Sadly, no. I didn’t win the lottery, but a recent review at Stereophile had me thinking… suppose you won the lottery… and used the money to create a startup that solved world hunger and delivered world peace, donated a ton to charity, helped your friends and family and community, and did all the stuff people on the internet said you should do instead of spending money on audio. You have had all your experiences, hired musicians to play in your own home, etc.
What are the best audio products to buy with no concern for price or value if the only metric is measurable performance, whether audible or not?
What product got me thinking about this?
www.stereophile.com
This was a very attractive looking preamp, but I laughed when I saw the price of $75,000! Jumping to the measurements, though, it really is a standout product from the measurements.
www.stereophile.com
www.stereophile.com
I will minimize what I quote, per @John Atkinson, and advise you to go to Stereophile, but I will point out two sets of data to show you what I mean:
What are the best audio products to buy with no concern for price or value if the only metric is measurable performance, whether audible or not?
What product got me thinking about this?
Soulution 727 preamplifier
Almost 14 years have passed since a review of a Soulution product appeared in the pages of Stereophile. Given the Swiss company's steady ascent in the high-end pantheon, it is high time that we again reached into the German-speaking region of Switzerland north of the Swiss Alps to evaluate...
www.stereophile.com
This was a very attractive looking preamp, but I laughed when I saw the price of $75,000! Jumping to the measurements, though, it really is a standout product from the measurements.
Soulution 727 preamplifier Measurements
Sidebar 3: Measurements I measured a different sample of the Soulution 727 preamplifier than that auditioned by JVS. Mine had the serial number 727-0053. I primarily used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system to measure the Soulution, repeating some tests with the magazine's higher-performance APx555.
www.stereophile.com
Topping Pre90 line preamplifier Measurements
Sidebar 3: Measurements I measured the Topping Pre90's performance with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 As We See It), repeating some tests with the magazine's higher-performance APx555 system.
www.stereophile.com
I will minimize what I quote, per @John Atkinson, and advise you to go to Stereophile, but I will point out two sets of data to show you what I mean:
| The Topping preamp's channel separation was superb, at 110dB in both directions below 2kHz, and decreased only slightly, to 90dB at the top of the audioband. | The Soulution 727's channel separation was superbly high, at >135dB in both directions below 10kHz, and decreased only slightly, to 129dB, at the top of the audioband |
| The wideband, unweighted signal/noise ratio, measured at the balanced outputs with the unbalanced inputs shorted to ground and the volume control set to "+16," was 66.5dB in the left channel, 73.8dB in the right, both ratios ref. 2V output. Restricting the measurement bandwidth to the audioband increased the S/N ratio to a superb 118.8dB in both channels, while switching an A-weighting filter into circuit further improved this ratio, to 121.5dB. The Pre90 is one of the quietest preamplifiers I have encountered. | The wideband, unweighted signal/noise ratio, measured with the balanced input shorted to ground but the volume control set to its maximum, was an astonishingly high 102.5dB ref. 2V output (average of both channels, which were very similar). Restricting the measurement bandwidth to the audioband increased the S/N to a superb 122.7dB, while switching an A-weighting filter into circuit further improved this ratio, to 125.4dB. The Soulution 727 is the quietest preamplifier I have encountered, though this might be related to its relatively low maximum gain. |
