$20K to spend on speakers…. . wait! There’s a catch!

@Inna > You want the see-thru quality not a fog. This doesn't mean unbalanced and bright, no. And it costs a lot.
 
Blindjim > OK. I’m forced to agree on paper. In theory. Principally however, what I’ve found as resolution increases, my catalog of CDs begins to diminish. Why? Mediocre to even decent recordings lose attraction. They simply do not sound at all worth listening to with any regularity, or at times ever. At least not on the main system.

Well, let me clarify, at least in past system efforts with what was affordable then..

If the price to have highly or highest resolution gear is to severely limit the library, I’m not too sure I want to pay it.

I’d not want to be spinning or clicking on only 100 or so albums out of 2400.

Just thinking out loud here…
Lingering curiosity says maybe, the gear I used previously which sent me indirectly to ‘tube land’ was not refined in its ability to peer thru the ‘fog’ but was etched and bright. I suppose that’s possible. AKA VSA VR4JR, BW. Krell KAV 250. Lamp cords and bell wire for cabling.

These inadvertently showed me the impact of a tube pre. It also told me to step up the game on the amp, so the BAT vk500 replaced the entry level Krell. And so on yada, yada.

With tube power pre & mono amps and more educated implementation of NOS tubes, PLC, racks, stands, iso, room treatments, and cabling I found as much resolution there, as I heard from friends pass labs xa gear & ML panels. Even at dealers showing more expensive outfits. (ayre + Wilson + transparent) Or other similar SS powered setups. Yet glass seemed to have a dimension SS did not, everytime.

It also allowed me to playback more content. Sure, bad stuff still sounded poor. Dry. Thin. Bright. Or just uninvolving. Immediately. But it could be tolerated.

Consequently ‘ultra’ uber resolute equipment as I read thru articles ‘in between the lines’ or as it is stated vividly by the writer, really concerns me on a few fronts.

Perhaps in the levels I’m investigating, my stated fears/concerns are nonsense. Dunno.

I do know too much of a good thing, is too much of a good thing, fairly often, and a system needs matching on more levels or areas than merely resolution. One can’t just belly up to the bar and ask for the most revealing source, power train, speakers, and cabling expecting all will be well when strung together. It would astonish me were all of that possible.

I don’t know much about digital so can’t express any specific opinion. However, I think that just as in analog to make digital sound better one must do it first of all at the source, that’s transport, dac, digital cable and power cords. It is wrong to ’correct’ the sound with amps and speakers. Tuning the sound is another thing. There are warmer sounding guitars and cooler sounding guitars, and they both might have the same resolution. So might different speakers. But cd will never sound as natural as tape or vinyl, one can only try to approximate it. Some people do report that the higher resolution their systems become the more difficult it is for them to listen to poor quality digital. This has not been my experience, but then again I don’t expect much from my old CEC belt drive player. I expect much more from my turntable.

inna
as always, thanks much!


Until digital and analog are on par with each other, there will be a need to match the system. Not necessarily to ameliorate or attenuate, but to border the line where acceptability & resolution reside.

Past EXP says there will be loads of ‘they are here’ and or ‘you are there’ info, if the recordings possess it. So if, high res defines those artifacts as primary elements, then I know which way to proceed… apart from the voices of the power amp it/themselves. .a significantly transparent loudspeaker resting on neutrality is quite do able. In fact, desired.

Until further notice, I’ve determined a nearly critically accurate source which lands close to musical, works well for me if the pre and amp (S) are resolute but have a tendency to naturalness as their main strengths. .I feel all of the power amps you’ve spoken of and I’ve an interest in, follow those guidelines be they SS or glass.

I’m sure, all will work out as it should. I’m simply not a card carrying detail oriented freak. But an AIR groupie. (acquired or attained, Illusionary reproduction).

Life ain’t like school. In school you get the lesson first then the test. In life, you get the test first, and possibly, its lesson. This is just one more effort in being educated by life. I likely just need to set aside my biases and groundless prejudices a tad more often going forward. I’ll keep an eye on those areas.

Buying used for greater performance, and travel are the two predominate things brought to greater focus here… so far, and that’s a good thing.

Blindjim

After drinking this over I have made my decision. 

Option 2, I am going to spend 20K for speakers that retail for 25K and the dealer is playing them on gear that is lower in quality then mine. Sounds like I have pretty damn good gear. I think I will talk the dealer down to half price. Tell him since I am uncertain about how it will sound in my system with my superior tube gear I am hesitant to drop big bucks.

Do you think that will fly???

I will do some more thinking about this and less to say later.  

Stargazer, get out of town, I thought that was my job. My old job. Though I am not a HiFi expert I certainly know a little bit about it. 

Jim 
X dealer