System 1. Revel Ultima speakers (not Ultima 2) fed by Mark Levinson CDP, pre and amps, in a stereo shop in Santa Barbara, CA. I have heard a lot of other great speakers (e.g. Wilsons, big Magnepans, Quads, etc.) fed by extremely expensive electronics, but for some reason, this system in that room got it right.
System 2. Rega P5 turntable feeding a Prima Luna integrated tube amp played through Dynaudio Audience 52 SE speakers in a showroom in Austin, Texas. Not at all a high end rig, but just really sounded together and got my toes tapping. Caused me to get my old turntable out and fire it up again at home.
System 3. Musical Fidelity A3.5 CDP and Intergrated combo using modest Audioquest interconnects and speaker cables feeding Totem Arro speakers in a showroom in Portland, OR (I guess I get around a bit). Again, not a fabulously expensive system, and not even close to "full range", but man did it ever swing and throw sound around the room.
I guess I expect to be knocked out by really high end systems and more often than not end up unsatisfied. I do get a big kick when I find a set up below $5K total cost that really sounds like music (like Systems 2 and 3 above).
System 2. Rega P5 turntable feeding a Prima Luna integrated tube amp played through Dynaudio Audience 52 SE speakers in a showroom in Austin, Texas. Not at all a high end rig, but just really sounded together and got my toes tapping. Caused me to get my old turntable out and fire it up again at home.
System 3. Musical Fidelity A3.5 CDP and Intergrated combo using modest Audioquest interconnects and speaker cables feeding Totem Arro speakers in a showroom in Portland, OR (I guess I get around a bit). Again, not a fabulously expensive system, and not even close to "full range", but man did it ever swing and throw sound around the room.
I guess I expect to be knocked out by really high end systems and more often than not end up unsatisfied. I do get a big kick when I find a set up below $5K total cost that really sounds like music (like Systems 2 and 3 above).