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Stereophile Recommended Components Fall 2020 is out

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asruser2020

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Stereophile's list of recommended DACs is spectacular. Here are a few:

- Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty: $9950
- Benchmark Media Systems DAC3 HGC: $2199
- Chord Electronics DAVE: $10,900
- dCS Bartók w/ headphone amp: $17,250
- Mytek Manhattan DAC II: $5995
- T+A DAC8 DSD: $4450
- Weiss DAC502: $9850

Just stunning. You can tell that Stereophile really emphasizes high-end quality, performance, fit and finish, reputable brand, and available dealerships and repair in the USA.
 

TheWalkman

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Stereophile's list of recommended DACs is spectacular. Here are a few:

- Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty: $9950
- Benchmark Media Systems DAC3 HGC: $2199
- Chord Electronics DAVE: $10,900
- dCS Bartók w/ headphone amp: $17,250
- Mytek Manhattan DAC II: $5995
- T+A DAC8 DSD: $4450
- Weiss DAC502: $9850

Just stunning. You can tell that Stereophile really emphasizes high-end quality, performance, fit and finish, reputable brand, and available dealerships and repair in the USA.

You forgot to buy cables Sir. Being an audiophile of impeccable taste, may I recommend these?

Fono Acustica Virtuoso: $20,384/1.5m pair

(“Yes, I’ve been eyeing a new nav station for my sailboat and selling a pair of these cables could make that happen for me.” thinks the sales guy.....)
 

AudioJester

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Stereophile's list of recommended DACs is spectacular. Here are a few:

- Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty: $9950
- Benchmark Media Systems DAC3 HGC: $2199
- Chord Electronics DAVE: $10,900
- dCS Bartók w/ headphone amp: $17,250
- Mytek Manhattan DAC II: $5995
- T+A DAC8 DSD: $4450
- Weiss DAC502: $9850

Just stunning. You can tell that Stereophile really emphasizes high-end quality, performance, fit and finish, reputable brand, and available dealerships and repair in the USA.

Not going to diagree. But a lot of people here, myself included, would pick engineering quality above brand snobery. When you can get a better performing Topping or SMSL dac for peanuts.....
 

Vasr

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Just stunning. You can tell that Stereophile really emphasizes high-end quality, performance, fit and finish, reputable brand, and available dealerships and repair in the USA.

I am not exactly sure if the above was meant to be sarcasm or not but ...

Couldn't all those things be captured in a single category - brands with a marketing budget to advertise in US-based audio magazines?
 

yourmando

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I clicked on one category out of curiosity: cables.

Glad I have these helpful recommendations for speaker cable. $14.7k for 2m pair (for that softer attack), $4.8k for 8' (value), $35k for 8' (ah, adds speed)
Screen Shot 2020-09-27 at 2.30.33 PM.png
 

flyzipper

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This feels like showboating.

Surely there's a better balance to be found, during the creation of such lists, that would provide value to more people.

I'm not suggesting they shove Sonos onto their list just because it has mass-market appeal, but just how big do they think the market is for components with those eye-watering prices?
 

Daverz

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Jeff Bezos?

Buys only the best.... Bose! Everyone knows Bose is the best.

I do wonder with so many of these $200k speaker systems how many audiophile plutocrats there actually are. I would think most of them are busy bathing in the blood of virgins, or whatever it is they do with their free time. But I suppose only a few sales are needed to break even at those margins.
 
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asruser2020

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Not going to diagree. But a lot of people here, myself included, would pick engineering quality above brand snobery. When you can get a better performing Topping or SMSL dac for peanuts.....

I'm not a brand snob, but I fully appreciate good brands. Generally speaking, a company has a good brand because:

- They've earned it over the course of years if not decades.
- They generally have great after-purchase service and warranty.
- They invest in build quality and fit & finish.
- They put out great products that people love, resulting in a great brand.
- No company runs on just branding. They always put out an excellent product as well.
- I buy good brands because they are dependable. So I'm overspending money to save time. I'd rather do that than overspend time to save money.
 

