Great video; insightful

When i was buying my first budget hifi, what hifi were pushing the nad3020,listened to it,asked if i could listen to something else, the superfi employee was there's nothing to match the Nad, set up a pioneer a400 that had just come in,the sound and power blew the Nad out of the water,bought it,a few months later What Hifi did a review on it,and through clenched teeth had to admit that it was a special beast, never ever listened to a 50wpc amp that had so much power(in a good way)The moral of the story is,buy what sounds good to you,don't listen to all the hifi bullshit .

I've been designing and setting up equipment for people for the past 20 years. And you will not believe how many times I get called back. Because they don't follow instructionso. What I've been doing lately is? I leave them an SD card with audio instructions on how to basic plain english. On how to use their systems. No technical terms. No crazy language. I do a step-by-step instruction on how to use their own equipment that they spent so much money on that. An idiot could follow how to operate the system. Because I'm getting tired of being called back saying there's something wrong with the system when they put their little fingers in and hit the wrong button on the inside of the rack. Instead of just using the remote control like I shut it up. It's easy to operate. There's no problem with it. They have to go in and fiddle with the unit touch in the rack. You would not believe how many knuckleheads that got so much. Mthey think they know better because they have a lot of money. And they're all idiots when it comes to audio

can you link the two mentioned italian products, olive oils too?

Im cool with this...cause you're shootin' straight.

Can a non-transparent reviewer describe transparent speakers?

"Don't tell my wife"...I smashed the subscribe button right there.

What happened to your Audio solutions review did I miss it?

I was a reviewer and this commentary is true

😂 Thanks for your effort, it's appreciated 👌

What are the prices of those Japanese difusers? Thanks for posting this good informative video.

I don’t buy much from reviews because I only buy items that I can listen to. Anything you reviewers tell me about the sound are worthless to me. What you like probably is way different than what i like.

Now back to conventional speakers but i also have electrostatic speakers and they took me a month to set them up! You don’t need a book or anything else just tape and measure equipment and your ears!

after playing with all types of amps i am slowly comming to terms with that the optimal setup would be a tube preamp with a pair of really good class D monos.. I now run the Gato Audio DIA400s integrated class D and it sound warmer and more class A and tuby than all class A i have had and all tube amps.. just crazy.. but it also gives the headroom a class D gives. And it serves more soul and life to the music than anything ells. :) So yeah, tube pre(to ad the spice) and class D monos.. win win.

Off topic. Have you heard of Herbies Audio Lab from Texas? If so impressions?

MANLEY!! THE BEST!

Love Stack Audio!!!

Time for some in depth comparative analysis?

Im looking for simplicity ...not complexity...too much stuff dude...LOL

How could you survive in normal circumstances…..Is the wife on vacation ?

Loving your work, you Greek god you. 🇬🇷

The most natural rack I have heard is torlite sold by Russ Andrews from the UK. It's a wood honeycomb type construction but a specific type of wood is used, nothing else seems to work as well.

Otherwise known to audio aficionados throughout the world…as Tuesday 😋

Thanks for taking the high road. Full disclosure should be required for posting product reviews anywhere, in any medium. Now that I’m old enough to afford high end gear, after years of watching from the sidelines, I’ve really wondered if my old ears can appreciate the subtleties between these products. The law of diminishing returns certainly applies with audio gear, and this invites disreputable practices. Sometimes the emperor has no clothes! I’ll return to your channel based on your transparency. Keep it up!

My more modest system is hybrid, although I probably lean toward tubes and I rarely play my DAC. There seems to be an ever widening chasm between the geeks and the music lovers. Most high end systems I hear actually sound terrible and it’s gotten worse. Don’t give up the good fight!

The biggest ( sickest ) joke about being an audiophile is that by the time you can afford high end gear ( your late 40s & 50s ) your hearing has degraded to the point that buying the expensive gear doesn't matter...😂

Audio by Van Allstine comes to mind, Sound Performance Labs (SPL). Just two that deserve attention in my mind. Take care and good video.

We need to have you over for a visit.

High end does not mean high fidelity or even better fidelity. High end usually just means high cost, which enables owners to talk about how much they paid. As long as people continue to pay for “high end” bragging rights, the prices will continue to rise.

Nothing is good enough for me? Nothing in the whole world, but i keep looking for it. Because i am better then anyone else and i am crazyer then you are. So top that!

IMO the next big thing in high end will be the Chinese takeover. They can clone a $50k Dartzeel amp for $800 and many say it is nearly as good or just as good.

Bello/Magnifico.🙏✡️✡️✡️✡️✡️✡️👑

Have a look at Sugden amplifiers from the U.K. They’ve been around for over 50yrs producing class A & class A/B amplifiers & even in the US won’t break the bank.

