Stereo-$300k high-end stereo system overview!!!!
Stereo-$300k high-end stereo system overview!!!!
Experience of a Fedex driver with a highend speaker
Esoteric Grandioso K1 cdrom
Transparent Reference interconnect and speaker cables
Transparent power cables
Transparent opus powerisolator
HRS isolation base M3X
Jeff Rolland 925 Mono blocks
Raidho D3 speakers
Music clip for this system
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAaz6g1J6i0
Cables should be fresh mined organic raw copper from upper Michigan, then hand forged into wire at 72-degrees Fahrenheit.
thats it im getting a sound system
How come folks always saying how crappy D amps sound but these ones sound superb?
Thanks, Thomas, for sharing your amazing thoughts with us. Im so glad we have an intellectual like you with us. PS: I also listen to Paul. PS2: Happy 2021!
Dont use power conditioners , they will kill your Sustain , especially for tubes that have Sustain as a bonus on sound , then you kill that with power conditioners . That is no good .
if you want to mess with your Power , then make your own power , make an Inverter , power generator , and that way you dont kill Sustain but you got what you wanted , perfect power .
Power conditioners work in such a way to filter any vibrations , they do it both ways , from the wall and from teh amp . So they flatten your amp , you dont want to mess with your amp in that way .
Sense of air. Holographic. Fucksake. What a load of contrived shite.
Keep vids coming , always learn about hi price systems, don’t worry about the 1% who dont like these videos.
Nice equipment, interesting how it’s always men that become obsessed with high end equipment, collections of things, cars etc. I’m sure this system sounds excellent but as you have said there comes a point where you are splitting hairs. I am a jazz musician and I appreciate some fine music (not that you can’t have fun with rock too) but my point is that what is between your ears is just as important as what is in front of your ears. Here is an excellent example of a fantastic piece of music, Ron Carter’s bass is just the best, there is also a Carnegie Hall version of this piece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ud9Op1AF6A
I don’t see how power cable can make a difference, electric doesn’t care how it travels, it just travels with the least resistance……..10 volts are 10 volts no matter how u make travel
When I was a teenager, my best friend was the Austrian Ambassador’s son. he had met an opera singer who had a marble cabinet made for his Hi-Fi equipment which cost more than this whole setup. Everything is relative. There are off the shelf watches out there which cost twice this amount.
Sometimes the best sounding stereo to your ears may only be 6000 dollars on a pair of Devialet Phantom gold speakers even after trying every super expensive stereo. 4000 dollars on a full DIY setup that consists of parts from parts express, digikey, amazon, ali express, home depot, lowes, and/or madisound that you put together yourself can give you the best sound to your ears.
I love your videos, they are always so well done.
p.s. I also have the audiophile disease
thomas thank you for making your videos ,they are excellent, informative .unbias and fun plus you have a great style !! please dont stop ,i will have to end my hifi hobby !! cheers from Phuket spenny
Only question that always comes to my mind when people spend this amount of money on speaker cables is do they do cables inside the speaker enclosure as well ???
Isolation bases under an amplifier that easily weighs over 100 pounds is absurd. I am all for high priced equipment, and I can accept (barely) exorbitant priced power cables and interconnects. But, the ‘reduced vibration’ sell is comical. Any right minded, sensible individual cannot possibly think that they could or would hear a difference in the sound if the amps and the speakers were placed directly on the floor versus their present resting place on those stands. The carpet will more than take care of the job. Other than that, it looks like a magnificent collection of equipment, and a nice listening room.
Awesome! I have to point out though that the Jeff Rowlands aren’t class D 😉 They do have a switch mode power supply, but the amplification itself is class AB 🙂 (PS Still loving my Jeff Rowland Model 2, 20 years after buying it!)
I want to see a blind test done with certain components removed and see if people will see any difference.
