The Ultimate Guide to High End Entertainment needs you!

[John Duncan]

chebby:That is a shed.

No, it's a place in the garden that's flexible enough to turn into an office, a studio, a playroom or even a gym¸. And in Teddington, that's about the closest I'll ever get to a listening room. But somebody else more or less said it (idc I think):

Get one of those, stick a Sooloos in it, a Primare pre/power setup, (guessing) some Monitor Audio Platinums or Quad or Martin Logan electrostatics, a 50" Pioneer plasma, some bluray player or other, an SME 10 (or a gyro at a push) and a phono stage and cart to suit...

How'm I doing for my fifty grand so far?

 

[floyd droid]

Camp bed john,camp bed. Because with that little lot im not so sure that you will venture back indoors for a while

 

[chebby]

I hope those qUbes are very secure with all that gear in it. (Raked sand, electrified razor wire, spotlights, Dobermans etc.)

Are their rooves (roofs?) soundproofed too? Heavy rain can make a right old racket and you don't want a 'fair weather' listening room.

Anyway, given all that, a really good listening/viewing chair would be a necessity.

I would suggest a classic Eames Lounge chair and Ottoman....

http://www.hermanmiller.com/Products/Eames-Lounge-Chair-and-Ottoman

http://www.heals.co.uk/invt/700323

Originally designed for the film director Billy Wilder and in continuous production since 1956.

 

[John Duncan]

Handy for those struggling to fill the budget as well, I notice.

 

[chebby]

JohnDuncan:Handy for those struggling to fill the budget as well, I notice.

Yeah they are very expensive but given the choice of an Eames Lounge chair or a hifi the same value I would take the Eames first and worry about a hifi later.

Maybe I could get my Harbeths or Spendors with custom veneer to match the chair.

 

[idc]

Having spent a couple of hours last Saturday in an in-laws 'summerhouse' (its a shed with a posh window and double doors) with my portable headfi my dream is realisable. Upgrade the portable amp, better headphones and a laptop that is in range of the wireless router. Anything more than that will just be layers of icing on the cake.

Re security, the shed will be alarmed (with remote monitoring so I can chat to the intruder) and the kit will be contained in a cabinet that is actually a wood panelled, shelved strong box. I have seen such used to secure firearms.

 

[Messiah]

For Me, High End is still all about the sound quality!

Now the practical side of me says that for £50K I would have a dedicated cineam room and and equally impressive HiFi, but for £50K my heart says - Meridian DSP8000s! Awsome speakers

 

[Dave_]

idc:

Having spent a couple of hours last Saturday in an in-laws 'summerhouse' (its a shed with a posh window and double doors) with my portable headfi my dream is realisable. Upgrade the portable amp, better headphones and a laptop that is in range of the wireless router. Anything more than that will just be layers of icing on the cake.

Re security, the shed will be alarmed (with remote monitoring so I can chat to the intruder) and the kit will be contained in a cabinet that is actually a wood panelled, shelved strong box. I have seen such used to secure firearms.
Surely if you're gonna stay with a head-fi set up, a listening room,even if it is just a posh shed is just an extravagant waste!
Though tbh i'm probably biased,since i've never got on with headphones.

 

[shooter]

Messiah:
For Me, High End is still all about the sound quality!

Now the practical side of me says that for £50K I would have a dedicated cineam room and and equally impressive HiFi, but for £50K my heart says - Meridian DSP8000s! Awsome speakers

Nice choice of speaker but that still leaves you with 20 maybe 25k??

 

[Messiah]

shooter69:Messiah:
For Me, High End is still all about the sound quality!

Now the practical side of me says that for £50K I would have a dedicated cineam room and and equally impressive HiFi, but for £50K my heart says - Meridian DSP8000s! Awsome speakers

Nice choice of speaker but that still leaves you with 20 maybe 25k??

Cool, I thought they were more than that! There are some on ebay for £20k. Imagine explaining that to the Wife!!

So with the change I guess I would combine it with the Soloos and the flagship Meridian Pre-amp/CD player...

 

[Anonymous]

For me, high-end only means one thing - ultimate performance. Ultimate performance in audio and video. It doesn't really matter if the gear is not the most attractive on the planet.

I want to hear and see the best quality possible, but most importantly, I want to FEEL enveloped in every performance - every concert, every movie, and every musical piece.

I want every bit of detail to be reproduced in a natural way, whether it be glorious full high-definition images, or the slighest decay of musical instruments.

