wned: I misinterpreted what the original post was. .1 does mean subwoofer. Sorry guys. :slap:

 

Let me rephrase that from an audiophile standpoint, Sony and Panasonic stuff just isn't up to par. They're like the Honda Odyssey... well built, full of innovations and new technology, even kind of stylish, but someone who loves driving isn't gonna buy it.

 

I'll put it this way -- if you can buy the product at Best Buy, Circuit City, Digital Universe, or any other mass market, mass consumption, lowest price of them all outlet, it is not good audiophile quality. It is designed for people who don't care, and don't want to spend some dough for good stuff. Which means, Sony, Panasonic, RCA, and the like is not even in the same hemisphere with Boston Accoustic, Adcom, Pinnacle, B&W, NAD, Rothel, and the most beloved of all, McIntosh (no, not the Apple computer). True, these products cost more, but they last longer and perform better. Most of all, because they are built with fine quality components and engineered for audiophiles, they sound fantastic. Heck, B&W only mass produces their lower end of speakers ($1,000 - $8,000 per pair). Their high end is special custom order only ($9,000 - $50,000 per pair). Hand crafted cabinets, kevlar cones, isolated crossovers. Hey, you get what you pay for.

 

How do you feel about Harman/Kardon, Velodyne, Infinity, Polk Audio, n' Onkyo???

Some BMW's have H/K systems, don't they?

 

H/K makes decent amplifiers and receivers. But I dont' think they're in the same league as the high end Onkyo or the Pioneer Premier though. Velodyne, Infinity and Polk are in the same class as Boston. However, I think Boston's are much better. Especially their VR series for the home and the pro/Z series for the car. Polk's base is too boomy while boston is much tighter and more controlled. Infinity is somewhere in between.
I think speakers above $5k is more for the image than anything else. I doubt you can tell that much difference between a $5k speaker than a $50k speaker. I'm sure if you listen really closely, you might be able to pick out something, but I don't think the human ears are that sensitive.

 

as far as car speakers go...mb quarts is king, then I gotta give a close second to Infinity. subs...gotta go with jl audio all the way.

 

I'd have to disagree with the "most beloved of all, McIntosh." They're products are the definition of overpriced. I have listened to many a product they have offered, all of which can be had with another manufacter at a substantially lower price. You're paying for the name. :down:

I agree that Sony sucks.

 

Sony ES series isn't too bad. You should check it out. I agree, speakers in the price range if McIntosh are usually over priced. But you are paying for hand built and the name. Which is exactly what some people want. That's why they buy it.

 

Are we talking about the same McIntosh? I mean McIntosh Labs of Binghamton, New York. Every piece is hand built, down to the windings of the transformers. The absolute best system I have ever heard was a McIntosh C2200 tube preamp running 500 ohm balanced outputs to an MC 2102 tube power amp. Of course, the system was powering a set of B&W Nautilus 802 towers. Presence, image, and the purest of clean crisp sound the likes of which nothing can compare. I tried both a Wagner symphony and the Beatles Rubber Soul. Once in your life, if you really like good audio, you should listen to a setup like that. I just shook my head after comming home to my lowly Pinnacles, Adcom, and AudioSource :chuckles: .


One of the perks of what I do is I can attend private demos of the most high end equipment there is. That system was $21,000 (8 grand for the pre-amp, 5k for the power amp, and 4k per speaker).

 

as far as home audio, how good is the klipsch reference series in both sound quality and value??