Poll . Cost of your system

Yeah, high end systems are not a venue for conspicuous consumption, in fact most people would think you're nuts to spend the kind of cash even on the lower end of what's possible. So I really doubt anyone who spends the time and money required to put a good system together is just doing it for the gear.

I do agree around $5k can get you a really nice system though, it depends on your priorities and space available. Those who want to recreate a rock concert in a very large space will need to move a lot more air than someone who listens to small jazz ensembles nearfield in a small room.

I've heard systems from Omega, Odyssey, and Pranafidelity that blew me away with the value for the money they are putting out, some of which sounded better than much more expensive systems, but there's so many factors besides the equipment involved it's hard to say X is better than Y in an absolute sense, just that it IS possible to achieve very good results under $10k. Of course if you have $50k you may end up with a better system, for sure.

 

I think system matching is important.

 

You mean if I spend more money than you I don’t automatically have better sound reproduction? I quit.

 

Which is what I wrote way back in post #211, and yes I was definitely thinking of only 1 source.

 

I don't even know what this means? Anyway, this is the "Audio Hardware Forum".

 

Because of the limitations of vintage gear compared to today's high end,
what year or decade were audiophiles finally able to hear AMAZING SQ?

I also would think that any recordings preceding that time must be perfectly enjoyable at best,
considering the limitations of the recording engineer's equipment.

 

Recording quality has almost always been better than playback quality.

 

Odyssey is a company that manufactures components that punch well above their weight (price) class. I've heard their setups at several audio shows now, and none of them sounded bad. I can't say that about many much more expensive brands.

I heard some Paranfidelity gear for the first time at T.H.E. Show Newport Beach back in June. The sound was quite nice indeed. Of course, having an open reel deck didn't hurt.

 

The Prana Fidelity stuff at THE Show was awesome for the price!! But at -$7k/pr for the speakers alone, it wouldn't be considered by most of the respondents here. Even without the reel deck there was easily >$20k worth of equipment in the system.

 

$7k * 6 is only around 40k swedish crowns, hardly any high-end speakers I think.

 

I heard his $4k speakers at RMAF, which are the ones I was referring to. He has an NCore based amp though, which has a minimum $9500 pricetag, so his amp is a little too pricey for $4k speakers. It was a nice system but I slightly prefer Odyssey and the Loreli speakers with the beryllium tweeters.

 

Comparing systems at shows is like comparing apples and oranges, but at THE Show the Prana Fidelity room sounded much better than the Odyssey room, I think even Klaus would agree (if he heard the Prana room). Certainly much more expensive in the Prana room. I also must admit that I didn't know anything about Prana Fidelity (except the name) prior the THE Show and was quite taken both by the sound and the owner/designer

 

Wow - $100,000 in the actual recorded music?

 

I wouldn't be surprised, his $4k speakers were on the same level as the Lorelis so I would bet his $7k speakers are pretty awesome and would be in another league altogether. I did talk to him (Steve?) for a while too, nice guy and nice products for sure. He is about 30 min away from me too, need to stop by and see his other gear too... Of course you can get the whole Odyssey system for around $7k so the system you heard isn;t as comparable in price as the one he brought to RMAF 2013.

I do think you can make some reasonable judgements with these 2, they have complete systems and they both know how to set them up, so I feel you're getting a reasonable idea of their potential, even at a show. This is NOT the case with a lot of gear though.

Another one I forgot to mention is Vapor Audio, for ~$10k you have the choice of 2 large floorstanders with RAAL ribbons and ceramic or paper mids. Great sound and great value from those guys too.

For cost no object I'll take a complete TAD system though

 

Okay, and how many people on earth could afford a system over ten large if they really wanted to ?

 

So who ARE these 200K plus lucky 8???

And just WHAT are they running???

 

Whoops! Mine is $1,000 to $10,000 and I voted less than $1,000...seems I should have spent some of that on better glasses!

 

well, hopefully have not spent that much. But over 20 or so years...

Look like I am up to about 8K LPs. Considering pretty many of them are good, it would take some serious $$ to replace them at today's prices.

And then there are the CDs of course ...

 

Interesting point about the cost of music. I shudder thinking about that expense. Easily over 50K spent on music purchases in my lifetime.

 

Well...if one is collecting the likes of new vinyl, and CD/SACD MOFI, AF, AP, SHM, etc., in a few years the cost would be in the tens of thousands.

 

And that's why I'm pretty selective when it comes to purchasing the reissues they produce. I just can't afford to spend that kind of money.

 

Yeah, if the average cost of a replacement record was $10., which isn't that farfetched, it would cost you $80,000. to replace your vinyl.

 

I am being selective too. It helps having the internet, because I can listen to samples and read about many releases.

 

Well, I have never paid full retail building my system, but if I were to price it out at reatil, it is a little over $120,000.00

Just the hardware, not including my music collection

 

Very nice system, Mike in OR.