How much does it cost to be an audiophile?

[PeterSt]

If you can make everything yourself, it is quite OK. ☺️

[PeterSt]

1 minute ago, Rexp said:

if you want hi-end sound, amplifiers start around $10,000.

 

Why ?

[PeterSt]

1 hour ago, mav52 said:

People that brag about the price of their gear are nothing more than,  snobs.

 

Plus they probably don't have a decent system (to what standards btw, mine ?? ☔)

 

What I personally like to brag about is that my today's system costs about half of what it ever back costed while it sounds about 10 times better (the 10 times I measured with a tape measure).

Obviously I think it is the best system out there and here, but that doesn't need emphasis. 

[PeterSt]

There is no minimum for a system for an audiophile, although the costs will be higher than expected. I mean, when I was young (like 10) I also wanted to be(come) an audiophile The joy in my system were the improvements after the initial stereo setup from two Philips radios, a self-made turn table and some leftover Peerless drivers from my father. The cost ? about nothing, but say 250 euros back at the time. The SQ ? I recall very good, but of course it was pure sh*t. But it was very good indeed because I listened to it with my reference, even when the real reference was right in the living room and my father's system (a really high end system for the time). Point is : you're an audiophile by the money you have. That is really all there is to it.

 

Why is it more than people think ?

Because it requires a computer these days and it is taken for granted somehow. But it really shouldn't be taken for granted because a. a computer costs money in the first place and b. a dedicated system for say 3500 euros sounds seriously better than "a PC".

So it starts with 3500 euros ? of course not. It starts with the laptop you have laying around. No wait, the phone (also not cheap these days).

[PeterSt]

26 minutes ago, Rexp said:

Which amp would you recommend for less?

 

26 minutes ago, semente said:

Now that you've bragged you'll have to tell us a bit about it.

 

I don't know whether there's much to tell about it. Speaker is an active horn system (no bass bin) straight to 19Hz (DSP from mid to bass) and all build for speed (118dB sensitive). This includes the ultra short signal distance a "gainclone" chip can accomplish (because actually it's only that chip accomplishing the amplification) with a net result on THD you won't find elsewhere (btw 4 amps per ch). I think there is a thread running about this, but it focuses on ClassD while this is just ClassB (and most certainly not A which is what I'd explicitly do not want).

 

We can't say "take this or that amp" because it is about the whole system and how -for example- any  118dB sensitive speaker will blow the ceiling off of the building with 1W only. A LOT can be done with that fact (as a base). Or, how the low distortion of an amp is quite useless when the speaker can't follow anyway. Or, how the (ultra) low distortion of a D/A converter become audible when higher because the remainder is so "low" on the distortion.

It's an infinite quest. But expensive ? really expensive ? No. It is merely knowledge, I'd say. That usually means a lot of experience. And that means being somewhat older. Haha.