Sometimes I question the quest for ever better sound. Whatever system I’m listening to, I get used to it. The real music is in my head, the speakers/system only act to trigger my subjective experience. Some of my most treasured listening experiences were produced by cheap transistor a.m. radios, cheap fold-down turntables with fold out speakers and a couple of pennies taped to the arm, woefully inadequate live P.A., and other systems of equally questionable sonic quality. Other times I really appreciate good sound. But the extreme high-end gear seems to suffer from the law of diminishing returns ... I mean how much better can $70K speakers really sound?
Bill, tgo
You might be surprised. Blown away, in fact. But it depends on the rest of the system being up to the task, including the room. Having frequented David Glasser's mastering studio, Airshow Mastering, and listening to his Pass Labs powered Dunlavy's it's pretty clear what amazing sound can sound like. Of course, he spent a lot more on the room than the speakers. He played me the masters of the Europe '72 box set and it was like the band was right there in front of us. I also got to hear the transfer of the original reels of Terrapin Station off the 1/4" into the Plangent system. I was stunned at how good that recording sounded, after hearing it on vinyl and previous CD versions. My speakers (Avalon NP2s) listed only for $2,000 (and I spent considerably less than half on CL) sound great to me, but there is really no comparison. They are like Bose compared to Glasser's setup.
Oh yeah, get McIntosh power amps! It helps a lot! :-)
