Systems over $100k

@infection

@mulveling you definitely need to make it sound great for metal! What do you need to change for that? Very nice system. I think you should try the Audio Physic Cardeas with the VAC amplification.

Thanks! The VAC preamp & amp combination is what saps just a bit of the adrenaline and drive for heavy metal but wins outright on all other music. Any breakup of the 2 units can absolutely slay with metal - for example, VAC 200iQ amps paired with ARC Ref 6, or the VAC Master pre paired with either Phison A2.120SE or Rogue Apollo Dark amps. It’s just the VAC pre & amp pairing which lags specifically on stuff with a very fast, hard and driving beat. The full VAC stack is extremely smooth and beautiful sounding, but not quite as clean / punchy / driving and impactful in bass as the other 3 combos I mentioned. Well, to be fair, when a power metal song slows down a bit (Avantasia, Magnum) the VAC stack shines again! Kevin Hayes of VAC is literally a wizard of voicing components, nobody else can do what he does, but I don’t think he listens to any metal 😅

Honestly I wish I could flip a switch to one of the other combos for just metal and harder driving rock. That would be sufficient! But even if there is a truly transparent switching mechanism, I lack the floor / rack space to pull it off.

All of the cartridges and SUTs I like can also do heavy metal well - no issues there.

Several years ago I heard an Audio Physic with VAC in the chain (Renaissance III preamp, though I forget what amp). I forget which model, it looked similar to the one you mentioned but slightly smaller. It had the cone tweeter, a couple of front facing midrange drivers, and side firing woofers. Yeah, it was a gorgeous sound - absolutely amazing soundstage and imaging. I was kinda smitten. Unfortunately my dealer stopped carrying them.

Some years back I wandered into a watch shop in Germany that looked interesting. Owning an Omega Seamaster Professional I considered myself a watch aficionado. I got schooled that day. Every watch in that store was hand made. The prices were breathtaking as much as the beauty of some of those pieces. The proprietor looked at my Omega with disdain and mentioned it being simply a mass produced watch. That store was way out of my league and I never had the need for such a watch. I realized then that at some point it is not about how much money or even performance. Even those expensive handmade watches cannot outperform a $20 quartz timepiece. It becomes about having something no one else has as well as something to simply admire like a fine crystal vase. Look and feel in a watch is everything.

If you are looking for performance per dollar in a stereo then the best path is used vintage gear with internal component updates and tweaks. I went that path for many years starting in the late 80’s. Ugly looks was a thing of pride like a rusty 63 Chevy that can beat any Corvette. It is a fun path to discovery of what works and what is not so great that can be very rewarding. By the late 90s I was wading into the expensive gear but with an eye for manufacturers using components and designs that made good sense. I have to admit that the expensive stuff can sound really, really good. Of course at some point spending more money does not gain much sonic benefit. Then it becomes about look and feel.

I have appreciation for some of my buddies’ systems in the past that looked kluged together- the industrial look, I called it but sounded amazing and for the highly finished and polished systems that could be in a museum. But when the lights are out looks mean nothing and it is all about the sound.

I will be done when I can not imagine better sound. 

?? It can always improve...

Tonywinga, every thing in Germany is interesting !

Yes it is!  I got to live and work there for a few years back at the end of the 20th Century.  It was still a DM economy back then.  My family and I loved the experience.  I cherish those memories.