Those amps , speakers and turntables are gorgeous examples of Industrial Design, their designer is excellent.
That it sounds good or bad is something else and in fact I have quite a few doubts about audible and measurable performance.
Those horns will be loud and efficient no doubt ... so much so that they will *swamp* any cone speaker associated with them (no Bass horns are shown or suggested) , and attenuating them 10dB or more to have a balanced system throws away their main justification.
That PCB is most probably made in China, we know nothing about the transformers, speakers *might* be OEM made by Eminence or he might use European made Audiophile quality ones, my point is that he clearly outsources most of what he uses, all Industrial capacity I see there is excellent woodworking and standard stoneworking; casting shown is crude 18th Century sandcasting ... yet the driver to wooden horn couplers are clearly metallic die castings ... made somewhere else and with standard modrn machinery.
Actually less than half of what he shows can be made there.
Not surprised by this though, I remember an old article about Audio Note Japan.
Excellent stuff, but in NO WAY can be made in the cramped appartment sized shop they claim it to be.
Look for yourself:
Audio Note Factory Tour [English]
That it sounds good or bad is something else and in fact I have quite a few doubts about audible and measurable performance.
Those horns will be loud and efficient no doubt ... so much so that they will *swamp* any cone speaker associated with them (no Bass horns are shown or suggested) , and attenuating them 10dB or more to have a balanced system throws away their main justification.
That PCB is most probably made in China, we know nothing about the transformers, speakers *might* be OEM made by Eminence or he might use European made Audiophile quality ones, my point is that he clearly outsources most of what he uses, all Industrial capacity I see there is excellent woodworking and standard stoneworking; casting shown is crude 18th Century sandcasting ... yet the driver to wooden horn couplers are clearly metallic die castings ... made somewhere else and with standard modrn machinery.
Actually less than half of what he shows can be made there.
Not surprised by this though, I remember an old article about Audio Note Japan.
Excellent stuff, but in NO WAY can be made in the cramped appartment sized shop they claim it to be.
Look for yourself:
Audio Note Factory Tour [English]
I was just admiring the wood and steel work that goes in to some of them, even the weights look like a hundred hours went into a few, that precision workmanship and one off heavy worked metal can add up in a hurry. looks gorgeous. But can it stand up to outrageous claims, no.
The "Butterly" speakers have already been seen in the OB systems forum.
Same as the horns and the electronics . Nothing new.
The very first moment of the video shows a lovely pick-up cartridge 😱
Same as the horns and the electronics . Nothing new.
The very first moment of the video shows a lovely pick-up cartridge 😱
Where's the joint between the two 😕
It's called "conspicuous consumption", the purpose of which is to show everyone around you that you're such a smart money maker that you can afford to spend 300k on an audio system. Of course, the system must be quite a conversation piece and really show its price to make a lasting impression, otherwise the expenditure isn't effective. Technical performance and value for money are not criteria in this game.
Hmmmm, watched the video.
Point 1. My 1919 and 1923 phonograph cabinets have cast iron horns and cast aluminum 'tone arms' construction, marketed at the time as being more than record players.... the public were sold 'musical instruments'. Aeolian Vocalion
Perhaps the timber cabinets were of 'sound' plywood construction and quality veneer, silk cloth, gold plated tone arms and reproducers, cast iron horn components carefully designed and hidden within made them aesthetically pleasing... and high end models expensive but the claim to be like having the singer 'live' in your room?
Seems nothing has changed in 100years !
Same old same old.... like Real Estate novelists.
Obviously none of you can afford anything even close to this, that is why you think it must be rubbish - think again, the world does not revolve around what poor people think. I would rather mix with rich friends than poor know-it-alls 😎
If you are capable of catching a beautiful specimen of a woman, you would know that the more beautiful a woman, the better she performs.🙂
It goes without saying, if you can't afford her, you would just have to stick with your ugly underperforming wife telling everybody that ugly woman are best. This is just because you cannot afford any better.🙄
If you are capable of catching a beautiful specimen of a woman, you would know that the more beautiful a woman, the better she performs.🙂
It goes without saying, if you can't afford her, you would just have to stick with your ugly underperforming wife telling everybody that ugly woman are best. This is just because you cannot afford any better.🙄
Sorry, thats hardly worth arguing, along very 'values' based lines, other than to say
Beauty shines from within.
Beauty shines from within.
Back to blurb from the video, about putting an old Elvis recording on and a chilling feeling of having him in the room.
Sorry, subjective as 'beauty' can be... having Elvis in the room to me is CREEPY.
I'd be wanting to have him out and have Tim Buckley there, someone with far more artistic and aesthetic musical virtue.
Given this is a DIY based forum, the video and price tags are justifiably amusing.
I have no doubt some of us have skills beyond the electronic field.
I do, so I can appreciate the design aesthetics displayed and have used my cabinet making skills to fashion out of old less than adaptable furniture, using the expensive and difficult to buy old timbers, to make purpose built items including tuned audio enclosures.