It is all about being completely immersed. It is about being able to stop thinking about work, about problems, and just switching on high-end equipment and forgetting everything and just relaxing and enjoying a movie or a piece of music.

It is about pausing to have a short listening/watching session but end up spending all night up listening/watching.

It is about having a big grin on my face, being awestruck by the incredible clarity of sound and vision, and thinking to myself, "Can it possibly get any better than this?"

Dan.

 

[John_S]

Excellent responses - thanks, everyone!

Now we'd like to know why you want this stuff. What is it about, say, a pair of BeoLab 9s (or anything else similarly top-class) that makes you covet them?

What does the term 'high end' mean to you in emotive terms, for want of a better word?

 

[Thaiman]

John, i am not sure if I really know what you are asking but here is
my believe in why I can't downgrade even at this finacial climate!

You can get a perfectly acceptable hifi system for £2000, it will play
music very well indeed. well chosen system at that range can have
great timing, fabulous soundstage and high resolution. So what will
highend (£20K) bring to the table? To me, it's all about next level! yes,
owning my current system is all about the goose-bumps thing, the air
guitar factor, the dancing on the sofa moment!
Highend can revealed - at the emotion level - new musical thrill that that lesser system can't even come close.

 

[crusaderlord]

High end entertainment would be for me to dedicate a room entirely to listening and enjoying music on the best hi-fi separates system i could afford. To be enveloped by the music with no external distractions.

 

[shooter]

John_S:
Excellent responses - thanks, everyone!

Now we'd like to know why you want this stuff. What is it about, say, a pair of BeoLab 9s (or anything else similarly top-class) that makes you covet them?

What does the term 'high end' mean to you in emotive terms, for want of a better word?

Hi John, lets be honest, who wouldnt want this stuff? Alot of people use this site and are into their seperates and if were all earning 150k plus each year then i'm sure we would be out thier spending money on hifi. I know i would spend 50k if i was earning that, and why not?

Emotionally, Thaiman's write in what he says a 20k system will blow 2k system away, you here things that were never thier before when you move forward into hifi. For example, voices are differant, instead of just hearing the vocal you here how peole sing! it sounds weird i know but you can here if they sing from thier chest or throat it is amazing and it gets you gripped from the start. I've had many a moment with an open jaw on the edge of my sofa. Goose bumps? i've got them now!!!

 

[Anonymous]

John_S:We need your help!
We're putting the finishing touches to The Ultimate Guide to High End Entertainment - and it's time for you, the readers, to have your say for the Why Buy? section.
So, here's our question: what does high-end kit mean to you? If you had ten grand to blow, would you spend it on a high-def projector instead of a luxury family holiday or a car? What is it about the heady heights of the gear stratosphere that's so enticing? The sound? The look? Or are you looking for top-notch circuitry and components?
Tell us your thoughts and you might get into print. How exciting! EDIT: OK, ten-grand is pocket change. Let's say £50k; that's a much more robust sum!

What does high end mean to me........

Well first and foremost it means happiness -

The means to listen to my favorite pieces of music & new music - and have the emotion of the music put a smile on my face, even if the music brings a tear to my eye - just because you can appreciate how stunning the music sounded. High End Music has the ability to change ones mood: to help through certain heartache situations - to strengthen happy emotions. These are the priceless abilities that make high end totally worth it in the eye of the beholder

The means, to view a piece of epic cinema in todays HD format and have the sound & vision engulf me into the film. To feel the emotion the director was trying to portray with stunning realism & be truly heart moving.

To look at the equipment in all its glory & smile at its beauty is vital for me too - that always brings a smile to my face. e.g MA PL300/B&W800 Surround - the ability to look like it might hurt you if its played too loud, yet have the looks of something quiet elegant and sophisticated too with simply stunning sound quality. Equipment is part of your houses furniture hence the looks are of impeccable importance in my eyes - how the light reflects off it, how it looks with sunlight gleaming upon it, how you feel every time you look at it with passion & desire.

High End Means Happiness

 

[JoelSim]

To me good hifi is about closing your eyes and seeing the soundwaves emanating around the room on the inside of your eyelids from many angles and patterns.

ÿ

 

[Don Jr]

I would invest in some McIntosh gear and move on from there. I always dreamed of the tubes.

 

[Anonymous]

Spacehopper:
I hope this will be a future WHF competition as it's the only way I'll ever afford this little lot !

