??? What Is The MOST Expensive System You Ever Heard ??? What Was Your Opinion ???


So yesterday I stopped by the dealer who sold me my Harbeth speakers..I was invited into the "BIG System" room where he had finally got everything set up & dialed in on the nearly 1 MILLION $ MBL system(price after tax,delivery & set up)..
Everything,& I mean EVERYTHING,from the thick cables,to the amps & pre to the turntable to the 6’ tall speakers was FREAKING HUGE!
As I settled into the sweet spot he dropped the needle on a freshly wet cleaned & vacuumed heavy pressing of "Kind of Blue" the VERY first sound that greeted me was a horrible THUMP as the needle hit the groove!
I spent the next 10 minutes or so listening intently..Never in my life did I imagine imaging & staging like those big MBL Omni directional speakers threw out!Every single inch of that room where the recording was made was laid out in micro detail,you could hear feet shuffling around & tell as horns were swung up & down or side to side..As far as those aspects of the demo were concerned it was very impressive..However I didn’t hear that anything unique about the natural warmth & "more"organic tone always spewed about vinyl,plus the tics & pops from the record were pretty annoying & thinking about what I heard as I made the nearly 2 hour drive home I didn’t recall ever having that melt into the presentation feeling of relaxation I value when listening to music..On the contrary,I did recall a constant barrage of individual aspects of the performance that were highly noticeable but IMO there was never a unification of what I heard & sometimes the performance came off as a little mechanical & hard...
When I got home & settled in,I qued up the SACD copy of the same album on my Elite multi disc player..The imaging & staging of my meager little system shouldn’t even be called imaging & staging compared to that MBL system..Micro detail was pretty much non existent when compared as well..But the music was relaxing,it didn’t beg to be dissected & analyzed,only enjoyed..Oh & 1 VERY important difference was that while the tape hiss of the original recording was clearly present & evident,there was absolutely no THUMP when the song started & ZERO pops or tics from that needle following roughly cut grooves in vinyl!
All in all,the experience makes me appreciate what I have even more..

freediver

I've heard many $100K+ (just table) setups, and they did sound every dollar invested.

"freshly wet cleaned & vacuumed

heavy pressing of "Kind of Blue" "

Not exactly the "best" representation.

Perhaps a pristine 59 press would have been closer to the "truth."?

The thump is operator error- volume knob/mute should be engaged when dropping the needle.

If one doesn’t hear the difference, then your CD/digital setup is proper.

A "premium" setup LP setup deserves an A1 period press to fully experience the WOW!

Just my take.

I get reasonably close with a $10K setup, and of course, the best period press LP’s available. More convincing the typical "great" digital/CD playback.

Original press is the only way to play with LP’s if you listen to music pre 1980 or so.

I had a revelatory experience with a ~$1 million dollar Wilson / Roland system many years ago. The system was carefully set up… in fact the sweet spot was on a chair on a custom built raised platform. It was a permanent setup in an audio store.

I could fill pages on the incredible three dimensional holographic imagery and micro detail. Individual sounds were holographic with a very distinct width and depth in space… like 2’ spherical… with a detailed and nuanced micro detailed spherical edge. There was lots of space between the sounds… imagine floor to ceiling and nearly wall to wall… and in a big room.  It was a religious experience. It was just so over the top. My mouth was just hanging open. I listened to it for a couple hours. every tone was perfectly crafted and even a kick drum would be so accurately located that I could visualize the kit in an incredibly distinct and solid space. It was so far beyond anything I could imagine I was changed forever.

I simply had no idea this was possible. Coming away with shivers and emotional exhaustion I realized how amazing it was but that I didn’t want that. I did realize that if I could have a second system off in a separate room I would love it as my secondary system. But my main system needed to sound like real music (I use that word now, at the time I wasn’t sure how to describe the sound I wanted).

Experiences like this are crucial in developing a deep foundation of understanding of high end audio so ultimately you can create the perfect system for yourself. I can’t thank Wilson and Rowland and the retailer for that experience.

I’ve heard a lot of expensive systems at shows and most of them left me feeling meh. Among them the original, snail shell B&W Nautiulus driven by stacks of Krell amplifiers and crossovers.

In terms of exceptionally good sounding and too rich for my blood was the top of the line Vandersteen speakers driven by their own amplifier and a CAT preamp.

I’ve heard the CAT in a different environment at Magico and was also really impressed by it. I wish I could have one for a long term review.

Also, and not necessarily very expensive was the Snell A/III driven by Tandberg amps.  Wow.  Among the very best systems designed for a living room.  The Tandberg amps may not be as smooth by today's standards but they did justice to the Snell's bass cabinet in a way few other amps could do then.