Sgt. Ear Ache

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Stereophile's list of recommended DACs is spectacular. Here are a few:

- Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty: $9950
- Benchmark Media Systems DAC3 HGC: $2199
- Chord Electronics DAVE: $10,900
- dCS Bartók w/ headphone amp: $17,250
- Mytek Manhattan DAC II: $5995
- T+A DAC8 DSD: $4450
- Weiss DAC502: $9850

Just stunning. You can tell that Stereophile really emphasizes high-end quality, performance, fit and finish, reputable brand, and available dealerships and repair in the USA.

yeah...stunning is a word.
 

AudioJester

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I'm not a brand snob, but I fully appreciate good brands. Generally speaking, a company has a good brand because:

- They've earned it over the course of years if not decades.
- They generally have great after-purchase service and warranty.
- They invest in build quality and fit & finish.
- They put out great products that people love, resulting in a great brand.
- No company runs on just branding. They always put out an excellent product as well.
- I buy good brands because they are dependable. So I'm overspending money to save time. I'd rather do that than overspend time to save money.

You forgot to add:
- mark up price by several hundred per cent, as brand affectionados wont look at other better and cheaper products.....
 
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asruser2020

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but just how big do they think the market is for components with those eye-watering prices?


These numbers are from pre-covid, so they're badly out of date. Even under perfect conditions, the count can't be precise. Nonetheless:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/21/millionaires-now-hold-nearly-half-of-the-worlds-wealth.html
The world’s 46.8 million millionaires are now worth a combined $158.3 trillion. The United States still leads the world in total number of millionaires and growth. The U.S. added 675,000 new millionaires over the past year, bringing its total to 18.6 million. Japan added 187,000 to bring its total to just more than 3 million. China, whose economy is slowing due in part to the trade tensions, still added 158,000 new millionaires, bringing its total to 4.5 million.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...naire-ranks-shrinks-by-500-000-in-record-time
At the close of 2019, there were an unprecedented 11 million American millionaires

https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow...aires-america-all-50-states-ranked/index.html
Indeed, a record 6.71% (or 8,386,508 out of 125,018,808 total U.S. households) can now claim millionaire status.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/30/why-2019-had-a-record-high-number-of-billionaires.html
There were 2,825 billionaires in the world in 2019, up 8.5% from 2,604 billionaires in 2018
 

sweetchaos

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I really like what @ solderdude said previously:
I feel there are more camps though... the budget camp, the value For Money camp, the diminishing returns camp, the technical proficient enough camp, the measuring excellence camp, the money is no object camp, the audio-jewelry camp but these are all budget driven. ultimately everyone wants a system that sounds good to them.

Stereophile is in the last camp.
 

RayDunzl

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The world’s 46.8 million millionaires are now worth a combined $158.3 trillion.

That should give everyone a nice round-numbered target to shoot for.
 

North_Sky

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How many years now that Stereophile publishes a list of recommended components?
And twice a year. Anyone complained in the past, so, what's wrong with that...the cost, the performance, the reviewers, the measurements, the mag, the target audience, the manufacturers, the subscriptions, ...what is wrong with few audio excesses and frivolous spasmes when it comes to be accurately entertained with our preferred music dose?

Do we need a vaccine to be immune from audiophilia and not having enough food in the fridge? What is the antidote of the perfect DAC?

Do you like your music bland or slightly colored? ...Warm or cool, hitchy or massaging, cheap or expensive? Who's the authority in audio? ...The pipe or the pope?
 

Sgt. Ear Ache

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Well...I mean this was posted here, and presented in a positive light was it not? It was posted as if it had real value or significance of some sort presumably to those of us who frequent this place. It's not like a bunch of people from ASR went out and posted negative comments on the article where it originates from. It's a list of mostly very expensive gear that may or may not actually be audibly better than a bunch of much less expensive gear. Why would it not be expected to garner some negative comments here of all places? I'm not so sure it wasn't a troll post...
 
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