It's just that I don't do so and sell, market them in such pretentious Real Estate novelist manner.
I do so with the dirt under nails, splinters and finishing oil soaked rag experience, unlike some wxxx who probably sit in an ivory tower most of the time, quaffing down wine as they make their subjective determinations... dreaming up a sales pitch fundamentally based on 'exclusive'... after the real productive work has been done.
Another amusing aspect I suppose, to do with high end TT gear.... most of those who can afford specific elements that may make measurable improvement [thats not perceptive improvement unless 'double blind' tested] are of an age and life experience that has resulted in a degree of hearing loss.
People do like to spend money though.
Copious consumption and pretense? Naaa, I don't buy into that.
Better things to do with money.
Sorry, subjective as 'beauty' can be... having Elvis in the room to me is CREEPY.
I'd be wanting to have him out and have Tim Buckley there, someone with far more artistic and aesthetic musical virtue.
Given this is a DIY based forum, the video and price tags are justifiably amusing.
I have no doubt some of us have skills beyond the electronic field.
I do, so I can appreciate the design aesthetics displayed and have used my cabinet making skills to fashion out of old less than adaptable furniture, using the expensive and difficult to buy old timbers, to make purpose built items including tuned audio enclosures.
It's just that I don't do so and sell, market them in such pretentious Real Estate novelist manner.
I do so with the dirt under nails, splinters and finishing oil soaked rag experience, unlike some wxxx who probably sit in an ivory tower most of the time, quaffing down wine as they make their subjective determinations... dreaming up a sales pitch fundamentally based on 'exclusive'... after the real productive work has been done.
Another amusing aspect I suppose, to do with high end TT gear.... most of those who can afford specific elements that may make measurable improvement [thats not perceptive improvement unless 'double blind' tested] are of an age and life experience that has resulted in a degree of hearing loss.
People do like to spend money though.
Copious consumption and pretense? Naaa, I don't buy into that.
Better things to do with money.
The nerd is more intelligent. The person who thinks $300k for a stereo is good value is blissfully ignorant. $300k for a yacht might be good value.Destroyer OS said:
I will assume you are joking. If not, you may be making some unwarranted assumptions.Nico Ras said:
The early Sonus Faber speakers are claimed to be made of some fancy wood with violin production technic. They were very successfull.
Pricing was not ridiculus like this, though.
Pricing was not ridiculus like this, though.
As someone said earlier in this thread, violins and loudspeakers use wood for quite different purposes. Using the same wood might be construed as marketing rather than engineering. Maybe someone should make a speaker out of brass, or add a reed into the port?
Would that mean that if you can afford it, you won't think it's rubbish? There's something very wrong with that reasoning. Many people have gathered their wealth precisely because they refuse to spend big $$$ on things that can be done for less with equally good results. Have you ever lusted after something made of unaffordabilium that you felt was the duck's guts, only to find out that the desire had gone the moment you had the money?
I don't see many people here arguing it must be rubbish. Most of the arguments are that there is a point where spending more on something doesn't make that something any better, and that this system is waaaaaay beyond that point. The extra money goes into exclusivity, personality and the ability to admire it and/or to show it off. This is so true that I tend to think of it as fact.
And what is better? I could buy a swanky supercar and have it gold wrapped because it's cool. Or I could buy a Volkswagen Polo and pay someone (for several years) to do all my household and grocery shopping tasks from the money saved. Now if I like to be noticed in my supercar by everyone around me, the first option is the better choice. But if I don't care about these things, and value my time and ease of living, the latter is the better choice. They cost about the same.
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A friend of mine heard it, wasn't too impressed... but he also has eccentric within eccentric tastes.
In my book good for him and all the people he supports with his venture.
The reason why I would never pay $300k for the system is because I can make my own better sounding gear. Otherwise I wouldn't think twice if I had the space, and enjoyed it. Truthfully I may want one of his TT plinths, if I ever get around to that.
In my book good for him and all the people he supports with his venture.
The reason why I would never pay $300k for the system is because I can make my own better sounding gear. Otherwise I wouldn't think twice if I had the space, and enjoyed it. Truthfully I may want one of his TT plinths, if I ever get around to that.
The irony of this (well, one of them) is that the soundboard makes MUCH more difference in the tone than all the rest of the wood a guitar is made of (this was famously demonstrated in the 1853 Torres guitar with the sides and back made of papier mache). The soundboard is never hardwood, and it's almost always spruce (though a few Martins use mahogany, and many nylon-string classicals use cedar).
I think brass is good! What about casting a speaker cabinet or horn from tin? The point I think is not to slate something because it is different. For all we know the guy is a metallurgist and knows exactly what he is talking about. 🙄
How many have experimented with materials to the extent that you found something innovative that actually worked. Raidho makes speaker cones from ceramics while some may say that it is probably junk because good sounding speaker cones can only be made of paper. 😕
When valve amplifiers were the only audio product available, we said that transistors were rubbish and today we proved that transistors are rubbish 😀
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