money no object

[anon_bb]

Plenty of kit deserves that ;-)

I think WadiaMeister has a steelhead - the phono stage that is! maybe I wil get to hear it.

 

[domfjbrown]

I'd probably keep what I have, except get a pair of ATC active 300s.

Yum yum - if they're anything like 50A's on steroids (not heard the SL version) they'd be pretty damn good... I'll never forget whacking "Hunky dory" out round on Henryt's old system with those at very high volume indeed and it was pretty special

(I'd not mind hearing that Ninja'd LP12 mind you either)

I'd probably just stick with what I've got for one room, and then go out and do some serious auditioning and end up with who knows what. I'd also buy a detached house to stick it in.

 

[titian]

If I had lots of 'vouchers' to spend on hi-fi, I would try to sell them. If they are personal and trasferable 'vouchers' then I'm afraid that they will be left for many years in some draws.

 

[The Devil]

It could be arranged.

 

[leonard smalls]

But if money was no object, which cake?

Now that's difficult...
Probably a German one, big, with cream and chocolate and other nice stuff.
But no icing, tis the work of the Devil (Not Bub, but Satan - Mr 666 if it was the actual number of the Beast. I'm sure I read somewhere that it was made up, by Iron Maiden or Gregory Peck)

 

[Stereo Mic]

This idea that sounding like hifi or like music are different things is one of the sillier ones to have gained a following in recent years

Michael.

Michael,

trust me you have to hear that set up to understand. Your hifi sounds nothing like the real thing. That set up gets a hell of a lot closer.

 

[Garmt]

The best system I heard regardless of price was a full-blown Audio Note set-up. Waaay expensive.

The second best was:

- Sonatine speakers
- Sun SV-2A3 power amplifier
- 47 Labs DAC/transport, both heavily modified
- 47 Labs / DIY cables

Don't know which pre-amp

 

[michaelab]

trust me you have to hear that set up to understand. Your hifi sounds nothing like the real thing. That set up gets a hell of a lot closer.

That may well be true but what's that got to do with my point? The more something sounds "hifi" (ie, high-fidelity, close to the original etc.) then the close to "the real thing" it is. The adjective "hifi" seems to be used by many people these days to mean something else (something undesirable).

Michael.

 

[Stereo Mic]

My point was that hifi has become a generic term for anything from Cambridge Audio, through Cyrus and Arcam, to Naim and Linn.

All these "hifi's" sound like you are listening to a recording of a performance. I think the poster's point was that the gear mentioned bypassed the "recording" bit. Maybe it should be called something else?

 

[Joolsburger]

Money no object eh! My system but sitting in the lounge of a beautiful 2 storey plantation house over looking the beach from West Mountain Road, Negril, Jamacia.

 

[eric_audio]

I have not listened to enough systems/brands to be able to make definitive choices, but based on what I know now, I would probably choose:

Wadia 861se
Chord SPM 1200E
Wilson Benesch ACT (or probably B&W 803D)
MIT Magnum interlink/speaker cable (or probably Nordost Tyr)

I have not heard these components in combination though....

 

[ListeningEar]

Probably amps custom made by one of several tube specialists especially for the loudspeaker design, loudspeakers custom made by Von Schweikert specifically for the room they were to be situated in, digital front-end by Wadia (most likely), and turntable Simon Yorke I think.
Cables and power items all custom made by Verbatim (VSA custom cable division).
All installed in a room built by one of the top acoustic treatment specialists in the USA (house would be on the Nevada/California border between Reno and Sacramento).

 

[inteificio]

I would buy Krells Inferno system. I would do this for the sheer amusment factor of having 7 monobloc amps that are about a meter cubed EACH!

The amusment of having a hifi system that would be significantly more expensive than my house would provide some amusment.

odds are it is also probably one of the best sounding systems in the world wouldnt hurt.

Before I get any Krell haters, I am aware that Krell is overpriced so unless you have heard there top of the range stuff you have not heard what they can do!

Krell is the only company in the maket that has an OK sounding 6k amp, but they are the only company in the market to have a 50,000k monobloc amp...which I can assume would sound amazing (the one below sounds amazing so i assume there top top stuff would be good.

 

[mr cat]

not sure if this has been mentioned - but I'd also make sure that the listening environment was spot on too...I'd love to have a massive room to house my kit...sigh...maybe I should just find a field..?

 

[Mr.C]

The amusment of having a hifi system that would be significantly more expensive than my house would provide some amusment

Not sure that makes sense Peter...but I get the point