Location: London/Durham
Posts: 6,941
I'm Lawrence.
going to chuck a spanner in the works here and say with very few exceptions the real giant killer is to buy what used to be very expensive but is still heavily engineered equipment on the second-hand market for a fraction of what it would cost if still made today.
If you really want maximum sound quality for the spend, that's the way to go, at least for non-digital equipment.
I've had a few bits of kit here over the years that were surprisingly good considering their low retail price, but that's all it amounted to. In absolute terms they were still way down the scale.
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
This was a "giant killer" alright.
I paid £139 for mine back in 1984. Only thing I could fault was that like the one pictured, all the paint fell off the knobs.
Hifi press at the time were calling it the hot hatch of amplifiers, most of the performance of high end stuff, but a fraction of the price. But that £139 in today's money would go a long way, and it'd be interesting to see how equivalent-priced kit compares...
I just dropped in, to see what condition my condition was in
T/T: Inspire Monarch, X200 tonearm, Ortofon Quintet Blue. Phono: Project Tube Box CD: Marantz CD6006 (UK Edition); Amp: Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated.
Speakers: Zu Omen Def, REL T9i subwoofer. Cables: Atlas Equator interconnects, Atlas Hyper 3.0 speaker cables
T'other system:
Echo Dot, Amptastic Mini One,Arcam A75 integrated, Celestion 5's, BK XLS-200 DF
A/V:
LG 55" OLED, Panasonic Blu Ray, Sony a/v amp, MA Radius speakers, REL Storm sub
Forget the past, it's gone. And don't worry about the future, it doesn't exist. There is only NOW.
KICKSTARTER: ENABLING SCAMMERS SINCE 2009
Well you're certainly getting more for your £470 there, at least in terms of features.
So my question is: if that Cyrus 1, with its attendant feature set, build quality, component quality and measured SQ was being made and sold today, would the sellers be getting £470 for one? Not sure about that. I think this applies to other iconic pieces of kit, which while being head and shoulders above their contemporaries might not stack up so well against similarly-price stuff today. Things have moved on, consumers expect (and get) more for their money nowadays in terms of SQ and (hopefully) reliability.
Although I reckon they mostly look way cooler, no denying that
I just dropped in, to see what condition my condition was in
T/T: Inspire Monarch, X200 tonearm, Ortofon Quintet Blue. Phono: Project Tube Box CD: Marantz CD6006 (UK Edition); Amp: Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated.
Speakers: Zu Omen Def, REL T9i subwoofer. Cables: Atlas Equator interconnects, Atlas Hyper 3.0 speaker cables
T'other system:
Echo Dot, Amptastic Mini One,Arcam A75 integrated, Celestion 5's, BK XLS-200 DF
A/V:
LG 55" OLED, Panasonic Blu Ray, Sony a/v amp, MA Radius speakers, REL Storm sub
Forget the past, it's gone. And don't worry about the future, it doesn't exist. There is only NOW.
KICKSTARTER: ENABLING SCAMMERS SINCE 2009