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| dmitchell |
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Stopped by my dealer to drop off the NAD DAC, they asked me if I wanted to check out their new line.
All Mark Levinson separates with Totem Element Metals...
All told, 50k retail, give or take.
I wasn't that impressed with it!
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| Dan |
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Might be a setup/synergy thing, especially if the line is brand new. Never heard Levinson, but I did hear the new Totem line powered by tubes and it sounded pretty sweet.
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| dmitchell |
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Could be Dan. I don't think these guys would know synergy if it ran them down in the street.
I gotta say, to me, my decidedly mid-fi system sounded better than this 50K system. I think the room wasn't helping them much either.
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| N1ck |
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You got to wonder how good can it possibly get? How much engineering/development can possibly go into an amp and/or speaker. Apparently 50K worth. haha. I would think once you hit a certain level most of us already in that it becomes personal preference. You also have to wonder if some of these crazy companies like MBL dont simply engineer the musical enjoyment right out of it. Anyone hear their 100K + system at any of the shows? You see those speakers they have? lol whhhattttt!!!!!
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| dmitchell |
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You've got to wonder where the money comes from too, man. This is a shop that sells tons of McIntosh stuff, and lots of Totem.... 7k integrated amps, 10k monoblocks, 7k speakers, and now 40k Levison gear. Just crazy.
Who the heck can afford that?
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| JR |
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Must be nice to be able to drop $50k on a stereo. Even if I had a Bill Gates bank account, I'm not sure I would. $50k is a lot of money, regardless of how much you've got IMO. But everyone's got to do what makes them happy, so who am I to judge?
I've heard quite a few systems that cost that much and quite a bit more. Only 2 of them had me thinking 'I get it.' One was a fully active Linn system fed by a $30k LP12. The other was a Conrad Johnson system feeding Verity speakers. Both were superb at hifi and music. The other? They reproduced sounds pretty well, so I guess they had that going for them, which is nice.
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| N1ck |
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If they could make a speaker system that sounds good, cleans my floors, cooks me breakfast, lunch and dinner and could do a few other things I will not mention on a public forum then I think I would invest the 50K. LOL!!!
Conrad Johnson. There is a brand not mentioned too often, but seem to have a small cult following.
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| JR |
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Conrad Johnson makes some great stuff. They're more expensive than the average stuff and most of their stuff is tubed. Main competition would probably be Macintosh and Jeff Rowland, although don't hold me to that.
I think they bought McCormack a while back and use that as their lower end/entry level stuff. McCormack is another one that doesn't get mentioned enough IMO.
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| Dan |
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If I had Bill Gates money, I'd treat most of it carefully for sure, but would I go nuts on stuff like a house, audio and cars? You bet. $50K is a lot to us and a lot of money in and of itself, but when you've got billions it really is a drop in a bucket. Bill probably makes that $50K back in one day, if not one hour. You only live once as they say. Just don't be stupid like a lot of celebrities who make millions but spend like they make billions. Then their fame runs out.
There's quite a lot of affordable Conrad Johnson stuff on the used market. Another similar brand is Copland, though I think their stuff gets more mixed reviews.
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| dmitchell |
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If I all of a sudden came into a silly amount of money, and paid off my mortgage, paid off debts, and made sure my kid's education was covered, I'd probably invest in a pair of these:
http://www.manley.com/msn.php
and this...
http://www.manley.com/mspr.php
Probably upgrade my car to a Mitsu Evo X.
That's it.
Well, I'd probably buy a much bigger TV, and lots of beer.
That's it.
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| N1ck |
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LOL! Big TV's are cheap. Didnt you just buy a second matching SUV to your car? haha.
Those Manley's I bet would be delightful.
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| dmitchell |
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Yeah man. We got a killer deal on the Mitsubishi.
0% financing, and they gave us the full value remaining on the loan on trade for the Equinox, AND it needed a 1200 dollar brake job. We just walked away from it.