Roksan Platinum ST1308 Stereo Power Amplifier


Roksan Platinum PR15B Preamplifier

Roksan DXP SE Phono
amp

Roksan Caspian
CD Player M series -1

Roksan Xerses 20 plus turntable with Artemiz arm and Shiraz cartridge

Kimber Select KS-1036 interconnects and Monocle-XL Speaker Cable

Spendor ST's

as you can tell I like Roksan but I reckon I would die a happy man having this set up but I would need to buy a new house to fit it all in !!

The difference that high-end equipment (in my case Roksan) makes, for me, is quite subtle but nonetheless essential. It's that elusive ability to put you in the recording room / on stage with the musicians (not the other way around) which is the key. This may sound obvious but it's a very very difficult thing to get right and taken me years to find. We've all been there - listening to some favourite song or album and suddenly you're completely overwhelmed an emotional reaction to it; it's quite an amazing feat when you stop to think about it. If I'm completely honest, few things have had a bigger emotional impact in my life than my music collection and I consider myself very lucky to have access to such amazing technology that can bring my music so vividly to life.

 

[nads]

£50K now that would be a lot of CD's, Vinyl and BD/HD DVD's

and some new storage systems

sorry it is about the music/films not the kit, still.

 

[SHAXOS]

"What does high-end kit mean to you?"

Well if you take THE absolute maximum i am ever prepared to spend on hi fi and then go even further - That is what HI END means to me.

 

[Bodfish]

It's about re-creating the musical performance of the recording artist as faithfully as possible, it's about re-orienting a resistor as it sounds better that way, it's about designing from a black sheet of paper and doing things in a way that's never been done before - it's about taking every single element of your product to the nth degree.

It'd be daft to pretend we haven't played the 'what if' game, so away with all the 'credit crunch couldn't live with myself' nonsense and have a bit of fun...here goes:

Zanden Audio Model 2000 Transport and Model 5000 Signature DAC

Lyra Connoisuer 4-2 SE Line Stage

David Berning Quadrature Z Monoblocs

Audio Note AN/e SOGON Speakers

A complete set of Nordost Odin cables

A Living Voice G8 Isolation Platform

but I'm a long long way past £50k!!!!

 

[Thaiman]

Bodfish:
Zanden Audio Model 2000 Transport and Model 5000 Signature DAC

Lyra Connoisuer 4-2 SE Line Stage

David Berning Quadrature Z Monoblocs

Audio Note AN/e SOGON Speakers

A complete set of Nordost Odin cables

A Living Voice G8 Isolation Platform

but I'm a long long way past £50k!!!!

That would be a good system although I do prefer Mcintosh tube to Berning (never heard the mono though). Zanden is well hot and I would put it with either Karan Pre/S450 power or Dartzeel....man, you start me off upgrading again!

 

[idc]

daveh75:

idc:

Having spent a couple of hours last Saturday in an in-laws 'summerhouse' (its a shed with a posh window and double doors) with my portable headfi my dream is realisable. Upgrade the portable amp, better headphones and a laptop that is in range of the wireless router. Anything more than that will just be layers of icing on the cake.

Re security, the shed will be alarmed (with remote monitoring so I can chat to the intruder) and the kit will be contained in a cabinet that is actually a wood panelled, shelved strong box. I have seen such used to secure firearms.
Surely if you're gonna stay with a head-fi set up, a listening room,even if it is just a posh shed is just an extravagant waste!

Though tbh i'm probably biased,since i've never got on with headphones.

My super shed will have a Sooloos/Meridian set up in it. At the moment I have a corner of the living room shared with toys and craft stuff. My headphones leak sound so I have a tolerant wife and chid. My more realistically achieveable shed gives me more space and gives the family peace. It will also have my Sounddock or equivalent in it.

 

[the record spot]

Andrew Everard:Hey, come on guys, let's not have all this 'if I become Miss World I will work to help children and the poor and end world hunger' stuff: lighten up a bit and tell us about dream systems.

Absolutely; here's my effort...!

Turntable - EAR Yoshino Master Disk £9000
Power Amplifier - McIntosh MC402 £7300
Pre-Amplifier - McIntosh C2300 £6700
Speakers - ART Deco 10 £8000
CD Player - Sugden Masterclass PDT4 £3150

Interconnect - Nordost Valhalla - £3300

Speaker Cable - Nordost Valhalla - £8000

Mains Filtering - Clearaudio Ultrafilter - £4000

Total cost: £41,450 and the rest can go on the electricity bill...