EdNichols

The Most Expensive System I've ever heard.

Before I found this forum and became a little more educated about HT I went into an Audio specialty store and was shown some of the "toys" that were on display. My wife and I were escorted into their fanciest HT room which was about 20 x 30 ft and sat down in some nice comfy theater chairs. I told the salesman I was mostly interested in music so he pressed the touch screen located between the chairs to lower the lights, and selected a couple of songs from the on screen menu. He had mentioned that we were listening to Wilson speakers which, although I was newbie, I knew were about $20K per pair. The salesman started playing a couple of songs and stepped out for a moment and I made the statement to my wife that the speakers sounded nice, but they didn't sound $19,500 better than my Energy XL's. The salesman came back in after a few minutes and started his sales pitch about how good the system was etc, etc. and I asked him about the speakers and he told me what I was listening to was not only just the mains, which were the Wilson Watt Puppys but all of the speakers, the Wilson, sub. which was the size of a chest freezer, the center channel, and rears which were all huge. I asked him if the sub. was turned on since I didn't think the music had enough bass, and he confirmed that it was. I figured with a sub that big the whole building should be shaking. After all I was(am) a newbie. So in reality we were listening to over $40k worth of speakers. After the songs were over and as we walked out of the room I asked him what was driving the speakers and he mentioned something about Meridian monoblocks and processors, players etc.etc. Little did I know how "high end" the system was. Now that I am little more educated I realize now that I was listening to over $100K worth of stuff. Even now that I know that I still don't think it sounded 100 times better than my $1K entry level system. Suppose if I go back again and give it another listen it will sound better now that I know how really expensive it is?

JamesHl

Next time get them to crank it up and watch a movie, you'll probably be more impressed.

GordonL

Maybe you are accustomed to exaggerated bass? I suspect the speakers were calibrated for a flat response vs +10db for movies. A lot of shops pump up the bass because they think that's what people want to hear. Next time, take some CDs you're familiar with and let us know what you think.

EdNichols

I actually had a CD with me and he couldn't play it because the music had to be downloaded into the system. I guess it was part of the fancy touch screen system.

Frank_S

At the recent Home Entertainment Show in Sna Francisco, I listened to Meridian's DVD-Audio presentation on a $180K
system. It was impressive, but not THAT impressive. I must say I'm not a multi channel music lover though.


Gordon, you nailed it.

JeromeS

I also went to the HES SF 2003 and went into the same room for the DVD-Audio. Same impression here, it sounded good but not great. The room might not have been acoustically set up right though.

I think Gordon is right when people get accustomed to hearing an exaggerated bass. It took me awhile to get used to listening to music flat as opposed to increased bass and treble.

Doug Brewster

EdNicols,

Have had similar experiences. There comes a point when the refinements of the system and the abilities of the human ear meet their maximum. After that the differences mostly revolve around male body part size comparison. Personally, I believe that more than $5000 is as much a waste as 10 inches.

Doug

Turn It UP!

Burke Strickland

Spending $5,000 can get you a fine system, indeed. In fact, one of my friends put together a system that (minus the video portion) cost about $1,500 and it sounded better to my ears than a highly touted active digital system costing $80,000 (assembled by a dealer no longer in business). I've also heard a system in a custom built room that came to about half a million dollars (put together by another dealer no longer in business) that sounded WORSE than some $5,000 systems I've heard.

However, I have heard at least one system for about $15,000 that is audibly superior to some other systems going for about $5,000 that I've heard. But by improperly rearranging the speakers in the $15,000 system in the room, it can be made to sound worse than less expensive systems. I know; we’ve tried that just to make the point. But when properly arranged, it sounds heavenly. The main speakers in that system cost about $4,000 and, having spent that, you simply couldn’t get electronics that would do them justice within a $5,000 total budget, to say nothing of a total surround system. Was it “worth” spending three times more for it than a really good sounding $5,000 system? The owner thinks so and that is what counts. (And I think it sounds a lot better than the $80,000 or $500,000 systems mentioned above.)

While up to a point, spending more can get you better sound, there is definitely a point of diminishing returns when investing in HT gear, and just throwing money into a system does NOT guarantee that it will sound "better" -- or that it will even be listenable. Judicious selection of the components along with proper setup and room treatment are far more important than the dollar amount spent And taking care of one's hearing to be able to discern (and enjoy) the difference is even more important in the long run.

As for the utility of "inches", I'll leave that judgment to someone else. But it does remind me of the joke about the little old lady in Dallas who objected to people talking about the Texas Penal Code because she thought it was a system to rate male porn stars. :>)

Burke

Doug Brewster

"I believe that more than $5000 is as much a waste as 10 inches" - explained.

Having either to display, I'd be proud, but it isn't necessary in order to get the job done right. In most cases, bragging about the equipment is more important to those that have it than actually using it.

Turn It UP!

EdNichols