What audio system do you have, or plan on getting?

[Harry]

Equating price with sound quality is pure audiophile nonsense.  There are some ridiculously expensive pieces of (all types of) gear that sound mediocre, bad, or awful.  Speakers are the worst in this regard.  To be fair, there are also some ridiculously expensive pieces of gear that sound great, but price does not always equate to quality.

As usually your words are empty rhetoric.

[Todd]

As usually your words are empty rhetoric.

Incorrect.  My statement is based on a quarter century of listening to high end gear, including some speakers that cost as much as cars but sound awful.  Only an audiophile can equate price with sound quality with what amounts to religious devotion.

[Todd]

Here it is folks, the best amplifier, the Pivetta Opera Only:



$2.2 million.  It must be the best because it is the most expensive. 

If tubes are your thing, then this must be the very best, the Ultrasound Otello:



A mere $650,000.

[Todd]

And if you want the best speakers, only the Hart Audio D&W Aural Pleasure will do:



$5 million.  They are made out of 24 karat gold, you see.  I'm not up on the latest audiophile mythologies, so I am not completely certain what audible benefits gold imparts, but it must be substantial. 

[71 dB]

While Todd is in my ignore list, I checked his post in this thread and I have to say his posts are ON POINT here.  0:)

Speakers made of gold must be optimal for golden ears! 

[Irons]

While Todd is in my ignore list, I checked his post in this thread and I have to say his posts are ON POINT here.  0:)

Speakers made of gold must be optimal for golden ears! 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Not just down to price, Fergus. Horns by nature are big. I had a pair of Impulse H2's worse then the pic below as mine were all black. It was like two upturned coffins in room corners. The wife hated them and they had to go.

Oh, drat!

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

 

Personally, I don't like the looks of them. 

PD

[DavidW]

Thought I'd update.

The advice given by DavidW was very helpful for some starter tips.

Ultimately, figured out what works the best for my situation, what I wanted, and feel pretty satisfied. My budget ended up actually being much larger for this (nearly $5k in total).

Rotel A14 MKII - amplifier
Rotel CD14 MKII - Cd player
Kef LS50 Meta - bookshelf speakers (w/stand)

Nice!!  Too bad I can't drop in and here the magnificent system!   Sorry took me so long to see this post... I had been busy.

[Valentino]

The pictures Todd posted are examples of stupid home audio.

I like that we see more active speakers being offered. Even better active speakers with DSP-controlled crossovers, and eve better thn that active speakers where the DSP also does room integration below the Schroeder frequency. There are some that do full range which very often makes the speakers sound worse.
What I don't like is that most speakers are box speakers, just in different sizes. Box speakers radiate like box speakers and thus sound like that.

My own rather cynical hifi system is presented and also discussed somewhat over at Audiokarma. It's Designed for Bach cantatas. Kraftwerk capable.

[Fëanor]

While Todd is in my ignore list, I checked his post in this thread and I have to say his posts are ON POINT here.  0:)

Speakers made of gold must be optimal for golden ears! 

Those gold speakers, the Pivetta Opera amp, etc., are the sort of equipment sought not so much by audiophiles as by ostentations bling seekers.  There is a lot of ridiculously expensive stuff, (and I'm not talking only of audio), that is sold on that basis.

[Todd]

The pictures Todd posted are examples of stupid home audio.

They are the most extreme examples of audiophile silliness.  There are some long-standing, well-known "prestige" brands that trade in the same thing.  Wilson, Avalon, Magico, Goldmund, MBL, Krell/Dan D'Agostino are all examples.  All offer gear in the high five and six figure per component range, some exclusively.  All use the same type of idiotic, garbled, pseudo-scientific drivel in their advertising and interviews.  The companies that build gargantuan speakers that measure poorly explain away engineering incompetence using statements that measurements don't tell the whole story.  The ridiculously expensive amplifiers may put out a lot of power - Krell was most famous for that - but they either sound the same or worse as much less spendy gear.  I know. I've heard most of the brands listed.  (Not Magico, because why?  Not Goldmund because they are so exclusive that they can only be sold at Very Special Stores and can only be heard with an appointment.  The hoi polloi needn't bother.)  There are many other brands that do the same thing.  Sometimes, a company will deliver a knockout, stupidly expensive product with knockout measurements that sound great.  Dynaudio is a great example of that. 

