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  3. 182504-20253

Really expensive systems that sounded great?

I often laugh at megabucks systems ($100K and above) I hear because so often they are just OK, or the presentation is so off in one dimension or another I can barely listen to them for long.

What I’d like to ask now is what megabucks systems have you heard which you felt actually were worth the asking price? I don’t mean incrementally better than your $20k system. I mean leaps and bounds. Anyone?

The best system close to that I ever heard was the top of the line Vandersteen speakers and Vandersteen monoblock amps driven by VTL preamp (I believe) at a show in Oakland. Nothing else I heard in that price range or above sounded worth it to my poor ears.

Lets try to stay wealth-positive here and stick to things we actually LIKED. 😁

erik_squires
carlsbad's avatar
carlsbad
1,551 posts
 

I have a friend with a Hegal Raidho REL system that is probably $100K and it sounds good.  

erik_squires OP
16,130 posts
 

I haven't seen actual meridian gear in ages.  Last time I looked it seemed their HT gear was languishing behind, kind of like Theta Digital.

kota1
2,706 posts
 

The new Meridian line was at CES, check it out. When you consider that this is a "system", not just a speaker you get why the MSRP is over $100K:

 

kota1
2,706 posts
 

Check out the build process at the factory 2:00 in:

 

williewonka
3,075 posts
 

@kenjit re:

They have horrible measurements look at all those peaks and dips. you couldn’t get any more ragged.

And yet in that same article the reviewer states...

Summing up, the in-room response was wide and remarkably uniform in balance, a testament to the Duo’s good off-axis energy response.

and

Handsomely delivering the promised high linearity, the midrange horn distortion was astonishingly low, even at a measured 110dB test level. Even at 100 and 90dB SPLs, the third harmonic was unmeasurable, and the second was well below 0.1%—this rivals a good push-pull electrostatic speaker and even some amplifiers!

and

What a surprise to find a horn speaker with such a wide and well-controlled directivity.

Seems like the reviewer liked these speakers - a lot

AND the first comment to the article speaks volumes...

On the other hand, the rendering of Ella Fitzgerald’s voice was simply extraordinary in its realism and palpability. So much so, that I forgot to even listen for audiophile things like imaging, soundstage depth and so on.

I go by what my ears tell me - NOT by what a bunch of graphs that detail things most people cannot even discern

Add to that the amplification used and cables that are in the mix and things can change drastically

When I heard these, they made my ears perk up and I listened intently - that is something many other brands fail to do.

But then its all about personal preferences anyway 🙂

No two people hear the same thing !

Regards - Steve

 

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