart. This must really be hitting the small loudspeaker firms hard.
"In fact I’ve noticed for bookshelf speakers especially after around $3k there is hardly much improvement except for the price tag."
Nothing much to argue with here. Bookshelf designs are usually compromised by size, hence often used with subs.
"On the other hand the difference between $2k amp and $10k is night and day and same goes for turntables and dacs."
A lot to argue with here.
I've long believed that DACs and amplifiers, if matched in drive and power output, sound more or less sound the same.
I didn't notice much difference between my NAD, Naim, or Creek amplifiers, although I have only ever used efficient easy to drive speakers, apart from a pair of Quad ESLs which didn't work out for me.
Perhaps you could provide some examples of what you define as 'night and day'?
As verdantaudio said, loudspeakers are where the real gains are to be found. As there are so many different approaches and design philosophies it is really a question of giving them a listen.
"I went out and tried to find speakers under $5K that were better. I could find some that were different (Scansonic, DeVore, Acoustic Zen and Monitor Audio) all sounded different (and very good) but I wasn't convinced they were better. Some sounded much worse but they will remain un-named."
My findings too.
I also think that cabinet issues are a difficult (and often downright expensive) limitation to overcome. Therefore some of speakers I would love to hear next would be some open baffle designs like the Linkwitz Pluto's/Orion's/LX521s.
I'd love to hear some Magnepans too, but right now there's zero indication of when the shows are going to restart. This must really be hitting the small loudspeaker firms hard.