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Thoughts from THE Show, is $29k the new $10k?

Had another enjoyabe brief one day visit to THE Show, Newport Beach last weekend. Great to see so many fellow hobbiests, and great gear. Went in search of speakers; here is a brief and disjointed summary of my impressions:
Many vendors were focusing on the $25-32k range; with most for sale around $29k as an entry point to 'quality'.
Rockport showed their new entry, $29k speaker in the Atrium. Had great balance; was warm, detailed, and engaging. First show presence for dealer; nice guy. My first experience with Rockport; was very impressed.
Eficion: at the Hilton; wow; for $16k I think it gives Wilson a run for its money with the Sophia; its AMT ribbon tweeter had great crystal highs, and its large woofer filled the room with satisfying bass, I enjoyed it.
BMC: nice gear; their $32k speakers had dipole arrangement; with both front and rear firing speakers; very engaging, huge sound stage, and great low end response. Paired up nicely with their amp/dac
YG: brought my own CD; so I was familiar with what was possible; initialy liked their sound;but in the end found it a bit 'dry', and brittle; and not totally enjoyable, this was at at least three different rooms showing their speakers.
Wilson Shasha's in the Brooks-Barden room; always a treat; enjoyed their room treatments, and professionalism, nice analog set up. Warm, detailed, lovely, and engaging.
Ventures: wow, very expensive; and very large...but totally engaging; great integration, warm, detailed, expansive sound stage, great bass, huge open subtle nuance on female voices...
Ayon: liked their Lumen White's better last year, than their own speaker line this year, but great amps and dac.
Found the KEF blades a bit disappointing, surprised at how large they are in person.
Enjoyed the TAD speakers again this year, well balanced, integrated very well.
There was a 'curved' line array speaker; I forget its name that also was quite good, interesting design, but filled the room with great sound; no glare.
The Veloce gear, with its battery source was extremely 'quiet' and detailed, and enjoyable.
Surprised how many room utilized the Synergistic Research ART treatments...hard to tell how it improved things; but can't argue with the results.
Too much to see and listen to in one brief day. Curious to hear from other members their take....I know you don't need to spend so much to get quality sound, but so many vendors showing off their $29k speakers made me want to chuckle; and take out a home loan...also thought the digital and computer audio was getting very close now to the analog rigs.
Love having this showcase in our backyard on the west coast; and will contiue to support and attend. Kudos to Bob Levi; and his team at LA/OC audio society; another great job; and Tierney Sutton singing on Friday night was an extra special treat.
mribob
frogman
7,494 posts
 
Honeybee2012, it seems that making comments that have no basis in fact may be also be a sign of aging; for some. I am over 50, and I know that I and many 50+ yr olds I know can easily tell the difference. Wether that difference makes it "better" or not is an entirely different discussion.

There is a thought-provoking article in the new TAS by Dennis Prager on a related subject. Recommended reading!
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,634 posts
 
"Anyone over 50 years of age can not tell the difference between $10K and $100K of speaker. It is a fact of aging."

Not exactly. Ability to hear high frequencies diminishes with age usually the case with those over 50 like myself, but most can still hear very well the frequencies where 90%+ of the music occurs plus ears become trained over years of listening to be able to pick up subtle differences better.

I am 53 and can hear relatively well up to 12 or 13 Khz. When I was 18, I could hear to 20khz. I have actually measured this using the same reference source material over the years so I can speak pretty certainly about this. "air" is one aspect of sound affected by not hearing those frequencies well. Also detail to some extent.

The fact that people so not all hear the same is a big reason why there is always such a variety of quality gear to chose from at all price points and why few chose the same things.

In my case I am able to hear clear differences with most changes I make to my rig, some subtle like with ICs, power conditioning, some more significant like amps, pre-amps, DACs, certainly speakers, etc.
tpreaves's avatar
tpreaves
2,687 posts
 
06-12-12: Honeybee2012
Anyone over 50 years of age can not tell the difference between $10K and $100K of speaker. It is a fact of aging. Sorry. Save your money, buy something you like at a reasonable price. Give the other $90K to the homeless.

Damn, it really chaps my ass to find out I've been wasting money on audio equipment!!!!

I guess I need to sell all my stuff and buy a sports car. No wait, my 50+ year old reflexes would probably prevent me from being able to handle one.

I know, I'll just get me a 20 something year old girlfriend. No, that won't work either. My 50+ year old plumbing would probably prevent me from enjoying that,too.

Honeybee2012, are you really as clueless as your comment makes you out to be?
whart's avatar
whart
3,124 posts
 
My high frequency hearing has substantially diminished with age (I'm close to 60), but my sensibility about what makes good musical sound is more attuned than ever. I spend alot of time hearing real music and have always been very critical of midrange reproduction, having lived with the old Quad for decades. So, when i hear 'spectacular' hi-fi systems, often made up of over the top, "best of category" at a given moment in time, they often don't sound like music systems, they sound like exaggerated hi-fi: impressive, but not musically satisfying, at least in show and or dealer environments. This may be partly a function of wanting to attract listeners in a 'sales' environment (shows are ultimately about moving product) and partly a function of equipment choices that are not necessarily ideal as a 'system.'
That may mean that some of the pricey newest latest and greatest can sound way better when properly set up in a home with the right associated equipment. I think I am a pretty quick study in terms of getting a sense of what a piece of equipment sounds like, but without being able to eliminate all the variables in a strange system and strange room, I can't make a meaningful assessment of a specific piece of equipment.
mribob OP
229 posts
 
Hey people; I didn't expect this post to drift off into this level of 'bashing'....I was hoping that other people who enjoyed THE Show would be able to share their experiences of what they heard, what they liked, what stuff were they able to audition only at a show like this that was of interest...it was only a 'side' comment about the pricing of some of the gear that I thought interesting...
Hey, what about those BMC speakers? Does the ART room treatments really work; and if so, how? Yes, at some level our hobby has gotten expensive; this is my main vice, my wife doesn't understand why I'm buying new cables, but to my ears they complete my system; and now I can just enjoy the music. I purchased some of my gear last year as show 'demos' at good discounts, my steady dealers, that I try to support also provide decent discounts, I've bought some good used gear, and have carefully put together my 'dream' system that I fantasized about when I was back in college. I will update my system page shortly...many folks have assembled their own dream systems for a lot less than I paid...but that's whats unique about our hobby; you can gain enterance at many different levels..in the end to me its not about the 'absolute' best send, but simply enjoying the music, helping me chill out after a hard day of work; and taking pride in creating a system that works...for me, and my friends....if I've spent 'crazy' money on my system; that's only on me and my budget...not all expensive speakers sound great, not all inexpensive speakers sound poorly..after this is hobby, not a economic forum
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