Now I have been an "audiophile" for 15 years and a wannabee audiophile for 15 before that with no money and limited exposure to serious high end. Thank goodness for Ziggy @ Speedo Sound and the one traveling high end show in the Elgo hotel.
So my first wish was for a Magneplanar MG20/Krell FPB/Linn system. Which I had few years ago. Its was very good but by then I had my Tannoys and it came distinctly second.
So I started WISHING....
I bought Quad 2905's - Stunning but not the new king. I managed to find ESL57's and 63's, oh yeah... o crap.... what did I do ?
Had to hear NS1000's - damn what were I thinking.... MArtin Logans came and went. Tympani's too (ok didnt have the right room WITH a wall)
I had FPB300/600.... ouch.... Conrad Johnson (now I miss detail ?!?).... Escoteric, Wadia, Jeff Rowland.... Then the Vivid Audio, Valve Audio...
And YES the Avantgardes...
Now if I had millions I would have been totally bankrupt.... Buy new, sell at a lost. I was a child with R100 in a candy shop. Luckily I HAD to buy and sell 2nd hand.
What did I learn ?
0) Only about 25% of the equipment I wished for stayed with me.... I have ONLY the Kingdom speakers left!!! :faint:
1) NOBODY can tell you a piece of equipment is BETTER
Really, How could I dismiss a Halcro, Tact, Plinius Reference. Why did this happen ? Because of SYNERGY. Synergy with you EARS, speakers, source and cables even.
2) EXPENSIVE does NOT mean better, but the chance of being crappy is single digit figures. The chance a cheapie sounds crappy is in the upper 70%-90%. My Plinius SRA does NOT sound better than the Krell I had, at 2x the price...
3) Your system is NOT the best... o crap...what now ? :stop: No really...it SOUNDS the best to you but the guy next to you is cringing... :be:
4) You HiFi stack does NOT have to be from same manufacturer....Sorry Dealers but its TRUE (pronounced like Gru in Despicable Me) Really guys I know we want to sell a full stack but NO, it doesnt always work. How can a CJ preamp sound better than a more expensive ARC on an ARC amp ? :sulky:
5) Get a friend that taste DIFFERS from yours, hell get 3! Form a posse and go listen. Between the 3/4 of you, you will find a more BALANCED answer
6) Get OFF the brand bandwagon... EXPLORE
7) NEVER stop exploring....really NEVER dismiss any piece until you heard it.....Do NOT be a BRAND-BUDDY... you are missing out
8) A piece will NEVER sound the same in your system as with the DEMO at the dealer :sweat:. Now what do you do ? Try it at home if you can!!
9) Manufacturers go through cycles. A Mark Levinson 33x series, 4xx and 5xx series does NOT mean there was an improvement! In this instance there WAS a very obvious discrepancy.
10) MATCH as crazy as you want....there are surprises! Like just yesterday, a small "bright-ish" Plinius Integrated with Dali Ikon 5 speakers and Marantz CD. You CANNOT sell this seperate. I never heard them better than together here.....
11) HC amps are NOT HiFi amps..... getting closer but no
So my first wish was for a Magneplanar MG20/Krell FPB/Linn system. Which I had few years ago. Its was very good but by then I had my Tannoys and it came distinctly second.
So I started WISHING....
I bought Quad 2905's - Stunning but not the new king. I managed to find ESL57's and 63's, oh yeah... o crap.... what did I do ?
Had to hear NS1000's - damn what were I thinking.... MArtin Logans came and went. Tympani's too (ok didnt have the right room WITH a wall)
I had FPB300/600.... ouch.... Conrad Johnson (now I miss detail ?!?).... Escoteric, Wadia, Jeff Rowland.... Then the Vivid Audio, Valve Audio...
And YES the Avantgardes...
Now if I had millions I would have been totally bankrupt.... Buy new, sell at a lost. I was a child with R100 in a candy shop. Luckily I HAD to buy and sell 2nd hand.
What did I learn ?
0) Only about 25% of the equipment I wished for stayed with me.... I have ONLY the Kingdom speakers left!!! :faint:
1) NOBODY can tell you a piece of equipment is BETTER
Really, How could I dismiss a Halcro, Tact, Plinius Reference. Why did this happen ? Because of SYNERGY. Synergy with you EARS, speakers, source and cables even.2) EXPENSIVE does NOT mean better, but the chance of being crappy is single digit figures. The chance a cheapie sounds crappy is in the upper 70%-90%. My Plinius SRA does NOT sound better than the Krell I had, at 2x the price...
3) Your system is NOT the best... o crap...what now ?
:stop: No really...it SOUNDS the best to you but the guy next to you is cringing... :be:4) You HiFi stack does NOT have to be from same manufacturer....Sorry Dealers but its TRUE (pronounced like Gru in Despicable Me)
Really guys I know we want to sell a full stack but NO, it doesnt always work. How can a CJ preamp sound better than a more expensive ARC on an ARC amp ? :sulky:5) Get a friend that taste DIFFERS from yours, hell get 3! Form a posse and go listen. Between the 3/4 of you, you will find a more BALANCED answer
6) Get OFF the brand bandwagon... EXPLORE
7) NEVER stop exploring....really NEVER dismiss any piece until you heard it.....Do NOT be a BRAND-BUDDY... you are missing out
8) A piece will NEVER sound the same in your system as with the DEMO at the dealer :sweat:. Now what do you do ? Try it at home if you can!!
9) Manufacturers go through cycles. A Mark Levinson 33x series, 4xx and 5xx series does NOT mean there was an improvement! In this instance there WAS a very obvious discrepancy.
10) MATCH as crazy as you want....there are surprises! Like just yesterday, a small "bright-ish" Plinius Integrated with Dali Ikon 5 speakers and Marantz CD. You CANNOT sell this seperate. I never heard them better than together here.....
11) HC amps are NOT HiFi amps..... getting closer but no
