What are your favorite 'giant killer' pieces of audio equipment?

How many times did we have this thread already ? A dozen times or more it seems to me..

Nothing can change the fact that money and quality are connected. Better parts, more R+D, better product testing, (fine tuning, countless hours of careful listening to the difference each little part inside the amp makes is the most costly) . Quality labor time does come at a price. Of course mass production and cutting costs by using basic chassis and PCB, lowering costs by building gear in lower income countries and selling large quantities can cut costs. It helps when top gear R+D finds it‘s way down to entry level gear, i.e. the PCB of the TITAN went into the M3 and M6 amp series of Musical Fidelity, the ISIS PCB is used within the BRIO-R; but as good as these little amps do sound, no one in their right minds would argue that they still can't match the quality of these top amps.

The V-series by Musical Fidelity is as close to a cheap product sounding much better than you could expect at the asking price as you will find but they still remain entry level quality. Whatever little amps you may like, none of them can match nor better the sound quality of a 10 k plus amp.
They are not meant to do that.

You can start a decent to great sounding system with components listed here.

NAD amps are really nice, but hey they are not that difficult to be bettered.. Any Vincent hybrid will kill a NAD C amp listening to both side by side....

You have great value for money products and with clever system matching these can make most listeners very happy, just not someone used to MBL, MacIntosh, Burmester or Conrad-Johnson levels.

 

I've always liked the PrimaLuna Prologue 1. Great amp for the money and after 8 years, I'm only on the 2nd set of power tubes. Never a bit of trouble.

While I've only had it since the beginning of the year, I really like the Croft amp and pre that we reviewed. For about $1300 each, it sounds great and is well built. If you don't need remote control and a fancy box, it offers excellent sound for not a ton of money.

Of course the Rega P3-24 and now the new RP-1 (review up, complete with video in a couple of days) as well as the Consonance turntable and the Clearaudio Concept turntable.

The Silverline Minuet speakers were incredibly good for $600 a pair, as are the Dali Minuets for about $400 a pair.

There really is a lot of great gear out there that isn't unreasonably priced.

 

I think my 4 Hafler XL 600's that I have running in mono into Magnepan 2.5r's in the front and 1.6qr's in the back are "Giant Killers". I wandered from room to room at the Venetian and the Flaming during CES and didn't hear anything from all those so-called "High End" companies that came close to tempting me into spending on anything new.

 

Pretty much all top end gear has first class casing and in the case of speakers, the highest quality furniture grade look, none of which comes cheap. If McIntosh released an amp in a basic metal case with a cheap and plain face plate, how much cheaper would it be compared to their classic look? If you're not overly concerned with appearance, this is one area where decent money can be saved but not at the expense of sound quality!

 

And I hate to disagree with our illustrious host, but I've been in the industry for 15 years and spent hours upon hours listening and comparing all kinds of gear and I feel quite confident calling Magnepans and Old Hafler's Giant Killers.

I also think NAD's two channel gear, Paradigm PDR series subs, and Oppo's Blu-Ray players have enough bang for the buck to be considered.

 

Those classic Adcom power amps!

 

'Money and quality are connected'. That's probably true with some companies, but anyone who thinks that you can apply that logic universally is going to be disappointed. Many of the best researched ideas are often copied or trickled down.

Audio equipment isn't immune to hype and obscenely high margins. Several companies have been caught rebadging Oppo players and selling them for as high as $10K. I think both Lexicon and Ayre did this.

 

Sony XDR-F1HD?

How about the Sony XDR-F1HD tuner? It changed the whole tuner world - and costs $80.00 . . .

 

This one might be.

http://www.fastcar.co.uk/04570735435121384410/modified-mazda-rx7.html

 

I think the Ayre player, for example, is not just a re-badge. I've done a little reading on the issue and I get the impression it's not just dropping an Oppo in a new box. Worth $10,000? That would vary with how important $10,000 is to you as compared to audio gear.

 

Tired same old same old, of course there is plenty top bang for the buck out there and if I walked around CES I would only realistically think about upgrading gear I can afford, a REGA DAC or Musical Fidelity amp, maybe Sonus Faber speakers etc. and not the latest greatest sounding MBL reference set or the handcrafted Tube amp from Japan, not the latest KOETSU cart for 8 granf in bloodsone coral chassis or any of the Super boxes.

This stuff gets blocked out for obvious reasons and I am sure for my kind of reality and living room / price of electricty even these are utopi. None the less would it be ridiculous to claim that the Musical Fidelity M3i as great as it sounds for 1150 Euro (clocking in at levels costing , where other amps cost usually 2.5 to 3 grand according to various reviews/rankings) can equal or KILL (teach the latest MBL VollVerstärker a lesson.

It will smoke a couple NAD's for sure, but that's about all you can expect. If you want the real enchillada get a AMS Class a or the Titan for 20 grand.
And it is not the design or looks, that makes those that much more expensive. Start with weight 15 kilo vs 60 plus 35 for the power supply 20 SANKEN amps instead of 2 pairs in the M3 - etc. pp

That is what I mean with money and quality being connected.

Is there overpriced gear around ? Hell yeah. a lot could be cheaper, but it would not sell to the super rich.
But that is another story.

MacIntosh would still be highly regarded if it came in a box looking like a Marshall guitar amp. It is not just the blue eyes, that attract people, just like a hot blonde blue eyed girl has more to offer than just beautiful eyes..

I leave it at that.

If you are sure the grapes are sour anyway, why should I tell you how sweet they are..

You do not want to know it and i can understand that.

Still it is ridiculous to think of giant killers, When did a Renault R4 last kill a Porsche..

 

I doubt that you would. That's the fun part.

 

I think I missed the boat on this one. I can't find any place selling it new for close to $80 as it appears to be out of production.

 

As of 1 PM today, the Rega Brio R, and it is just breaking in.

 

My post was going with the OP's first sentence "What audio equipment do you own or heard that puts the expensive gear to shame?"

But yes ,the deuces are giant back killers.


Steve

 

+1

 

Fisher wide band FM multiplex receiver. 1960's tech, all tube front and back end.

 

Audible Illusions Modulus 2A.

Back when I still had ears, and the sparrow in the tree across the street wasn't farting too loudly, I compared this to an Audio Research SP-11.
I bought the Audible Illusions. I sold the ARC.

 

RP-1? You don't mean the RP-3 by any chance, do you? Still trying to find a review.

 

A used Rega P25 is the best turntable for $700 that I've heard.

 

I like my Threshold Amp. It was under 2k used and refurbished and I have heard it up against the new Pass Labs. While it is not the same, for me the 10,000 I saved is worth it. I see it as a great value.

 

I bought mine second-hand as well and love it.

 

Reminded me of this Pinto post. Giant killer! Like my stereo once I've tampered.
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?p=6800211&highlight=#post6800211

 

Ayre is just using the Oppo transport.