What are people smoking these days? High End system for $1K! Maybe a lucky GW find from a dead audiophile! It's possible - I bought a pair of Heresy's there for $25!
The High End for Under a Grand?
I love the way Doug Schneider (an experienced hard bitten high end reviewer) seems genuinely shocked about the high sound quality of a system coming in for under $1000.
https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/opinion/1213-a-feature-rich-fully-modern-hi-fi-system-you-c...
Here’s a quick taster of Doug article or you can simply use the link above to read it in its entirety.
"In the last few years I’ve reviewed some very expensive hi-fi gear (all prices in USD): Constellation Audio’s Revelation Taurus Mono amps ($40,000/pair) and Revelation Pictor preamplifier with optional DC filter ($23,000); EMM Labs’ DA2 Reference digital-to-analog converter ($25,000); Muraudio’s SP1 speakers ($14,700/pair) -- and, still to come EMM Labs’ Pre preamplifier ($25,000) and MTRX2 monoblock ($85,000/pair).
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In short, no audiophile of average income is going to spend $25,000 on a preamp -- but they’re happy to be entertained by reading a review of that preamp. More likely, they’ll be looking for something that costs a lot less -- something for way under $10,000, and perhaps under $2000 or even $1000. It’s reviews of affordable products like these that get read much more often than reviews of most expensive items, as is seen in our statistics. And the average music lover would rather go even lower -- say, an entire system for less than $1000. This is what “normal” folks can actually afford and are willing to spend on hi-fi gear.
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But you might be wondering if it’s even possible, in this era of accelerating price increases for high-end audio, to assemble a good hi-fi system for under a grand.
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I was able to assemble a surprisingly complete, feature-rich, expandable, shockingly good-sounding hi-fi rig with a total US retail price of only $926.95. Its sound is good enough that I think many people would enjoy it -- not only plain ol’ music lovers who just want something that sounds great, but budget-conscious audiophiles as well"
My only concern with this system would be that it’s not full bandwith. As Doug says, it only goes down to about 50Hz.
For me it goes without saying that its almost crying out for better loudspeakers but this article certainly does make me question the relationship between high priced and high end audio.
For music lovers it’s just got to be a great thing to know that high end (near state of the art) sound is well within the reach of almost anyone!
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@roberjerman, this is not specifically about hunting for once in a lifetime bargains but more about the opinions of Doug Schneider as posted in the link above. Although he is familiar with some very expensive (sota?) audio gear he nonetheless seemed shocked with the performance he got out this $926.95 system which he happened to assemble by chance. You may agree or disagree with his opinions but I think it's well worth reading if for nothing else than food for thought. So here's the link again - https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/opinion/1213-a-feature-rich-fully-modern-hi-fi-system-you-c.... |
Well, I’ve tried out high end stuff and my criteria is to achieve a very believable presentation, comparable to the local symphony I’ve been attending for several years. Last Spring I set up a small 2.1 system in the bedroom that accomplishes that within an inch of my bigger system. I chose the Emotiva TA-100, which is a little more powerful than the NAD for the same price, a pair of Elac B6’s and a Chromecast just as the author described. I bought a used Element sub. The B6’s just didn’t do it for me, so I tried Monitor Audio Bronze one’s. Better, and I was happy until I picked up a pair of used Boston Acoustics CR85’s and they sound great. So yeah, if you aren’t hung up on esoteric brands, Really good sound can be had for a grand. |
The exact meaning of high end is debatable. $1000 is enough for a Chord mojo Dac and very good quality phones. Add high quality music streaming off some existing device of choice and you are in the upper echelons of sound at least via headphones. Otherwise, perhaps in a smaller room you might concoct an amp and speakers that might compete soundwise with "high end sound" if set up right. Punt on bass below 50 hz or so and even easier. The bigger the room and the more extended the bass desired the lower the chances. Buying second hand smartly makes things much easier as well. |
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