An interesting scenario for the true audiophile

[Incremental Addressing Folks]

An interesting scenario for the true audiophile

Imagine going to a bank and taking up a mortgage for a Wavac SH-833 monoblock pair of tube amplifiers, and a Continuum Caliburn Turntable. With 10% down, the mortgage amount would still be close to three hundred fiftythousand dollars. And we are not counting tax. So amortized over 30 years at 5% the monthly payments would be
around $1600 per month, and you get no tax write-off in the USA (or in Canada for that matter). And we didn't even talk speakers, pre-amp, digital sources, or any $10,000 cabling.

Then I could call myself a true audiophile and could lug around components weighing 700 pounds.

But there are a couple of problems

(1) the bank would never approve this kind of investment
(2) 30 years down the road my tube amp and turntable would be worth next to nothing
(3) An equivalently priced house in a good location would be probably worth close to three times it's price.
(4) I, or any other audiophile on the planet could not tell the difference between a good recording playing on this system, a digital recording of the output of this system played on SACD, or a digital copy of this system's output
downloaded onto my iPod in lossless format, played through the same amplifier and speakers. Blind test afterblind test show that even high end audiophiles have difficulty identifying the source of recordings when samplings are played through the same amplifier, speakers or headphones. Is the recording, analog, digital or SACD digital sampled at 96Kbits/sec, or 256kb mp3 (no one can tell). Unless you're a dog who hears up to 40 kHz, you really do not need rediculous sampling rates of 96kbits/sec (Nyquist sampling theory).
(5) This equipment exceeds the cost of the equipment in most recording studios. You could buy a lab full of logic analysers, oscilloscopes, audio generators, computers, DSP's and an ass-kicking system for a lot less than this stuff. You can set up a lab, design the circuit, produce the BOM, have the PCB's fabricated, components mounted, build the amp and turntable and put it into production for less money.

Cabling
-------
Any anyone that pays $10000 for copper connecting cabling, or a power cable is an idiot. For heaven sakes, your house wiring defeats the purpose of a power cable consting several thousand dollars, even if you have hospital outlets installed. If these cables were solid gold (great conductor) they wouldn't be worth the price. And you can talk about impedance matching, and resonance, but no one can hear or see a difference in a low frequency signal
(audio is low frequency, practically DC - microwave is not).

So go out, get an iPod (or Rio), a good pair of Tannoy speakers, a good amplifier and preamp, and a really nice house for the cost of a 1940's tube amplifier and turntable.


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[Clyde Slick]

"Incremental Addressing Folks" > wrote in message
...
> An interesting scenario for the true audiophile
>
> Imagine going to a bank and taking up a mortgage for a Wavac SH-833
> monoblock pair of tube amplifiers, and a Continuum Caliburn Turntable.
> With 10% down, the mortgage amount would still be close to three hundred
> fiftythousand dollars. And we are not counting tax. So amortized over 30
> years at 5% the monthly payments would be
> around $1600 per month, and you get no tax write-off in the USA (or in
> Canada for that matter). And we didn't even talk speakers, pre-amp,
> digital sources, or any $10,000 cabling.
>
> Then I could call myself a true audiophile and could lug around components
> weighing 700 pounds.
>
> But there are a couple of problems
>
> (1) the bank would never approve this kind of investment
> (2) 30 years down the road my tube amp and turntable would be worth next
> to nothing
> (3) An equivalently priced house in a good location would be probably
> worth close to three times it's price.
> (4) I, or any other audiophile on the planet could not tell the difference
> between a good recording playing on this system, a digital recording of
> the output of this system played on SACD, or a digital copy of this
> system's output
> downloaded onto my iPod in lossless format, played through the same
> amplifier and speakers. Blind test afterblind test show that even high end
> audiophiles have difficulty identifying the source of recordings when
> samplings are played through the same amplifier, speakers or headphones.
> Is the recording, analog, digital or SACD digital sampled at 96Kbits/sec,
> or 256kb mp3 (no one can tell). Unless you're a dog who hears up to 40
> kHz, you really do not need rediculous sampling rates of 96kbits/sec
> (Nyquist sampling theory).
> (5) This equipment exceeds the cost of the equipment in most recording
> studios. You could buy a lab full of logic analysers, oscilloscopes, audio
> generators, computers, DSP's and an ass-kicking system for a lot less than
> this stuff. You can set up a lab, design the circuit, produce the BOM,
> have the PCB's fabricated, components mounted, build the amp and turntable
> and put it into production for less money.
>
> Cabling
> -------
> Any anyone that pays $10000 for copper connecting cabling, or a power
> cable is an idiot. ..............................


Don't we all wish we were stupid enough to earn the kind of money it takes
to buy this stuff!



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[George M. Middius]

Clyde Slick said:

> Don't we all wish we were stupid enough to earn the kind of money it takes
> to buy this stuff!

The 'borgs would like to prevent anybody from being able to afford
expensive stuff. Since They can't prevent Normals from earning lots of
money, they spend their energy complaining that the expensive stuff is no
better than the cheap stuff.

Sour grapes makes a nasty brew.

[[email protected]]

However, in this case there are other, unstated facts which must be
ginven consideration.

The WAVAC 833 is actually a poor amplifier, nevertheless it is in
_some sense_ "the ultimate". A Ferrari Daytona is a poor automobile in
many ways too but it is worth many times its original excessive price
today. The WAVAC should be compared not to other amplifiers but to
other "modern art". Many Andy Warhol paintings bring six and seven
figure sums and they do not amplify music or even provide light and
heat, they just sit there. The WAVAC _could_ appreciate in
collector/speculator/underendowed-purchaser value many times over,
although it does seem unlikely.

The WAVAC amp could be built (and, I'm sure, is) for a few thousand
dollars apiece: probably its metalwork and glass front are the most
expensive items on the BOM. Similarly, Mark Levinson, McIntosh, EAR,
Rowland, Krell, and other high end items could be cloned for less.
However, to do so would be unbeneficial because no one would buy them.
Or few enough would to make it profitable.