Just wondering...

$26k monoblocks sounds more reasonable than $32k DAC, but still too much.

My chagrin regarding your assertions, czarivery, is whether business analysis is the best approach to putting together a superior sounding audio system or is it more experience/understanding of what does and doesn’t make significant sonic improvement.

Personally, I would not purchase a $32k DAC or digital player, not even one much over $5k. Why? Not because of performing a numerical business rationalization of manufacturing cost vs retail price, but rather because, through the act of listening, I and others have determined that there are some excellent sounding players and DACs under $5k. Further, additional money spent on optimizing AC quality and vibration/resonance elimination at the source delivers superior results with these products, delivering sound quality improvement that belies the cost of the DAC/player.

Certainly, one would be insane to buy ultra-expensive equipment of any ilk without first addressing issues with AC quality and vibration/resonance elimination, which equally benefit the $5k gear and the $32k gear.

A Symposium Acoustics Svelte shelf and Rollerblocks will transform the sound quality of any source component beyond that of a significantly more expensive component without them. Addressing AC quality optimization will lower the noise floor and eliminate sonic nasties such that the music is heard without the detriment of what has come to be known as "digititus".

Then, and only then, has one heard what their current source is capable of and able to accurately evaluate the true impact of alternative, more expensive components.

Dave

eis,

That has to be the most stupid "review" ever published by Stereophile. If the guy can’t afford air conditioning, by all means that should be addressed way before considering any audio equipment. How someone like that could become a reviewer for a major audiophile publication is beyond me.

There is a proper hierarchy of life’s pursuits, well represented by Maslow’s concept in his "Hierarchy of Needs", that makes clear the ludicrous nature of seeking self-actualization ahead of satisfying physiological needs. Perhaps an advent of the Milllennial generation?

Dave

Dave, after your response I had to check out the 'review'. I learned more about the reviewers' wife, living conditions, audio budget than the amplifiers. Must have needed to take up some space in that Stereophile issue. Though I am not familiar with Maslow's hierarchy, mine starts with oxygen, avoidance of thermal extremes does play in somewhere down the line. :-)

@eis .. thanks for sharing. I actually enjoyed the article. His perspective is one I'm sure many can relate to (except maybe for the air conditioning thing). My "listening space" is my living room and while I live alone, I want my gear to work with my lifestyle and taste. Rarely, it seems, do I read an audio review from someone who doesn't have a dedicated listening space.