No more "High End" for me...Back to Reality Audio

Recent "Law Of Accelerated Returns" thread presents opposite argument to this. Perhaps each of us reaches a certain peak, at this point we're either motivated or stimulated enough to seek the higher peaks or turn back since the climb already undertaken has been taxing enough.

Law of accelerated returns says cost/benefit ratio all in favor of benefit, law of diminishing returns say costs quite high compared to benefits, law of no returns says costs far outweigh benefits. The last being gist of this thread.

I've been in all three camps at various times in my audio journey. Spent most time in diminishing returns camp, well over twenty years here. Only recently have I entered accelerated returns camp, the sound quality of present setup has finally reached the peak where live non-sound reinforced music, best sound system ever heard and sound quality of my dreams live. The difference in height between that peak of diminishing returns and accelerated returns is significant.

But it sounds FANTASTIC...You can't believe 8 watts into KEF LS50 Metas would even work, nevermind sound like it does.....Something is wrong with the whole High End HiFi picture.....

@rbertalotto 

Not really: there is a reason Nelson Pass named some of his product 'First Watt'. Most of the time that's all the power most people are using- the extra power is for peaks (most of the time). If you have a good clean first watt, you can do a lot with that, and this has fueled a great deal in high end audio!

Again- high end audio is driven by intention, not price.

(If you worked with that little amp to solve its noise problems, I suspect it could be sorted out.)

what do you think lightning strikes cause?? 

In my world lightning strikes are different from power surges, which are caused by the power company. One way a power surge can occur is if there is an interruption of power, the magnetic field in the power transformers upstream from your house collapses. When this happens, the transformers put out a very large voltage (this is the same principle used to drive spark plugs in a car). Because of the load on the transformers the surge might only be 50-60 volts.

A lightning strike by comparison will do well over 1000 volts! So I draw the distinction in that manner.

@moofoo Yes, it's my YT channel. I'm glad you found my posts useful! Cheers, Janos

@rajugsw The exit from my roller coaster ride aligned with the decline of my quality of my hearing.  I became a much more tolerant of imperfection when I couldn't hear the difference anymore.  Now I have 8 cars, and less audio equiopment.  

Your posted resonated with me on many levels.

First, I wrote a long and passionate post about a week ago in defense of Bose 901s and Bose 901 owners.  I hope you had a chance to read it.  I also wrote a similar post recently in support of McIntosh.  I'm a bit of a speaker geek and received a patent for the Open Line Source speaker back in 1990.  I/we are currently involved in performance mods and had suprisingly good results with a pair of 901 S1s.  In addition to some serious "tweaks" the speakers, we also applied some "high end thinking" to the crossover.  If you'd like to compare notes at some point, I'll be happy to share our approach and results.

Cornwalls:  I have a strong emotional attachment to these speakers.  I become a Klipsch dealer in 1982. When unloading our first shipment off the truck, I was in the process of taking a Cornwall from the truck to the ground by myself when I felt a severe pain in my back.  My immediate impulse was to just let go and let them hit the asphalt.  Then, I remembered how much money I had in the speaker and gingerly took them safely to the ground.  In the coming days, I was in agony.  At the age of 31, it was my first realization of my mortality.  I had an injury that wasn't going heal on its own.  I have the Cornwalls to "thank" for this life lesson.  We continue to do Klipsch performance mods.  We know "stuff" about Klipsch speakers to make them sound better.  I know there are popular kits out there that do a good job.  But, I like the draw the analogy of spending $4k for a turbo upgrade on your car and driving around with the parking brake on.  We start by making sure the parking brake is disengaged.  If you want to compare notes on Klipsch performance, we can compared notes on this as well.

A few years ago, I removed my (really good sounding) modified "industrial look" separates and replaced them with amp/preamp brand that I had aspired to own to my entire life -- McIntosh.  I'm sure your M50s are a great choice to drive the Cornwalls.

I haven't messed with H-frame subs.  Sounds interesting.

Thanks for the post.  Got my wheels turning.