Nice essay, Wayne. I sometimes wonder if this kind of project is practically feasible or even advisable. I can't imagine my own system being handed to me by a third party I'd given carte blanche to. It almost seems like an oxymoron for a self-described non-audiophile to have an audiophile system. Does such a thing really work out well? To me, the process is as much a part of the experience as is listening to the end product. Anyone with the resources to do so can drop 10K on a system, and anyone who likes music can enjoy good sound, but does that automatically mean all such people will benefit commensurately from buying an audiophile system? Can one who has not, through their own desire, eductated themselves over a period of time about all the aspects of sound and gear that go into becoming an audiophile really appreciate and feel comfortable with a system that goes so far beyond, and costs so much more than, the normal utilitarian sort?
It seems like this should be possible on a purely sonic basis, but my own experience selling hi-fi in the past tells me it is not always so. I can remember some customers, genuine music lovers with ample means and tastes to match, who wanted something above the ordinary and who I did my best to accommodate with sensitivity. But even in cases with a budget half that being discussed here (this was almost 10 years ago), difficulties immediately and inevitably arose. Such a person is almost totally at a loss to feel qualified contributing their input to the selection process, and will basically beg you to make all their decisions for them - yet feel visibly bad about doing so. They don't, on a fundamental level, understand why they are doing what they are doing, or what is being done for them. You of course will try to educate them and demonstrate for them, but they are not ready for it all. Not being intimately and authoritatively involved in decision-making, doubt begins to set in almost from the beginning, no matter how determined and ready to hand over control (and their wallets) they were coming in the door. This leads to anxiety, and ultimately at times, to anger and despair.
When the system is installed, there are always conflicts that come up between the way it should be set up and lifestyle issues. There are always problems just simply using the system, no matter how non-tweaky. There is always disappointment with the cost/benefit ratio of the resultant sound, since they aren't able to truly judge the improvement over what they had, but also aren't willing to let you optimize the setup of the new system. They worry that they spent too much, but then worry that they didn't spend enough to get 'the best'. They do things like want the most impressive-looking speakers instead of the best-sounding for the money, so that what you recommend instead becomes a compromise to them right off the bat; then they turn around and argue not to waste their money on silly things like non-cheap cables. Whether or not you prevail, they still suspect some kind of rip-off, which is understandable if they either can't hear the differences or form a confident opinion of them if they can.
I never blamed these customers for anything they felt. Whether they had a friend helping them out or not, in the final analysis, I almost without exception found them to be at root dissatisfied with what they had done at the end of the day. It was like helping your grandmother to buy a Porsche instead of a Buick. The customer didn't consider themselves to be a 'Buick person', but couldn't get the most out of the Porsche. I tend to think an audiophile system is a destination that is best arrived at through step-by-step learning and growing over time, with the impetus and responsibility coming from within. By definition, anyone who hands control to a third party doesn't want to acquire the knowledge or expend the effort themselves. But as in most aspects of life, it is just these things which determine ultimate value to an individual.
In my life, I have known people like my father, as knowledgable a guy about music as any non-musician I have known, and who always owned quality gear like McIntosh, but who wasn't an audiophile and just couldn't follow or hear when I would eagerly try to demonstrate some new improvement in my system, or a change I might make in his. I have known people with lots of money who went down to the local high end shop and dropped a bundle for status reasons, without being an audiophile, and their acquisition quickly devolved into an expensive white elephant just taking up space.
It is not my intent to be a downer and suggest that Peter's friend will never be happy - only to advise caution, as I'm sure your friendship is more important to you than the sound of his system. But IMO, if he is really not intent on becoming an audiophile, then he should save a lot of money and not try to own the system of one, a fraction of the proposed budget sufficing for him to enjoy his music. Why not see if you can help to start with a system the total cost of which equals roughly the amount you are thinking allocating to speakers alone? He could well be more pleased in the long run, and if he decides he wants to go down the audiophile path, he can build from there.
