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Video Tour Of Extreme Audiophile Mansion...

MattHooper

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Hey folks,

I was just going down the youtube rabbit hole and happened upon this fairly new video.

It's a tour of a house owned by a clearly well-heeled audiophile who has multiple insanely expensive systems. It's helpful that the "tour guide" doing the video recognizes and can identify lots of the esoteric or rare equipment.


I'm posting it for fun, because I do find this stuff fun to check out. When I see these systems I think "I'd just LOVE to hear what that sounds like!" Plus I enjoy some of the catering-to-the-rich audiophile bling in some instances.

What's your take? Is this another occasion to roll your eyes at someone being taken in by dubious, irrationally expensive audiophile products? Or can you get a kick out of this stuff?
 

formula 977

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Is someone like this owner well grounded or totally out there? I can't decide.
What about all the tube stuff, who's crazy for discounting it's worth based on measurements?

I see stuff and not alot to listen to, LPs, CDs,etc. That seems either fishy or a better description of what being an audiophile actually means.
 

dfuller

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Transformers with silver wire. Why the hell...
 

MakeMineVinyl

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He's undoubtedly rich; if he is an 'audiophile' is more his state of mind. If he didn't buy audio gear he'd probably spend the money on cars or boats or whatever.
 
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MattHooper

MattHooper

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MakeMineVinyl

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Holy cow. That may be the biggest mismatch I've seen between manufacturer spec'd wattage output and what Atkinson actually measures! Yikes!
Uh yeah, the measured performance leaves a lot to be desired, especially for $350,000. :rolleyes:
:facepalm:
 

warnerwh

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Wavac monoblocs win the prize for the worst price to performance I've seen in 50 years. The sound quality would have to be truly awful.
 

warnerwh

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I really don't have much respect for anybody's opinion on anything if they any sort of vested interest, especially high end audio mags. I could go to a thrift store and find something with better performance and then have a gorgeous case built to put it in. It would at least sound ok. Incredible stupidity seems to get worse with time.
 

Waxx

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A lot of bullshit snake oil and bad taste in that video, but that is what you see a lot in rich people's homes. They got money to blow and do it on whatever interest them. But like said he could also buy a expensive supercar or a superyacht with it that is as useless as these systems, except as egoboost...

And those grounding boxes, shakti stones and snake oil cabling are what disturbs me the most. People should learn the basics of electronics, it's all that is needed to know that that is bullshit and a pure ripoff.
 

Axo1989

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Holy cow. That may be the biggest mismatch I've seen between manufacturer spec'd wattage output and what Atkinson actually measures! Yikes!
ASR's measure-at-the-elbow actually works better than JA's 1% for these.

I'd absolutely listen to them to satisfy curiosity. They probably sound fantastic with some music/speaker combos, and also fantastic with some others (using the informal and literal meanings of fantastic, respectively).
 
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MattHooper

MattHooper

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ASR's measure-at-the-elbow actually works better than JA's 1% for these.

I'd absolutely listen to them to satisfy curiosity. They probably sound fantastic with some music/speaker combos, and also fantastic with some others (using the informal and literal meanings of fantastic, respectively).

Interesting. So far it seems only you and I would want to listen to some of those systems for the heck of it. Like you, I certainly recognize there are some dubious elements, but boy it looks fun and he's got some wild speakers. But I guess it's not exactly unexpected that it would be mostly met derisively on ASR. It can be a pretty narrow lane here.
 
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Phorize

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When you look at what a human really needs to be truly happy its pretty clear that we all tell ourselves a story to justify the irrational. I mean, faced with the loss of something truly important, how many of us would really think that spending more than the bare minimum to get intelligible music was necessary? This guy is obviously on the fringes of course, but he's not alone. If you are interested in a good tale of what happens when life becomes defined by a lack of financial contraint, check out the life of Felix Dennis as an example.
 

Axo1989

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Interesting. So far it seems only you and I would want to listen to some of those systems for the heck of it. Like you, I certainly recognize there are some dubious elements, but boy it looks fun and he's got some wild speakers. But I guess it's not exactly unexpected that it would be mostly met derisively on ASR. It can be a pretty narrow lane here.

Haha yes. One day a friend turned up with a classic Ferrari and said, want to go for a spin? I didn't say "pfft, my Nissan will get me from A to B more rationally and cost-effectively" did I? No I didn't.

I haven't watched the video yet, looks like I should.

Edit: ok a lot of very nice kit but hard to watch, narrator's tone matched that screenshot font :-//
 
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Iving

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I watched the video ... I admit I am susceptible to audiophile "porn".

What I noticed (aside from the obvious wealth):

- Even supposing the villa owner doesn't have to work or supervise his investments, I don't know how he finds the time. It's as much as I can do to build and maintain one good system ... the remainder of my free time I spend investigating music and archiving records and CDs.

- I didn't see physical media (perhaps in another room?) ...

- ... nor a turntable (did I miss it/them?)

I thought the YT host an amiable guy. I like that he said (my words) that what makes you an audiophile is the enthusiasm that you have to make the most of the music and equipment you got.

I wasn't that curious about hearing the systems in this vid.. I think the personality of the audiophile is a vital ingredient. Perhaps the owner was just being generous enough to share his wares - and I would understand that he might not want to advertise himself. OK then.
 

Vacceo

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Haha yes. One day a friend turned up with a classic Ferrari and said, want to go for a spin? I didn't say "pfft, my Nissan will get me from A to B more rationally and cost-effectively" did I? No I didn't.

I haven't watched the video yet, looks like I should.

Edit: ok a lot of very nice kit but hard to watch, narrator's tone matched that screenshot font :-//
While the Ferrari and the Nissan both accomplish the task of taking you from A to B, the way both provide the movement does not feel the same.

With audio, strictly speaking (no visuals involved), you can get the same (sometimes even better) experience for a fraction of the price.
 
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