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Law of Accelerated Returns

I think back over the many decades of pursuing high end audio and I realize some of the most inspirational were listening to state of the art systems. Systems I could never dream of affording. I occasionally would get up early and drive the two hours to Phoenix in hopes of finding no one listening to the state of the art system in “the big room” at one of the four or five high end audio stores there in the early ‘90’s.

One such time I was able to spend over an hour with the most amazing system I have ever heard: Wilson WAAM BAMM (or something like that… all Rowland electronics, Transparent interconnects). The system cost about over $.5 million… now, over a million… although I am sure it is even better (I can’t imagine how)..

 

But listening to that system was so mind blowing… so much better than anything I could conceive of, it just completely changed my expectation of what a system could be. It was orders of magnitude better than anything I had heard.

 

Interestingly, as impressed as I was… I did not want “that” sound, as much as I appreciated it. It still expanded my horizon as to what is possible. That is really important, as it is really easy to make judgments on what you have heard and not realize the possibilities… like never having left the small town in Kansas (no offense).

I keep reading these posts about diminishing returns. That isn’t the way it works. I recently read an article by Robert Harley in The Absolute Sound called the Law of Accelerated Returns that captures the concept perfectly. March 2022 issue. The possibilities in high end audio is incredible. Everyone interested in it in any way deserves to hear what is possible. It is mind expanding. 

 

 

ghdprentice
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
1,774 posts
 

The "law of diminishing returns" is overplayed to death, usually promoted by guys who:

  • have upgraded poorly
  • have a significant system imbalance or underlying issue which precludes high performance
  • put a system together by reviews and "deals" instead of by ears
  • have a vendetta against expensive gear and people who pursue it
  • have never experienced a what a truly amazing state-of-the-art system can do

I like "the law of accelerated returns"! It can certainly happen when some new component, approach, or an identified weak link helps you bust out of a performance plateau.

ghdprentice OP
6,431 posts
 

@mulveling 

 

+ 1

onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,143 posts
 

@simonmoon, I fully agree.

I have limited experience with certain classes of components.  I've never heard a $15,000 phono cartridge, $200,000+ turntables, $150,000+ loudspeakers or for that matter really expensive cables.  The bulk of my listening to systems that are more expensive than mine are comprised of $10k to 30k components.

I am also of the opinion that most of the musical differences between systems are subtle.  The difference between a table radio and a decent $5,000 system is dramatic.  The difference between the $5,000 system and a $50,000 system is subtle.  There are clear sonic differences, but I maintain that from a musical perspective they are overwhelmingly subtle.  Maybe as audiophiles we obsess over these small differences?  There's a whole school of thought about the narcissism or tyranny of stressing subtle differences.  I end with the following quote:

consumer culture has been seen as predicated on the narcissism of small differences to achieve a superficial sense of one's own uniqueness, an ersatz sense of otherness which is only a mask for an underlying uniformity and sameness.

thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 

@mulveling : Spot on! Especially this:

  • have never experienced a what a truly amazing state-of-the-art system can do

Unfortunately I have experienced such system several times. And while I will never be able to afford such system, nobody can blame me for aspiring.

As for the last poster:

The difference between the $5,000 system and a $50,000 system is subtle

That’s absolutely NOT my experience. The difference is dramatic. Yes, not as dramatic as going from a table top radio to a $5,000 system, but dramatic nonetheless. Certainly not subtle. Which systems do you base this opinion on?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ghdprentice OP
6,431 posts
 

@thyname

 

Absolutely. I have owned system in the $5K, $20K, $70K, and $150K… and the differences are not small… and actually increasing in how profound they are… of yes… accelerating returns… oh that is right, I started this discussion.

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