The $3K all in exercize.

[mayhem13]

If a friend came to me and said help me build a system for $3700 or less.......?

 

Pre-owned offers extreme value in this disposable market

 

Magenpan 1.7 pre owned for around $1500. Not a better value in the speaker world period

But they are power hungry so......

 

Peachtree Audio Nova220 integrated whose 220wpc will get the job done for $1k

 

A core i5 Mac mini cleaned and optimized for audio playback $500

 

An external hard drive $200

 

An Apple iPad mini for remote control $250

 

Enough left over for cables and the like.....belken or blue jeans for quality.

 

I'd put this up against any system in a properly treated listening space that has the room to accommodate Maggies.

[mayhem13]

I have zero friends (not to mention their wives!) that would consider Magnepans. I had one acquaintance that just tried a used pair and they lasted one week. Admittedly he's a collector of sorts of larger Altecs, etc. but he couldn't integrate them and sold them almost as fast as he made the impulse decision to get them.

 

I agree that in a "properly treated listening space" the Maggie's can be really good BUT no one (sans one acquaintance) that I know has anything resembling that in their home.

 

yeah.....I don't have any audiophile friends either so my gear and passions are totally lost on them.

[mayhem13]

Some are predicting the importance of source components based on a speaker system that is a perfect device......which couldn't be farther from the reality in that today's speaker technology is still comparatively Stone Age.

 

Take IM and harmonic distortion as an example where source and file driven users are looking to produce as pure a signal as possible.............and then feed it to a speaker system that produces 1-5% distortion depending on frequency. If you're going to be subjective in your listening, be subjective in your buying as well......if it sounds good, ignore the price tag and pedigree and just buy it. It's when those attempt to add a false pedigree of objectivity to the mix that things get a bit messy. Liken all this to buying 99% optically clear and true glass windows and then installing dirty screens in front of them.

 

The ELAC speakers are using a very significant principle to make them so appealing in that they're producing directivity in the higher frequency range, allowing freq above 2khz to arrive at the listener and not reflecting off the sides of the space, smearing the original signal with early secondary content. Horn and waveguide loaded speakers have been doing this for decades. There's no magic here......still loaded with IM and HD as well as enclosure resonance and ringing. There's no way to accomplish otherwise at their price point.

 

Sorry fellas, but your rationale is gravely faulted.