Fantasy Hi-Fi - upto £50k budget

[Itsallicanafford]

Just a bit of fun for those quieter moments over the Christmas break. Only 2 rules. 1st rule - Total outlay on your system must not cost over £50k to buy new from a dealer. 2nd rule - you must not have ever previously owned any of the items which make up your system.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

No idea, as I'm not massively into it. But I love the look of those crazy turntables that weigh 5 tonne and have a platter made of unobtainium. Hooked up to some bonkers valve amp and a pair of floorstanders taller than a basketball pro and with about 35 woofers and tweeters in each one. With speaker cable like an oil pipeline.
Probably need to add an extra nought on to the budget.

[kayc]

Itsallicanafford said:

Just a bit of fun for those quieter moments over the Christmas break. Only 2 rules. 1st rule - Total outlay on your system must not cost over £50k to buy new from a dealer. 2nd rule - you must not have ever previously owned any of the items which make up your system.

Melco streamer..Vitus SIA 30 with DAC,ATC Scm50 speakers,Audience power conditioner and cables...should be close to 50k.

[Itsallicanafford]

a first pass from me

Speakers - ATC SCM

https://www.theaudiobarn.co.uk/product/scm100-sl/

Source - linn Klimax

https://www.theaudiobarn.co.uk/product/linn-klimax...

Phone stage - Linn uphorik

https://www.theaudiobarn.co.uk/product/linn-uphori...

Amplifier - T+A PA 3100 HV

https://www.theaudiobarn.co.uk/product/t-a-pa-3100...

leaves about £750 of the budget for cables! Crikey, its easy to spend big when you look at high end stuff!!

[Deranged Rover]

My current system cost more than that, so I'm not sure I'd want to downgrade...

[S6PNJ]

Itsallicanafford said:

Amplifier - T+A PA 3100 HV

https://www.theaudiobarn.co.uk/product/t-a-pa-3100...

Serious question (cannot be applied to BHP though!). For 'home' listening, why would you need 300-500 W RMS? I have a valve amp (EAR Yoshino 859) that claims 13W true power (so not RMS?) into some KEF Q950 speakers and it's bloody loud at just about 50% vol, so where could/would you ever use the 300-500W output of the above?

[TorqueDirty]

Itsallicanafford said:

a first pass from me

Speakers - ATC SCM

https://www.theaudiobarn.co.uk/product/scm100-sl/

I'm sure they are absolutely brilliant but you're certainly not paying for looks are you!

[Deranged Rover]

S6PNJ said:

Serious question (cannot be applied to BHP though!). For 'home' listening, why would you need 300-500 W RMS? I have a valve amp (EAR Yoshino 859) that claims 13W true power (so not RMS?) into some KEF Q950 speakers and it's bloody loud at just about 50% vol, so where could/would you ever use the 300-500W output of the above?

The active speakers in my system have...er....quite a bit more than 500W and the main advantage I have found is that it doesn't 'sound' loud, even when it is very loud. The lack of distortion and compression from the drivers is noticeable.

Furthermore, with my old speakers and amplifier, when it was properly loud in the lounge, if i went outside and shut the patio doors I could barely hear anything. Now I can have it at a level that doesn't seem excessive in the lounge, but if i go outside I can hear it clearly. And hear it clearly all over the rest of the house, in fact...

[shirt]

A pair of Meridian dsp8000, a naim uniti, a large ssd drive and some cables please.

[DavidY]

Deranged Rover said:

S6PNJ said:

Serious question (cannot be applied to BHP though!). For 'home' listening, why would you need 300-500 W RMS? I have a valve amp (EAR Yoshino 859) that claims 13W true power (so not RMS?) into some KEF Q950 speakers and it's bloody loud at just about 50% vol, so where could/would you ever use the 300-500W output of the above?

The active speakers in my system have...er....quite a bit more than 500W and the main advantage I have found is that it doesn't 'sound' loud, even when it is very loud. The lack of distortion and compression from the drivers is noticeable.

Furthermore, with my old speakers and amplifier, when it was properly loud in the lounge, if i went outside and shut the patio doors I could barely hear anything. Now I can have it at a level that doesn't seem excessive in the lounge, but if i go outside I can hear it clearly. And hear it clearly all over the rest of the house, in fact...

