2. amps-preamps
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Dream Amps I Could Not Afford 20 Years Ago Now Undesirable

As a young audio enthusiast I used to lust for the high-end Audio Research LS25Mk2 and Reference Two preamps but couldn’t afford them during that time. Today at their used prices they are much more affordable now but I no longer find them appealing.

Does anyone here have such similar experiences? Stuff that you dream of owning 20 or 30 years ago do not appeal to you anymore and considered as junk (as an exaggeration).

Another one is Focal JM Labs Mezzo Utopia as the high price made it look unattainable 30 years ago. Now when I look at it in the For Sale ads mostly in poor condition with worn cabinet, the aspiration of owning a seemingly unattainable high-end gear from the past seems to be a thing of the past. The new Focal Utopia speakers are another story though..

ryder
inna
7,132 posts
 

I have always wanted Studer half inch tape pro deck, either tube or with tube outboard playback head amp. This is the ultimate or near ultimate source. All those turntables let alone streamers and dacs are ridiculous by comparison. And that Studer has always been and still is totally unaffordable for me. Ain’t life a bitch ?

inna
7,132 posts
 

Speaking of amps, no, I have never had any particular dream amp in mind. Maybe top of the line Lamm, this is the closest.

feldman
1 posts
 

@neonknight 

Did you go to college in Boston by any chance?

I was there at the time and my first system included SL600s and a SOTA turntable. Purchased at Q-Audio.

I loved those speakers, had them about 15 years, then moved on to Joseph Audio and now Sony SS-AR2, which I an also enamored with. May be my last speakers as they are as big as I can fit reasonably in my room. 

russbutton's avatar
russbutton
410 posts
 

I run a custom built set of Linkwitz Orions from 2008.  I have yet to hear anything better on voices or acoustic piano.  There is a short list of other loudspeakers I feel some audio lust for - Linkwitz LX521, Avalon Acoustics Eidolon and the Dutch & Dutch 8c.  All would be superior to my Orions, but then I put on a good jazz vocal or acoustic piano and all the audio lust goes away.  I can live with this.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

inna
7,132 posts
 

If it ain't broke, break it and then fix it.

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