These companies manufacture elite Giffen goods meant for conspicuous consumption.  Certain Gilded Age behaviors did not and will not fade away. 

[Spotted Horses]

I had been using a Marantz SACD player with digital inputs as a DAC, but although the analog circuitry sounds very nice the digital interface is extremely clunky. It is subject to dropouts when connected by USB, and I had to resort to a Toslink input via another interface gadget. Recently it developed the habit of not recognizing a signal until a second or so has passed, clipping the initial instant of the music.

I'm ditching it in favor of a little gadget from Schitt, the Modi.



I already have a headphone amp I am happy with so I only need a DAC.

[Todd]

I'm ditching it in favor of a little gadget from Schitt, the Modi.



I already have a headphone amp I am happy with so I only need a DAC.

A great little unit.  You can't go wrong for $129.

[Holden]

A great little unit.  You can't go wrong for $129.

I have the Modi 3+ and can vouch that it's a great little unit and shows that you can buy a good DAC for a relatively low price. I have mine paired with the Schiit Asgard 3

[DavidW]

My own rather cynical hifi system is presented and also discussed somewhat over at Audiokarma. It's Designed for Bach cantatas. Kraftwerk capable.

Ah a near field experience.  Ultra detailed! 

I like the rocking chair too.

[Valentino]

But still enveloping.
Lots of diffuse return with good frequency response from the room. This doesn't sound monitor.
The rocking chair is better looking  than it's comfortable. Very easy to move around though.

[Spotted Horses]

I have the Modi 3+ and can vouch that it's a great little unit and shows that you can buy a good DAC for a relatively low price. I have mine paired with the Schiit Asgard 3

Quite so. As a stopgap I've been using a Fiio Taishan which I had on hand and which cost me all of $20. It sounds just fine.



I don't want to use it as a permanent solution because it only has toslink input (optical or coax) and can't be connected directly to a computer. I have to use a gadget (A Musical Fidelity V-Link) to translate USB data from my computer to optical connection to the DAC. I don't want superfluous boxes and wires on my desk.

[staxomega]

Audiophilia has many shamans who inspire great devotion.

Once again, wrong. Keele is no shaman, he is an engineer that designs things based around objectively good science: http://www.xlrtechs.com/dbkeele.com/papers.htm

Since I doubt anyone that just learned of Floyd Toole a week ago possesses an AES membership:

A member and fellow ("for contributions to the design and testing of low-frequency loudspeakers") of the Audio Engineering Society, Mr. Keele has presented and published over thirty-five technical papers on loudspeaker design and measurement methods and other related topics, among them the paper for which he won the AES Publication Award, "Low-Frequency Loudspeaker Assessment by Nearfield Sound-Pressure Measurement" (J. Audio Eng. Soc., vol. 22, p. 154 (1974 Apr.). He is a frequent speaker at AES section meetings and workshops, has chaired several AES technical paper sessions, and has been a member of several AES committees including being on the AES review board. Mr. Keele is a past member of the AES Board of Governors and is past Vice President, Central Region USA/Canada of the AES.

I usually leave idiots well alone, but it's enjoyable tearing down arrogantly wrong idiots that loudly repeatedly post misinformation I won't be one of the ones on GMG that just leave you to live in your fantasies.

[Harry]

Once again, wrong. Keele is no shaman, he is an engineer that designs things based around objectively good science: http://www.xlrtechs.com/dbkeele.com/papers.htm

Since I doubt anyone that just learned of Floyd Toole a week ago possesses an AES membership:

I usually leave idiots well alone, but it's enjoyable tearing down arrogantly wrong idiots that loudly repeatedly post misinformation I won't be one of the ones on GMG that just leave you to live in your fantasies.

I heartily agree with you on this one, but he will never change his views, so it best to totally ignore him, that way he doesn't get food to live on and he dies a silent dead.