Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

[MikeH]

If anyone's looking to dip their toe into the SUT pool, I do have a Denon AU-320 I no longer need.

(i'm kidding...i think...)

 

[ngower]

What’s the need for an SUT if you have an MC-friendly phono stage?

 

[Joe Mac]

What’s the need for an SUT if you have an MC-friendly phono stage?

No need. More a want or a preference.

 

[kvetcha]

What’s the need for an SUT if you have an MC-friendly phono stage?

It means you can run your phono at a lower (less noisy) gain. Some people also feel the SUT has a different sound.

 

[OMC]

It means you can run your phono at a lower (less noisy) gain. Some people also feel the SUT has a different sound.

Just a data point here, my Aesthetix Rhea Signature gets quieter the more gain you dial in. YMMV.

 

[OMC]

Just a data point here, my Aesthetix Rhea Signature gets quieter the more gain you dial in. YMMV.

I should add the Rhea is all tube, no other amplification devices to be found.

 

[Slimwhit33]

If there’s one thing that listening to all that high end audio on Saturday really impressed on me, it’s that I’ve probably hit the point of diminishing returns, at least until I have a better room. I don’t think I heard anything there that felt like a palpable upgrade that didn’t cost $20k+.

@Slimwhit33 you really should check out the Audience 1+1 V5s, they’re crazy cool and they sounded massive in a pretty small listening room.

I’ll check them out!

 

[Mather]

If there’s one thing that listening to all that high end audio on Saturday really impressed on me, it’s that I’ve probably hit the point of diminishing returns, at least until I have a better room. I don’t think I heard anything there that felt like a palpable upgrade that didn’t cost $20k+.

@Slimwhit33 you really should check out the Audience 1+1 V5s, they’re crazy cool and they sounded massive in a pretty small listening room.

Yeah this is exactly how I felt after both audio shows I've been to. It kinda shows me just how close everything is when you get to the point I'm already at. It becomes more that things sound different, rather than better.

 

[Mather]

Yeah this is exactly how I felt after both audio shows I've been to. It kinda shows me just how close everything is when you get to the point I'm already at. It becomes more that things sound different, rather than better.

I mean. Within reason. Once you get to like 20G speakers yeah shit hits different.

 

[Portland Sheriff]

I mean. Within reason. Once you get to like 20G speakers yeah shit hits different.

This is as good a time as any to plug an experience I had a few weeks ago (mentioned beforehand in a previous post) at the McIntosh House of Sound, an incredible fully decked out modern townhouse in Chelsea.

I was there for 2+ hours listening to music and spending about 20 minutes in the home theater space. They picked some of the music and asked me to pick a few tracks that are demo-like for me, which we played in each room to really hear differences across the same tracks.

The only room they picked classical was the highest-end room with a $1m system. If I had that room, I would listen to classical all the time. It was mind blowing. But perhaps the most surprising or impactful was the time in the $500k home theater room, where we watched a scene from Dune (when the sand worm eats the mining machine) and Comfortably Numb from Roger Waters “Wall” tour about 10 years ago. Again, I was blown away.

I cannot believe they let a gawker/wanker like me spend two hours with a single employee who knew I wasn’t going to buy anything any time soon, if ever (I was up front about that). The cheapest room had a $25k system w the Sonus Faber Electa Amator III. I can’t imagine I’ll ever own $10k speakers but, if I did, and I needed them to be bookshelves, they’d be top of the list. They’re really good.

Not gonna say any of this is “worth” the prices. Or that the value proposition matches the price. I can’t say that bc I have no idea nor do I have the money. I can say that the difference between the $1m system and the $25k system was substantial. (Not surprising and as expected)