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
joey_v
668 posts
 
Another thing I want to bring up is there is typically a dissonance between system improvement and musical enjoyment.

And this has financial ramifications also.

Yes you can buy the best amp and you might have a better soundstage and imaging, but does it actually get you to listen to
more music longer and more frequently?  Or is it just another data point you are trying to reach in systematic improvements?

Sometimes I have to catch myself, wait, I'm spending 17k on an amp.... Am
i gonna be listening to that much more music?
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jl35
4,099 posts
 
while I have heard less expensive systems that sound great and expensive systems that sounded very not great, very expensive systems that were very well matched, both to equipment and room, sounded way better by far...
hifiron
102 posts
 
@jl35 exactly, this is a game of pairing equipment and rooms. I could spend 10k on speakers and power them with the best possible amps, drop them in a 10x10 room, and be underwhelmed because the room is just too pressurized.

The key is to design a system that you ENJOY listening to, within the environment's constraints. We can treat rooms to help improve those constraints, but they are still there.
mikhaelkuz
56 posts
 
Some time ago I used to go to various shows, where I could listen to stuff I never will be able to afford. Some of sounded amazing and you wanted to sell your kidney, some not so much. But in general dcs, MBL, Lamm, Focal Utopia, etc sounded spectacular in their mega-buck setups, so if you have $$$ and proper room treatment, why not.. It is a hobby at the end... At the end it is not how it sounds, but how do you feel it sounds and how you enjoy the music.
PS there was only high-end brand which sounded for my ears offensively, Walmart stereo bad every time I heard it - 47 labs reference series. And yet many audiophiles love and swear by them... go figure.
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