I'm only speculating here (in reference to your point @2:35 and onward), but I kind of get the sense that some companies like to keep business on a steady but relatively low level. Leben from Japan builds extremely well-received tube amplifiers and is just a small family company. Decware from the US is another small family company building fantastic tube amplifiers and last I heard, wait times are in excess of 12 months for orders. Numerous brands out of Europe have the same business model, be it tonearms, turntables or speakers. To me, these businesses aren't really scaleable in the same sense as a typical IT business or roofing company is, where opening up a branch business in another town is possible. Of course, HiFi isn't a zero-sum game either, but a small family business building boutique HiFi electronics or speakers will likely never be the next Focal, nor do I think they should strive to become that. I think we as customers (and the whole hobby) is better served by a plurality of different brands with big differences in engineering and design philosophies. With the super expensive brands, I get the feeling that too often the question changes from "How much SHOULD we charge for this?" to "How much CAN we charge for this?". To me, a perceived "better bang-for-the-buck" for a customer goes a long way in building a renowned brand. If the customer feels like they bought something that punches above its weight, not only will they be happier with their purchase and keep it longer, they are also more likely to recommend it to others. I got huge respect to companies that offer something a bit extra when you buy something from them. Your Tobian speakers is one example, precious few companies offer a lifetime warranty for their speakers.

Will follow you from now on.

You get state of the art quality IMHO with Benchmark preamp and poweramp at a fraction of DartZeel. Probably the most neutral amplification on the market. You want state of the art loudspeakers for a fraction of some ludicrous out there, then try Perlisten S7t. They may be considered boutique companies

Nagra

Are you saying that you need to spend at least 5 figures to buy a component that's considered "high end"? If so I'll never be able to get anything other than big brand consumer components. I'm happy with my Rega P2 and Klipsch speakers, but I'd love to be able to afford something "audiophile" quality.

Two words, rogue and audio.

You used Dartzeel as an example of what went wrong. Now I don't know their whole story... yet if the future is boutique brands... that would be Dartzeel. (doh!) Now there are a lot of small brands that are out there doing some great things. I get your point and you are right. My guess is that some of the brands you contacted ignored you and others because they want 'exclusivity'' as a way to justify the price. But to your larger point... the goal is to enjoy the music. I recently bought a 'dongle dac' when I listen to my music over my iems. For ~$120 USD I bought the Onix Alpha XI1. Is it perfect? No. it has some issues... but wow the sound is great. Love it. Now there are better dongle dacs out there ... but for the value and the enjoyment, well worth it. I look forward to see what you find where you can get a great sound without breaking the bank.

I respect what you do. I like the content you put out, but I've only been listening for a few weeks. But you stopped me in my tracks when you started talking about the cost of all the things to produce your videos. I can see the software costing as much, or almost as much as you said. Gone are the 90s, the days of pirating software. And then you started talking about your Cinema camera, lenses, the mic, etcetera. I can tell you have money to invest in this stuff because of the cost of the gear behind you. You do what you think is necessary to produce great content and create a good production. But please don't tell people that this is what it costs to do what you do. Because it doesn't have to. You can do exactly the same thing with a smaller aps-c camera like the Sony 6700 or the FX 30. Plenty of cheaper lenses out there that do a spectacular job for a talking head video for less than 200. A decent set of audio gear including wireless mic and inputs for around $200 to 400. I'm not trying to tell you you're wrong for using the gear that you are using. But there's plenty of ability to produce great content for less than 1/10 of what your gear costs. Lighting can be had for a lot less than $800 a pop, including a hefty c-stand and boom arm. The time is definitely the biggest factor. Editing is a pain. Making sure the cuts are smooth, eliminating artifacts that pop up, or even just trying to export so it will get up to KZbin is a huge hassle in the process. To me time is the biggest Factor. Not the cost of the gear.

I have an Audiomat Opera Reference 12, I've had a good rotation of amps going through my system and this is a musical gem, but zero service, they wont answer calls, email, nothing, I'm lucky I live in an area where this brand is popular and we have a store that knows how to repair them, they seem to be built like a tank, so hopefully I wont need there service.

Great video Check out PS Audio! I love their gear. Yes, their flagship speakers and mono blocks are $30K each yet they have more affordable gear plus one of the best trade-in programs in the business.

metronome acoustics is like that ...they are not interested in getting into the United States?...weird...

Looking forward to it!

Stick to Japanese brands like Accuphase. They manufacture only a certain amount of units per year and focus mainly on quality. The problem is their distribution system, especially for North America and even Europe. I am slowly changing over to everything Japanese, including cables.

The downside exists for boutique brands too: lower resale value and difficulty getting service if the brand doesn’t survive.

Yes - darTZeel is very expensive - but it's genuine - just like another costly Swiss brand next to you in this video ☺️. This being said - prices are indeed inflated from quite a few brands without the same pedigree, performance, build quality etc. as the ones mentioned and others.

GM☕️🍩 You’re absolutely correct…if you go to shows (Audiofest for example in Toronto) I took a friend (a first timer) ..I knew the brands ..but he was completely new and bewildered 😳 by both the variety of products and pricing. As for boutique brands they exist in almost every products that are available. You’re in Texas …I believe..so my favorite product from that state is my SVI pistol ..a boutique firearm manufacturer..and unless you’re in the higher end of competition..you may not even know they even exist. Audio ,watches ,cars ..ect …it’s all there for exploration. Have a great Sunday.

What about Pathos?