2. amps-preamps
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Has anyone made the jump to $uper High end and were disappointed?

I'm talking $50,000 and higher amps, speakers, cablesetc. I know there is excellent sounding gear from $100 to infinity (much is system dependent, room, etc). However, just curious if someone made the leap and deep down realize the "expected" sound quality jump was not as much as the price jump. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to make that jump. However, looking at another forum's thread about price point of diminishing returns got me wondering if anyone had buyers remorse. It's not easy to just "flip" a super high priced component. 
aberyclark
whatjd
1,139 posts
 
joey_v, you need to read your own post to find the fault in it.  
pokey77
1,269 posts
 
@jond 

Yep, "believe yourself. And your ears." After all, you are the one who will  pay your hard-earned $$ for that high end rig. And of course you'll be the one listening to it so you might as well buy something you really like. 
bmontani
193 posts
 
I don't know if what I have is super high end, I have about 75k in my system but I have to say for me it is worth every penny.  I am very happy with the sound.  Most of my equipment is used from Audiogon and US Audiomart so if you purchased it at full retail it would probably be worth closer to 125K to 150K but no regrets.  It sounds just amazing.  Like many of the people who responded, there are diminishing returns.  To get an incremental improvement it might cost significantly more but if you have the scratch and love the hobby, it is worth it in my opinion.
joey_v
667 posts
 
@whatjd 

Please explain.

rbstehno
1,455 posts
 
Randy-11, I did just that but did you know that granite attracts lightning? 
I would disagree that Quads and Harbeth are the best $$ can buy. I would also disagree that the loudspeaker is the most expensive piece of equipment you purchase. Quads are really nice but far from the best IMO.
you need to look at the total synergy of the system. Not all cheap amps, even with the so-called vendor specs, are equal to more expensive amps with the same ratings. I have had Yamaha and onkyo ht amps putting out 140 watts and using my older Totem mani 2’s that needed power, an equivalent Classe or McIntosh amp blew away the sound of the Yamaha or Onkyo.
say you have $20k for a complete system, how much would you spend on speakers when you know you will have to buy an amp, preamp, phono preamp, turntable, tonearm, cartridge, external dad, streamer/cdp, and cables to hook everything up. That $20k doesn’t go very far. 
You can buy the best speakers, but if you compromise on the amp (not enough power for example), or compromise on the tt setup or dac, then the best sound quality you will get is from your weakest link.
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