I love music. In order to listen to music reproduced the way I like to hear it, over many years, I’ve invested a lot of time, effort, energy, research and money… I estimate my current system cost around £25000! Friends, family and colleagues tell me I’m crazy. Yet, if I spent £25000 on a car, non of them would bat an eyelid. That is why, if someone has an enthusiasm for something, I would never criticise them for the amount they spend.
$300,000 system with a $13 remote. I did not see that coming.
Stupid system, sry. The speakers should cost 70 to 90% of the budget. Save money by buying cheaper amps and cables etc. and put it to bigger speakers from the same productline.
Not asking in a negative way, but with that much spent on his setup, why did he not invest more in room treatment? It seems a bit minimal in terms of what he could have done for say 5% of his total budget. Any specific reason he did not focus there?
While i look at this system with much admiration and even a little bit of envy (of sorts), i can’t help to wonder if you could get a system that sounds just as juicy, realistic, and all the accolades that go with our hobby, that would cost a small fraction of it. and the answer is . . . . you fill in the blanks in your mind . . . 🙂
Wonderful treatment of this subject. I think you captured perfectly the balance. Of course no one can justify $300k on a sound system. But if you can, what is it and how does it sound? And if you can, why not? Your comment that "how does it make you feel is more appropriate" is IMHO spot on. While I have nothing approaching this level of system, my experience is that once the system starts to work well, it conveys human emotion. There are certain well recorded tracks that will always evoke tears. I believe the emotion of the performer is captured and reproduced. There is a human to human communication that is conveyed audibly that is above the simple level of good musical reproduction. Like when a mother hears her child cry for food she will lactate but not when another child cries. I think this communication is only possible with the accurate reproduction of low level information. It requires an entire system working in synergy to pull it off. But certainly this is the domain of the AR preamp, the cables, the DAC, the clock in the DAC and the speakers. And it is a statement that a class D amp can pull this off. So congrats to the owner for building this system and to you for bringing it to us thoughtfully.
I just discovered this channel, so this late comment will likely be seen by others who make this discovery long after the video is made.
Makes video but does not like comments…. Don’t make it then!
I think you meant "Jeff Rowland 925 monoblocks" -comparing with your description
How can a speaker system hundreds of thousand? the answer is, I can and I love to
Some people like to spend money on gambling; some, food; some, women; some, cars; some, watches: some, real estate; some, drugs; some, clothes; some, shoes; some, Hifi equipment. To each their own.
Kudos to you Thomas for the wonderful introduction to your friend’s system. Kudos to your friend for allowing us the opportunity to see it. And congrats to you both on the journey of joy.
😍😍😍😍 Just watched it again and thanks for sharing and your 6 Hour Drive paid off Many times and I hope you’re recovered from it😂
Thank your friend again for sharing😍 😍😍 TRULY AN EXPERIENCE YOU WERE ABLE TO ENJOY AND SHARE WITH US 😍 Something many of us would love to have your experience 😍 AND WOULD BE THANKFUL FOR😍😍 someday in the future we just might 😍😍
In the past I have heard these kinds of systems at stores where they were and was Friends with the manager and was able to spend much time😍 it’s something you have to experience yourself to appreciate and you never forget it😍
I don’t know if my ears can hear the different between a 50,000 stereo system or at three hundred thousand million stereo system
So funny to hear about "clean power". Did he also make sure the power plant changed the electric pillars carrying the power sent to him? Maybe they should use some sorbothane transmission towers to "absorb vibration", ahahaha!!!
That system in the photo costed $300,000? I expected larger and more creative looking. Jeez, I think I’d want speakers that take up more of the room so the sound is bigger and more broad. I could be wrong, I just thought the more space with speaker in it wouldn’t sound as much you can pick where the sound is coming from. I like to close in my room with speakers filling all wide spaces in between. How that made sense, is hard to explain.
