Best system for opera lover at $30,000

I was raised by opera lovers, which means as a child I was an opera hater. Then when I became involved in high-end audio I finally got to hear opera well reproduced, and found myself almost overwhelmed by the emotion conveyed. Now I can keep my parents paralyzed for hours by putting on "The Pearl Fishers" or "Rigoletto" on the system I demo in my living room. Opera is the most emotional music there is. It is souls bared, both in the performers and in the audience. So what I am going to suggest here is a system that conveys the enormous emotional vibrancy of opera. I suggest the Sound Lab Millennium-2 full-range electrostatic speakers, Wolcott Presence amplifiers, Thor preamp, and from your original post I cannot tell what kind of source you friends would want. With good discounts (which I offer) they would have a source plus cabling budget of about seven or eight grand. The system I'm suggesting here is built around the Sound Lab electrostatics, which excel at voice and instrumental timbre, which in turn is what conveys that rip-your-heart-out emotional impact opera unleashes.

I listen to opera a great deal and am exceptionally pleased with this coordinated system. Balanced Audio Technology VK-50SE preamp, VK-60 amp, and their CD player. Speakers are Avantgarde Unos, cables are top of the line Nordost. Sound is detailed, smooth and very involving. Soloists seem to be right in the listening room. Jazz is spectacular!

At 30K total there will be significant trade offs, particularly in what you might compromise. I think it would be very easy to leave your friend disappointed. Several very important considerations. First, how much experience with live opera do they have? If it is a lot, where do they sit in the opera house? My wife and I have heard about 150 live operas all over the world and about 800 live symphonic performances. This is not a trival matter and will greatly influence their preferences in the balance of the system. Operas are long, 3-6 hours so listener fatigue is a big consideration. Do they like Wagner and Strauss which means the ability to have good detail played loud with lots of bass or are they bel canto fans where the delicacy of the vocal line is paramount. DVD fans (a whole different discussion) or vintage recording fans (vinyl required) Additionally, since this is for a couple, don't underestimate the likely psychoacoustic differences between the male and female. I have been upgrading my system and recently listened to most speakers in the 10-25k range. Along with my wife were two other women who listen with us regularly and have heard a lot of live opera and symphonic music. Their preferences and perceptions and descriptions, of Dunlavy,Theil, Vandersteen, Martin Logan, Revel,B&W, Sonus Faber, Wilson, etc did not often match mine or the standard reviews but they were consistant to each other. Spectral amps received a thumbs down, tubes a thumbs up.(BTW we bought the Dulavy SC-V which the three of them ranked first, it was my close second choice. Finally, room treatment is of paramount importance to sort out the compexity of a large scale opera. A little goes a long way but alot still improves things. In addition to a dedicated room with passive treatments, I use a Sigtech which is astonishing on Wagner, Mahler, Bruckner and Strauss. I hope this helps. Your friends are going to have to listen to some equipment to settle on their preferred trade offs.

Garfish, Sorry to use this as a forum on S'pile, but I will anyway! If you don't think their advice is self-serving, then why are two Mark Levinson amplifiers, the 33h and the regular 333 series both class A? If they are both "the best money can buy, reminiscent of the real thing", then obviously the 33h is a huge waste of money and they should say so. I believe they don't want to upset readers with the fact that better stuff (and the 33h is clearly better)usually costs a lot more, and they won't put a big advertiser's main stuff in class B. Also, have you read any of Scull's recent reviews? He used to be their clown, putting dots and cones everywhere, now he's the mainstream "it all sound so state of the art I just can't believe it could get any better" Wes Phillips character. C'mon, the resident tweak and tube guy all of the sudden thinks the Levinson ref line stage is so great? Please! My advice above was based on equipment that I've had in my room (including the CS6s), not my desire to maximize ad sales. So don't think I'm asking for offerings, just realize when you're reading opinions from those that are quite happy to sell them to the highest bidder.

If your friend is going to spend 30 large - spend a little bit more and come to LA. Chris Hansen carries Thiel; Levinson and Wadia. Set up a demo and listen to the system yourself. While you're at it - Ambrosia carries Aerials, Dunlavys and Revel which you could listen to on Rowland or Classe electronics and a Theta digital front end. Shellys and the Digital Ear both carry Maggies and Audio Research. Digital also carries Theta, Wadia and Krell. Shellys would probably use a Theta front end. Then come to my house and listen my system which is quite similar to Cfj2's system in that we both use BAT electronics and Nordost Quattro/SPM cables. I use Genesis 300 speakers and would have to borrow a BAT CD player (shouldn't be too hard). I also think my system is smooth and detailed and also has some pretty awesome bass. Then we tell my wife you are a client and have to go to New Orleans "on business" where we will visit Duke (Audio Kinesis) and listen to his Sound Labs. What do you say?