"Audiophile Debate"

[emaidel]

The name of the game for a down-at-the-heel audiophile hobbiest such as myself is value -- the most bang for the least buck. .

That says it all in a nutshell. I always preferred the term audio "enthusiast" due to the many nasty connotations pertaining to the term "audiophile," and my system consists of relatively not-too-expensive components, each and every one of which has been reviewed enthusiastically, and praised for the performance it offers at the respective price points.

My Dahlquist DQ-10's are all but legendary, and are highly respected by most in this field. The Regnar-rebuilt woofers helped tremendously, and were a vast improvement over the botch refoam job by Simply Speakers in Florida. The Definitive Technology SP-15F, at $600 (discounted from the $1,000 "List" price) is a far better sub than the Dahlquist DQ-1W, and blends in perfectly with the 10's.

My Parasound PLD-1100 "Line Drive" preamp is a John Curl design, and my Adcom GFA-5800 is a highly reviewed amp designed by Nelson Pass - two very respected names in this industry.

My Adcom GCD-600 CD Player and GDA-600 D/A converter do a splendid job of playing CD's and making them sound musical, much in the same fashion as far costlier CDP/D/A Converter combos.

While the total cost of my system exceeds $10K, that's a far cry from the price of one ClearAudio turntable!

[hermanv]

While the total cost of my system exceeds $10K, that's a far cry from the price of one ClearAudio turntable!

You weren't clear if that was the new or used cost, not that it matters. Many would feel that's an excessive amount to invest in music reproduction. I don't agree, my system costs more than that, but I acquired the pieces (used) over a long time interval.

The thing that makes you an audiophile has nothing to do with the price of the equipment, it has to do with you knowing about Dahlquist, John Curl and Nelson Pass. It's this effort to learn and try to acquire, copy or build equipment at that performance level that's at the core of my definition of an audiophile. Happy listening.