$40.000 speaker advise. Check out my list


Hello all,

I'm currently owning a system which consists of Mark Levinson 33H amps, Mark Levinson Nr 32 Pre-amp, a Wadia 860x Cd player and a pair Revel Ultima Studio speakers. Cables are Nordost Valhalla/Valkyrja.

I believe my speakers are the weakest link in my system and am considering upgrading. I listen to all sorts of music, from jazz, classic to pop/dance.

I have a few speakers on my wish list but they are not easy to find to listen to them so I want ask you opinion first before I start searching for a dealer the have one or more of these brands.

Could you please go through the list and rank them from 1 to 6, best to "worse" speaker and explain why you think the list should be in that order.

The speakers I am thinking about are (in random order):

1. Sonus Faber Stradivari
2. Verity Sarastro
3. Lumen White white light
4. Rockport Antares
5. Revel Ultima Salon
6. Avalon Eidolon Diamond

Thanks a lot for your help.

Regards,

Max
maxx1973
Kkalman, thats intersting but I am stumped on writing the speakers off. Most of us don't have a business and or clients to write expensive 40,000 dollar speakers. How do you explain that one in an audit when you explain your confrence room needed $40,000 for a pair of speakers when we all know $400 speakers at best buy are more then adequate.

I like your idea of making your money work for you so you can do more in the future. I would rather like the guy who is generous giving large amounts to charities making a lot in the market then the selfish guy who hoards 10's of thousands of dollars on a cable but can't give a penny to those dying of starvation.
"How do you explain that one in an audit when you explain your confrence room needed $40,000 for a pair of speakers when we all know $400 speakers at best buy are more then adequate."

You could never explain it in an audit.Period. End of story.Jeffrey you should be ashamed for posting such a dishonest means to an end
Freemand,

Perhaps your clients are influenced by the quality of the presentation? ;)
Oneobgyn,

It isn't dishonest if you actually do use it to entertain business clients. In the world of private practice medicine you don't experience those kinds of things. In the world of business it is normal. I would wager at big investment firms you see 40+ million dollar write offs, not $40 thousand.... Such as jets, yachts, etc. Don't get upset with me for making you aware of it. People have been doing it for decades.

Why should I be ashamed? I don't write off my equipment as a business expense... I don't do dishonest things with my money. Telling me I should be ashamed for posting what I posted is like telling a comedy fiction writer to be ashamed for writing a book of jokes and selling it.

You better believe if I start a business and use my home theater as a part of the business, that I would 100% write off any new equipment I buy for the room. At that point it would be a part of my business (it is not right now, so I haven't written anything off) and as such I would be stupid for not using my American "right" to write it off as an expense.... It would be well within my legal rights.
Are $40,000 speakers really any better than a good pair of $15000 speakers?

If you are going to spend this sort of money you probably need to look at active speakers like the SGR Octagons.At least these include amplification and crossovers specifically tuned to, and aimed at, getting the optimal performance out of the drivers and boxes.Anything else is shooting in the dark.

Many experienced audiophiles see the QUAD 2905 as a benchmark for a speaker that is as good as it gets.Anything else might be different but not necessarily better.All speakers have their own set of strengths and weaknesses and spending more money past a certain point is arguably just an exercise in showing off,being a consumer victim who falls for the con that more is better, or feeding some sort of ego driven delusion.

I know somebody who spent over $100,000 on speakers only to go back to a pair of simple full range drivers-because he came to the realisation that more is not always better and increasing complexity typically comes with a cost of lack of cohesion and purity.