The Horror
After getting back home from “The Show” in Costa Mesa, California this past weekend, I walked over to my stereo system and turned it on. And silently wept. I had held out a feint hope that my cross-over modified 1.7i Maggies and mighty Parasound A21+, fed from a Prima Luna 300 tube preamplifier could somehow manage a slight shimmer of resemblance to the robust setups I witnessed at the SHOW. Not—- on— your —-life. Not even close. I slumped into my over-stuffed couch and stared long and hard at the thing I created: an anemic concoction of false hopes and wishful thinking. The horror, the truth: entry into serious audiophile listening begins with purchase of speakers that cost the price of the car I had to finance for 4 years, closely followed with the added expense of beefy sophisticated electronics and wiring, not a gaggle of cheap wanna-be plastic and tweeks. I so wanted to belong, but that’s turned out to be just a fever dream I’ve got to wake up from. Maybe one day, if ever I have the nerve to rob a bank, find Jimmy Hoffa, or survive a head-on collision from a sleepy Amazon driver, I might make it. Maybe. Feel free to play the violin with two fingers.
Who's that on the cover of Time magazine? Anyway, I think many of us have felt what you're feeling. I do think you're being too hard on yourself. You chose what you chose because it sounded good to you at the time, and it was within your budget. The sound of your system is probably far better than anything your non-audiophile friends have ever heard, Cheer up! |
I came home and today I fired up Pink Floyd and feel pretty damn good about my system. I assume that you saw the PBN system with six JBL 18"s, two JBL 12"s, and an AMT in the big ballroom? Mine is similar but with just one JBL 18" (2241H), one JBL 10" (2251J), and a modified ESS Great Heil AMT per side. Does one really need twelve 18" woofers in a living room? These were designed in the room for the room and may/probably even image better than the PBN system. I didn’t hear anything that imaged any better than these though some certainly did a great job. But I’m betting that few could attain the realistic volumes of a live rock concert at undistorted levels. BTW, my speakers cost <$1,500 to make with used drivers but new crossover components. This is an SACD played on an OPPO95 through a Yamaha RX-Z9 RECEIVER in Pure Direct mode. Video was recorded on a Nikon D750 DSLR using the internal mic. There is no eq or room correction, either electronic or physical, being used and the room is ~5,000 cu ft so of course you hear the room in the recording. BTW, we are in the North Tustin area and members are welcome to come by and hear for themselves.
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What I saw and heard from the start was the Gryphon room, off to the right in the lobby. Talk about setting the bar right from the start! Honestly, though the Gryphon’s total package wasn’t really that obscene, (I mean it’s a Tesla, for chrissake. Doesn’t everyone have one of those?), it was still outside my reach. And the sound. Well, to cut down on the hyperbole, it was sound I’d not heard until that day, alerting me to the naked truth: This, this sound, is not what I do at home. Not now. Maybe never. I stumbled out of that room in trembling recognition of how real speakers sound. Then, of course, I heard the Vandersteens and the $57,000 Boenickes. Slam! Bam! And on it went. I was reeling. There were certainly some mighty mouses doing their best to take on these giants, but as good as many of them were, they could not drive the sound of those giants out of my mind. I appreciate @roxy54’s heartfelt encouragement. Rest easy. I won’t jump. It’s just a sad day. |