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| N1ck |
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LOL!! Your bought an Equinox!!!?? What were you thinking!!!??? lol j/k. The Mitsubishi is beautiful, and Japanese. MmMMmMMmmMM Japanese.....
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| dmitchell |
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No more NA cars for us. The Equinox started to go south exactly one day after the warranty expired.
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| N1ck |
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LOL Exactly. Everyone is stating that Ford and GM are making better vehicles now and I do believe that but lets see if that is proven. Same goes for crappy Kia and such. When I see a 15 year old Kia Forte or Ford Focus on the road 15 years from today then I will believe it. Until then I will continue to drive my 2007 Nissan X-Trail and 2000 Honda Civic, not because I can't afford new vehicles but simply because I have zero issues with the vehicles I own (can't kill the civic) and I have zero car payments. lol booohyaaa I am all about not having a car payment. Danielle keeps bugging me to buy a new vehicle and I keep driving the good ol civic as I just don't care. hahaha
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| Dan |
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I think I've mentioned this before...my Grand Prix is 15 years old (a '97, first year of the wide body design). 235K, no problems. Even the A/C still works. All I do is maintenance and the odd wear and tear repair and replacement (brakes, tie rods, shocks, etc.). The thing is a beast with the bullet proof 3.8L V6...love it!
That said, I know something (likely the tranny) will fail eventually and I'll have to buy something else. I've always preferred American styling and power (low end torque), but I'd like to try something else. Maybe an Impreza. I like the idea of AWD and good fuel economy. Also considering a Mazda 3. I like the interior and it's supposed to be fun to drive. I've thought about Mitsubishi as well as Honda. That said, the new stuff from Buick, the Chevy Cruz, Ford Focus and especially the new Fusion all look excellent. Lots of choice, that's for sure.
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| dmitchell |
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Hey Dan,
After doing three winters here in Ottawa with AWD, I can honestly say I don't think I would ever buy another vehicle without AWD. The combo of snow tires and AWD is unstoppable.
I just prefer the fit/finish/construction of Japanese cars. This is after driving NA cars for 25 years.
On top of that, every time I've gone to a Ford or GM dealership, I've been treated like crap and nickle and dimed to death. When I bought my last Mitsubishi, there was haggling, no "let me talk to my manager". I told them how much I wanted to spend, and how much I wanted on trade, and got both. At 0% interest too!
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| ArtK |
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Over the 4th of July holiday while I was in Seattle I stopped by Magnolia and Definitive Audio and listened to stratospherically (is that a word and if it is is that the correct spelling) expensive setups. At Magnolia it was massive Mac monos and their dreadful turntable and cartridge, poorly setup (and distorting like crazy) preceded by a Mac digital source in that setup. All at or near the top of the line. Speakers were the old flagship Sonus Faber speakers...not impressed. It was obvious that the Sonus Faber speakers were capable but the rest just fell flat. In another room they had some wonderful Sonus floorstanders connected to the bottom of the line Peachtree amp playing mp3 hip hop...it sounded like dirt...and I told him so. He shook his head and said that setup was not his idea...yeah.
At Definitive I listened to the Wilson Sasha's driven by the Dan D'Agostino mono's and with a nice Ayre source. Sounded decent but pretty hifi to my ears. I wish I would have had this fella and his electronics and knowledge with the Sonus Faber speakers...then we woulda been talking.
The salesmen in both places were very affable and I never felt uncomfortable but I also didn't leave wanting anything they were peddling.
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| JR |
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Dan,
Coming from the son of a mechanic - DO NOT buy a Subaru! Subaru and VW compete for the title of worst engineered car on the road. Reliability is absolutely horrendous. And the manufacturers are just about as bad at standing behind their stuff. The WRX is enticing as its such a fun car to drive and feels like you're getting a ton of performance for your money.
Art,
Great to see you! I haven't heard the Macintosh turntable. Is it really that bad, or was it a dealer who didn't know how to set one up?
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| N1ck |
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Art- Good to see you on the forum. I, like Stu, wonder if the setup was just horrid??? Sounds like a typical Best Buy expertise flub. lol
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