I was gobsmacked by this $100,000+ McIntosh/Sonus Faber system 

Cost is only one variable in the equation to obtain one's choice of sound.

$100,000 system in someones home probably sounds as good as a sub $10,000 in a treated room. Have you ever listened in a studio? Did you friends have shit all over the room with a $100,000 system? I believe you that it sounds good but there is little roi past a few grand unless your gonna spend money on the room too

If you are spending $100,000 on a system, you are likely doing a lot with your room too. I will say that my $25,000 fully active Legacy Audio Aeris with Wavelet can compete quite nicely with this $100,000 system. However, it totally blows away my old system, which costed $10,000. I still have my old system but just don't listen to it any more. Hearing the McIntosh with Il Cremonese for the first time was caused me to look to upgrading my old system.

In my experience, it boils down to power. When you want to go high power (what I would consider 100wpc+ for hifi) stuff gets expensive, fast. It's very easy to build a decent $10k high power system, with class D or A/B, but to get really TOTL life changing sound, from 100wpc+, ya $100k starting. NOW, this is why I stay in the realm of fleawatt. 5-15wpc extremely high sensitivity speakers (95db+ minimum). The difference between a $5000 SET amp, and a $25k SET amp, isn't that much. As long as you do your research, and get the right stuff. There isn't much to SET, gotta have really good OPT, coupling caps, circuit, tubes. Simple stuff, not that complex. The different between a $5000 high power (100wpc+) amp, and a $25k high power amp, is enormous, really big difference. So I'd say, know what you can afford, and know your wheelhouse. Will a fleawatt system ever produce the earth shattering dynamics and impact of a $100K+ high watt system, never. Will it produce the same or better timbre/tone/resolution/air, absolutely, yes. Meaning a well crafted $10-15k fleawatt vs $100k high power system, if crafted correctly, will easily compete with the $100k system in timbre/tone/resolution/air.

I think you are generally correct but I always like to point out the law of diminishing returns with these kinds of discussions. The price of squeezing out the the last 25% or 10% of performance has almost exponential cost when based on a mid priced audiophile system going upwards. For me the holy grail is a balanced system with attention to room treatment.

Yes... And more thank likely it will be my wife!

Definitely!

Contentment: Priceless!

A visit to Imacustica? Is always a fun experience... Good system at home, congratulations.

@@Jos3Miguel Thank you, this system is singing to me! Yep, Imacustica. They treat a normal guy like me as well as someone who buys a €20,000 amp and it's always fun to go there for sure. Also, you get to hear how things sound before you buy them. That's why I'm a loyal customer.

170 lbs!!

@@woohunter1 buy a hand truck

That happened to me, true story. I was moving one of my monoblocks and I pulled my right hernia, I had to go for surgery a few days later.

@@veteq101 should have sued the manufacturer

Laughs, in healthcare🤣🤣🤣

No no, that's not right, Steve is just another resting actor from a Woody Allen movie.

Albeit

Agreed. The Parasound P6 2.1 preamp/DAC has bass and treble controls right on the front panel. Switch in and out with a simple button on the lighted remote......NICE (O:

Multipass

Only if you listen with headphones...

Good one!

@@n_dawson china's got that market

😂😂😂

You'll need to sell em' both....

I think you’ll need mine and probably my wife’s too.

LMAO!!!

Pretty sure Steve meant 'aural ecstacy' there, bud. ~_^

@@HareDeLune You never know what else went down thete. Maybe he did mean "Oral." 😂

Oral ecstasy?? Lmao

Lol

Joshua, The WOM Townhouse is one of NYC's greatest attractions! You, Franz, David, and Sammy do a remarkable job -- along with all other staff members. Last February, prior to the pandemic, I was in NYC for two concerts. I spent the entire afternoon of Friday, February 21st, at WOM with two friends and our fantastic host, Franz. I can't wait for normalcy again, so I can fly back up to NYC and revisit your hidden jewel.

@@allenfields9058 thank you buddy!

Cool. Thinking about getting a MC312 for a pair of 702S2

LOL, the pro sound and studio monitoring / mixing industries have been using DSP and digital crossovers for a couple decades now. The home Hi Fi industry is decades behind - well, except for McIntosh

@@petersouthernboy6327 Yeah I know, I realize that, but for home audio gear I'd rather have the physical switches... DSP need not apply. And perhaps you're right, maybe they are years behind, or they just want simplicity for people who aren't fiddling constantly with the music and the sounds but want a purity from their source. Studios are mixing, home enthusiasts/listeners are listening... But I have to tell you I really like the controls he was referring to, and I am by no means and Macintosh fan.

@@mesonto - I use a Xilica XP 4080 DSP biamped into Klipsch Jubilees in my listening room. Astonishingly better than the passive crossover and single amp. I’m seeing more and more of it in home systems.

@@petersouthernboy6327 Well, what the hell, I'll take a look at your solution.

@@mesonto - there’s an army of us 😃 community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/172395-klipsch-jubilees-and-roys-brand-new-xilica-settings/

It depends on the component. With power amps, I had a $1700 Proceed AMP 2. I borrowed a $6000 Mark Levinson amp as well as a $5500 Audio Research tube hybrid amp for a weekend back in 2000. I couldn't hear a difference so didn't bother upgrading. However, speakers are a totally different matter as they interact with the room. Changing electronic components is one thing. Changing physical components is another.

One is coming very soon.

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac thank you, it's always a pleasure to watch a new video.

McIntosh is universal.

Imagine these amps with Snell Illusion speakers

mrsuppertime1, it's a good point. These are glorified tone controls, rolling off the frequencies at the determined point, by the specified amount. As you rightly say, you have to retain the crossovers in the speakers. In bi-amp mode, the signal from the valve amp is going to the tweeter and midrange units, so the crossover must further divide the signal. On the bass side, you would need to be sure the roll off was correctly matched to the driver, which the crossover does, otherwise you may introduce break up nodes at the upper end, above its stated operating range. It's a novel concept to introduce valves into the treble and midrange, that's all.

LOL, the pro sound and studio monitoring / mixing industries have been using DSP and digital crossovers for a couple decades now. The home Hi Fi industry is decades behind.

I had the MA 5200. It was absolutely incredible. One of the best amps I've ever had. Only reason why I sold it was I went with a different direction in my system and needing multi-channel pre-amp and power amp.

Ok, I found where it is, makes sense to me now : ) There was once a Bang & Olufsen as well as a Bose flagship store in that general vicinity at one point too.

The only “must see” in NYC is the train that lets you leave.

You can do that with almost all amps cause oscilloscope is not test gear that shows amp quality, or signal content on output.

audiophile and bluetooth earbuds don't go together such things don't exist bluetooth is inherently low bitrate and there are other problems

SME

Denafrips Terminator or Mytek Manhattan 2

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac Thank you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge. It shows how awesome you are.

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac What about the Mola mola Tambaqui? I already have a Tambaqui and would love to hook it up directly to the mc901s.

I did that years ago when it came out, look for it on CNET

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac I guess you were convinced. Also, it used to cost $2000? Now it's $4000.

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac hi Steve Years ago it would have been the A8 Smyth Realizer. After almost 5 years of development there is now an A16 model. It fully supports Atmos. Worth a second look.