The best system I ever heard was all mbl and the cost was not horrible by high end standards. But the thing that helped make it the best was the showroom set up just right for those. Would take a lot of custom work to do that at home.
??? What Is The MOST Expensive System You Ever Heard ??? What Was Your Opinion ???
So yesterday I stopped by the dealer who sold me my Harbeth speakers..I was invited into the "BIG System" room where he had finally got everything set up & dialed in on the nearly 1 MILLION $ MBL system(price after tax,delivery & set up)..
Everything,& I mean EVERYTHING,from the thick cables,to the amps & pre to the turntable to the 6’ tall speakers was FREAKING HUGE!
As I settled into the sweet spot he dropped the needle on a freshly wet cleaned & vacuumed heavy pressing of "Kind of Blue" the VERY first sound that greeted me was a horrible THUMP as the needle hit the groove!
I spent the next 10 minutes or so listening intently..Never in my life did I imagine imaging & staging like those big MBL Omni directional speakers threw out!Every single inch of that room where the recording was made was laid out in micro detail,you could hear feet shuffling around & tell as horns were swung up & down or side to side..As far as those aspects of the demo were concerned it was very impressive..However I didn’t hear that anything unique about the natural warmth & "more"organic tone always spewed about vinyl,plus the tics & pops from the record were pretty annoying & thinking about what I heard as I made the nearly 2 hour drive home I didn’t recall ever having that melt into the presentation feeling of relaxation I value when listening to music..On the contrary,I did recall a constant barrage of individual aspects of the performance that were highly noticeable but IMO there was never a unification of what I heard & sometimes the performance came off as a little mechanical & hard...
When I got home & settled in,I qued up the SACD copy of the same album on my Elite multi disc player..The imaging & staging of my meager little system shouldn’t even be called imaging & staging compared to that MBL system..Micro detail was pretty much non existent when compared as well..But the music was relaxing,it didn’t beg to be dissected & analyzed,only enjoyed..Oh & 1 VERY important difference was that while the tape hiss of the original recording was clearly present & evident,there was absolutely no THUMP when the song started & ZERO pops or tics from that needle following roughly cut grooves in vinyl!
All in all,the experience makes me appreciate what I have even more..
- ...
- 19 posts total
Other than in dealer showrooms or audio shows, the most expensive system I've heard was a bit north of $500k. It was in the living room of a wealthy scion, and I spent a couple hours listening. The only specific I remember is Ypsilon Hyperion monos. The imaging, details, soundstage were all remarkable. But I found the whole thing distracting, including his well-intentioned enthusiasm, and I have to admit that I'm very slow to figure out whether I like the sound of a system. It takes me days and sometimes weeks to know how I like something -- even in my own room. Anyway, I didn't leave envious of his system ... but I did covet his art collection... |
Several. MBL Van Schweikert Magico Acora Wilson Estelon
All sounded great and provided what was described above. These systems are not intended for background music or casual listening. They offer an experience of a home concert for 1-2 hours. Then a break is needed. Most of the people able to afford this don’t have time to sit in front of it for 5 hours anyways. |
+1 @tom2015 - demoed many systems at audio shows and showrooms. MBL consistently sounds great, especially the 101 and above. I’m thinking the 120/126 might be good for a shared space like a family room. The Gryphon Commander+Apex combo sounded like an end game destination, if it was within budget.. |
- 19 posts total