Dislike of something, is simply an opinion. As long as it is sincere there is no reason to be ashamed. One can feel hatred or love because that is what it is to be human. A stereo rig is simply electronic equipment than translates electrical impulses to mechanical energy. How it does this affects everyone differently. Too much time is being spent on the prices, because that to is irrelevant. Something that cost $70K yesterday may be only .07 today. This whole hi end hobby has unfortunately become an excersize of affluence display where people try to attach their personal pride credibility. Very sad. It’s really all just about the music…
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The most important thing to know about having a high-end megabucks stereo system is you must first have a dedicated listening room.
Sound demo for this system : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAaz6g1J6i0
Am I the only person who thinks it’s ridiculous and crazy to spend $90,000 on power conditioners, power cables, and speaker cables. Does Anybody actually believe they are worth that kind of money.
😳 he spent more on Transparent than the speakers
Very nice stereo system. Now here are my recommendations to make it sound 200% – 300% better: 1) Replace the Audio Research preamp with a First Sound Paramount MKIII-S Super Special Edition Statement. 2) Audition and compare Audience frontRow cables to your Transparent cables. 3) Replace the HRS rack with individual Star Sound Technology platforms. 4) Add 4 High Fidelity Cables MC-0.5 and one MC-1 to other outlets. 5) Replace stock fuses with Synergistic Research Orange Fuses. Rating should be above recommended amperage. 6) Lift cables off carpet with Shunyata Elevators. 7) Use Marigo Audio Lab Aida CD Mat 8) Treat components, cables, and CDs with Furutech destat III. 9) Treat all components and speakers with Bybee QSEs or iQSEs 10) Clean all connections with 99% isopropyl alcohol and foam (not cotton) swabs annually.
Thomas, there is nothing wrong with you getting emotional with a great system (I do it all the time, when my system sounds just right). We appreciate you for this!
You could have turned it on
Hi Thomas…I’ve been watching your videos for the past year or so and this is one of my favorites. I’ve been playing with audio systems since the the 70’s and what I enjoy most is the emotion of hearing great music. The challenge in high-end audio is finding balance in life because otherwise you’re going to go totally crazy putting a system together. For many, this is the attraction of the hobby. How can I get the best sound possible and still be in harmony with my family and the place where I live? Some people don’t consider this question so they live alone or in constant conflict with people around them. Home, family and economy should be underlying rules in every audio choice. This is not to say that there isn’t any risk in the audio journey, but I have tried (not always successfully) to keep this voyage as reasonable as possible. Reason and emotion are tricky to balance, but If we are lucky the result can be glorious. Thanks for your site…Brian
Watch Top 10 music system speakers
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https://youtu.be/yhUidCU0YTk
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President Xi?
All that big money and then only $1k on the wall power Jack. I mean maybe that’s all it needs, it just seems out of proportion with the rest of the system.
I wonder what he’s gonna play, a record?
Did you mention a DAC?
Isolation base that cost 18,000$ lol
can you play metallica song and tell us about it, SnM
The Fireman, Like’s U Tube.
It sucks that you have to spend so much time telling people not to be rude, just because some one spent money on something. Most high end things like this are not necessary. Do people really need a 500k car or a million dollar home? NO but there are people who have the means and to them is not a lot of money. Considering most things are out of my price range anyway. So sit back and enjoy the show I say.
Beethoven could enjoy music without even listening to it. Now that’s priceless.
I am a little late to this video…But, thank you so much Thomas and to also your friend for sharing. We all have our own "Stuff" and we all have our own experiences. Why should anyone feel short changed by what they have, and try to compare what they have to what others have? I think it is very unfair thinking that way, and I do not see any sense in it. I think I may have $5000 total in my entire rig. I’m such a small fry. But, I so enjoy what I do have. I feel very fortunate of what I have too. I say, "Be happy with what you have, and be happy for those that have things that enhances the happiness in their lives as well"…..P.S. I think it’s funny the extent I go to, to listen to quality recordings these days. I listen to stuff I never gave a second thought to before. There are so many sounds to hear, and so many ways to hear them….I keep telling myself…I am not going to chase the rainbow! LOL! TY Thomas!