what is Hi-end hifi

[MeanandGreen]

Yes that´s possible, hey even a cheapish Kef LS50 pair of speakers with ex. a NAD D3020 amp system is able of doing that maybe not as 100% good as live but damn close 95%.No need for silly overpriced stuff to reproduce 2 man playing guitar to a decent level of reality.But an orchestra or a club with specific sound with a band bigger than just 2 guitar playing man is an other story.

I totally agree with this. Biggest limitations are the recording and room acoustic, not so much the gear. Give me a great recording played through a budget system over a rubbish one through hi-end exotica any day.

100% agree with this.

 

[DIB]

The nearest I've got to listening to a high end system was last year at an Audio-T vinyl evening where they were showcasing upwards of £25k's worth of Rega TT, Naim amplification, and PMC speakers. Very nice it was too until the Naim amp overheated and packed in

.

That must have been very embarrassing for Naim representative, if 1 was present.

Luckily for Naim there was only someone from PMC there, basically because of the PMC Twenty 26 speakers on show ( very good I hasten to add, but at £6K a go so they should be ) .

Whilst sitting there listening to Nick Drake's Bryter Layter sounding very good, I worked out that the lengths of Chord Signature speaker cable provided by Audio-T cost more than my entire system!

.

 

[davedotco]

I could, but when I do go on about these things I get accused of name dropping and telling tall stories.

I was in the industry for many years, I have heard all the stuff in dealers and shows but there is a level above all of that, that almost defies description.

Even so, it has to be better than the usual bollox that's discussed on here.

That's what I thought when I related some of my experiences and a bit of 'industry gossip'.

It was an an attempt to entertain and inform, some people didn't like it and took the pith.

I don't see why you can't list the systems, and then discuss the gear as appropriate, while leaving out the anecdotes behind them.

Difficult, a lot of the results are down to choices made be the designers and the people setting up the systems. As I said earlier, a large part of putting such systems together is the synergy, the way they are set up to suit the room etc. But I'll have a go.

The first time I experienced a real hi-end system was in 'someones' home and comprised a Goldmund record player, Koetsu cartridge, ARC electronics and ML Statement speakers, with the woofer towers.

A new record (old recording), Brubeck's Time Out, was played and the illusion was complete, it was a pretty big room but the soundstage was 3 dimensional and rock solid, no 'sweet spot' as such, you could get up and walk into the soundstage, the musicians didn't move, the sensation that there were real people present playing this music was palpable.

The last time I experienced this was a homemade digital recording of a jazz quartet/trio playing in the same room as the playback was taking place. Equipment was a Sony pro recorder, Red Rose Siver Signature preamp into Model 1 monoblocks, all valve, and a pair of Red Rose R1 Ribbon Hybrid line arrays.

The system was designed and set up by one of the members of the band and the results were totally believable in pretty much every respect.

Neither setup sounded remotely like good hi-fi, both were way, way beyond that.

 

[DocG]

cut it out If some folks here consider the majority of postings to be "bollox", maybe it's time for them to move on?

I wasn't being entirely serious.....but saying that, I could list quite a few delightful, interesting and knowledgeable people, who have done exactly that. This forum is certainly not any richer without them.

Alex and Roby to name but two... I miss those guys.

Mac

www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net

I bumped into Alex on a french-spoken auction site, a couple of months ago (my interest in this site had a dip too) . He was selling his Guarneris*shok*. Luckily that was for practical reasons only (refurb of his appartment), and he was still very much enjoying music and hifi. When I asked if it was OK to spread the word that he was still alive, he never replied... So I didn't. He has definitely moved on.

 

[JoelSim]

Anything that's primary concern during R&D is sound quality. And if you can make it look nice then so much the better.