Part-Time Audiophile Best of the Year Awards

Our publisher Scot is a big fan of Border Patrol. I have been impressed with what I have heard at shows.

 

From the Awards

Good news, I am about to mount a brand new one on my main TT...

 

Congrats! Great cartridge. Very popular at Rocky Mountain this year.

 

Glad to see Salk speakers mentioned in good light. I love mine and even though they are fairly large cabinets (narrow but tall) my wife's first comment was "wow, these are gorgeous".

 

I personally do not understand spending that much money on audio gear. Oh, I'm sure it's worth it, and if I were a multi-millionaire I would probably spend this kind of money, but I'm not quite there yet. I'll stick to my "budget" setup and be looked down on because I can't afford a 5-digit TT.

 

It's not silly at all.......Car lovers dream about owning stuff they can't afford. What shotgun enthusiast would not want a Hofer or Fabbri, $500K-$750K for a gun, when a "regular" gun can run $2K. Or how about all the millions of people who shell out every other year or so for the "new" iPhone, plopping down $500-$800 every time and now the iPhone X runs what $1500.......These people easily have spent $10K on disposable phones over the past 8-10yrs.

It's not silly, to think someone will pay big bucks for audio gear. Sure we may think paying $100K for speakers is a not realistic but paying $1,500 for a phone is wacko!!

 

Lee, thanks for posting this.

Glad to see Lou's Apollo 11's speakers make the list. A great speaker that is damn close to sonic perfection.

 

This is an audiophile gear forum. Is it wrong to have a few small corners of the web to discuss this pursuit? Why post here if you aren't interested? Have you visited any wine forums where members spend large sums for wine which won't be suitable for consumption for 5 years? You could blast away there.

 

Would be interesting to upgrade through a few product lines of well regarded power cords and then report on whether or not there's more to be gained there than on interconnect and speaker cables.

 

Wow! nice list! I had a smile reading the cable section listing anti-cables and nordost though.

 

Lou and I became friends at the recent audio shows. He is both a good guy and a phenomenal speaker designer.

 

Ha! We try to cover all price points. At an affordable level, the Black Cat cables are terrific and for a little more money, the Shunyata stuff is superb. I have some Shunyata Delta cables coming in for review soon. Shunyata feels the Delta is one of the sweet spots in their line.

 

Okay

What about the rest of of us? I'm not all that with the info, but I'm not going to poop on his thread. If a thread not is not for me, I simply move on. The world doesn't revolve around what I think or feel and is probably much better off for it.

M~

 

My Daedalus Audio Argos are a significant part of my little slice of audio nirvana.

 

Nice list. But you guys really oughtta fix the price on Schiit's Gungnir.

 

it seems as if there are very few in-home reviews of the listed equipment and that most of the impressions were formed at audio shows.
definitely not the same thing and i wish that the distinction would have been mentioned for each item.

 

I will see if I can get that updated.

 

This is not entirely true. Almost all of these components have been in our reviewer's homes with maybe a few exceptions. In many cases we have done factory tours and know a fair bit about how they are made and the engineering/design philosophies behind the manufacture.

But I think our goals are aligned: I feel the factory tours are best at getting the necessary background on the product but also listening at home in a system of great familiarity is essential too. In all the products I discuss, they have been in my home for months.

In particular, I have done factory tours of Wilson Audio in Provo, Utah, PS Audio in Boulder, CO, Empire Ears in Norcross, Georgia, and soon Synergistic Research and Audeze, both in Santa Ann.

 

Good, catholic list of products there. I was pleased to see Bang & Olufsen's BeoLab 50 acclaimed for its innovation. I haven't yet heard it, but if it's anything like its bigger brother the BeoLab 9o, which I have owned for the last year, it should be a game-changing product with phenomenal sound.

 

Right, no different than one woman buying her handbag at JC Penney for $25 and another paying $250,000 for hers at Lana Marks. That JC Penney bag works just fine for all but the most refined.

 

I'm not criticizing you and your magazine, I was just pointing out how out-of-control prices have become in the "Audiophilia Universe".

While it is a matter of priorities and for each individual to decide for themselves what something is worth, sometimes there are such absurdities that they should be pointed out. Can the average person really hear that much of a difference between a $95K phono pre and a $10K unit not in terms of tonality but the minutiae of what is supposedly better in the far more expensive equipment? The rich may have lots of $$$$$ but they 'hear' the same as the rest of us 99%ers with a few exceptions.

When it comes to wires and the like, I believe it's more the tone and sonic signature they impart to the music, for better or worse. Sure, people can hear the difference between wires but is it correct or just different and does it compliment and support what 'you think' music and instruments are supposed to sound like?

Agreed that the more affordable equipment today simply blows away much of the older affordable equipment in musical ability and I go back to the 1950s thanks to my Dad who was unbeknownst to us back then - an audiophile, but he would have laughed at that term and in his mind just someone who enjoyed listening to music on good sounding equipment, and I take after him.

If there is any hobby that PT Barnum was correct about it's the 'Audiophile' hobby.

 

Bought the 300K cables, read the instructions wrong, and ended up strangling a squirrel.

Would not recommend.

 

Strat-Mangler --> Strangler. It is an obvious case of elision.

 

I have the great opportunity to belong to an audio club where we get to listen to different gear at shops, at shows, or special in-home demos supported by manufacturers. I've gotten to listen to some pretty pricey stuff that ranged from meh to wow.

I've learned enough to never generalize when it comes to this hobby and refrain from squatting and squeezing out a steaming turd on any gear unless I've had the chance to actually hear it..for myself.

 

Oooh! You have spent way too much money on audio equipment to be allowed to contribute to this thread