Absolutely agree, having owned a big Pass Labs in the past and run a pair of bridged Meridian 559s (1kW per channel), I'd agree with this, my speakers then had a sub 2ohm impedance dip (Shahinian Obelisks) and thrived on power, at lower volumes the headroom enabled the full dynamic range to be experienced without being loud. Its nice to have decent bass at low volumes.

Now as I'm older (and wiser), I definitely go active, and base my 50K system around a pair of Meridian DSP8000SE's (buts thats used up just about all the available budget!!)

[Tony1963]

Just to be different, £50k of CDs and storage, plus a lifetime subscription to a streaming service.

Yes, I’m happy with my system, so ‘better’ boxes won’t do much for me.

[TorqueDirty]

Deranged Rover said:

The active speakers in my system have...er....quite a bit more than 500W and the main advantage I have found is that it doesn't 'sound' loud, even when it is very loud. The lack of distortion and compression from the drivers is noticeable.

Furthermore, with my old speakers and amplifier, when it was properly loud in the lounge, if i went outside and shut the patio doors I could barely hear anything. Now I can have it at a level that doesn't seem excessive in the lounge, but if i go outside I can hear it clearly. And hear it clearly all over the rest of the house, in fact...

This is interesting. I have just upgraded my speakers and have found the same thing.

Went from some Monitor Audio Gold Reference GR20s to a pair of Kef Reference 205/2s.

With the Kefs I can hear the music all over the house whereas the sound from the Monitor Audios (at the same volume) did not really seem to get out of the open plan living room.

Any ideas why?

TD

Edited by TorqueDirty on Saturday 21st December 08:23

[Itsallicanafford]

TorqueDirty said:

Itsallicanafford said:

a first pass from me

Speakers - ATC SCM

https://www.theaudiobarn.co.uk/product/scm100-sl/

I'm sure they are absolutely brilliant but you're certainly not paying for looks are you!

Ah, the delights of a fantasy is that you don’t have to explain to your wife why the front room is full of massive speakers!

In reality, I had to lobby hard for a set of kan’s

[shirt]

DavidY said:

Absolutely agree, having owned a big Pass Labs in the past and run a pair of bridged Meridian 559s (1kW per channel), I'd agree with this, my speakers then had a sub 2ohm impedance dip (Shahinian Obelisks) and thrived on power, at lower volumes the headroom enabled the full dynamic range to be experienced without being loud. Its nice to have decent bass at low volumes.

Now as I'm older (and wiser), I definitely go active, and base my 50K system around a pair of Meridian DSP8000SE's (buts thats used up just about all the available budget!!)

Re: obelisks, how did you rate them?

[tuscan_raider]

I want the Nautilus speakers, maybe theres enough left over for the amp and turntable :-)

[DavidY]

shirt said:

Re: obelisks, how did you rate them?

Amazing but they need room to breathe, close to walls and low ceilings are a no-no!!! Mk1s need plenty of current driving from the amplifier, Mk2s are easier to drive. Once the Shahinian fairy has got you, there is no going back!!

[Gary C]

I suppose I would spend on the room as well as the system, no point in a 50k system in a crap room

[ChevronB19]

Dunno. Other than a Linn LP12.

Currently have an Audiolab 6000A, KEF speakers and a Rega RP1. Will upgrade to a P3 at some point, but other than that, an awful lot of change on vinyl?

[tonyg58]

Easy
Source - Naim NDX (I'd say Innuos Zenith but can't according to the original post request about not having one, which i do).

Amplification - Anthem STR PRe/Power

Speakers - Paradigm Persona 9H.

Would be absolutely awesome.

[Crackie]

Gary C said:

I suppose I would spend on the room as well as the system, no point in a 50k system in a crap room

/\ This

ATC SCM300ASLT speakers. £38,800 https://www.criterionaudio.com/product/atc-scm300a...

PS Audio Power Plant 12 Mains Regenerator £ 5250 https://www.mcru.co.uk/product/pd-audio-directstre...

NAD M17 V2 ( Streamer / DAC / Pre AMP )............also has built in DIRAC room correction £ 5499 https://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/p-38739-...

Some interconnects from NAD to speakers. https://www.futureshop.co.uk/audioquest-yukon-2-xl...

Edited by Crackie on Friday 20th December 23:34