I listened to a stereo system of $ 3 million, and I don’t know if I could hear every penny, but I really heard the dollars

Working in technological journalism has its advantages. Admittedly, sometimes you spend a whole day watching the battery level of the headphones with a stopwatch in hand while they go down, but sometimes you have sent the chance to try something special.
When I saw the invitation to book for a listening session with a hi-fi system of $ 3 million, I took it. I mean, who wouldn’t do it?
More specifically, the price of the system as indicated was just over 3.4 million euros – most of the components come from European manufacturers and are at the cost of the order, so if you gathe this system in the United States (as I am sure you were just On the point of), the exact price would vary.
This includes some of the most impressive speakers in the world, a literal metric tonne of amplification power and a speaker cable bill that will leave you with double verification, you read this article correctly. (You are.)
Here is the full list of the equipment in the configuration:
Manufacturer |
Product |
List price |
---|---|---|
Wilson audio |
Chronosonic WAMM speaker (pair) |
€ 1,000,000 |
Wilson audio |
WAMM subwoofer (pair) subwo |
€ 100,000 |
Dan d’Agostino |
Implacable Epic 1600 |
€ 250,000 |
Dan d’Agostino |
Implacable Epic 1600 |
€ 250,000 |
Dan d’Agostino |
Implacable Epic 1600 |
€ 250,000 |
Dan d’Agostino |
Implacable Epic 1600 |
€ 250,000 |
Dan d’Agostino |
Relentless preamplifier |
€ 230,000 |
Dan d’Agostino |
MXV Momentum Phonostage preampos |
€ 44,000 |
dcs |
Vivaldi Apex Digital to Analogne Converter * |
€ 45,500 |
dcs |
Vivaldi || CD / SACD sampling transport |
€ 49,000 |
dcs |
Vivaldi mistress clock |
€ 24,500 |
dcs |
Vivaldi Upsampler Plus / Streamor Network |
€ 32,500 |
VPI Industries |
The winner |
€ 130,000 |
Northeast |
Odin2 cables (multiple) |
€ 600,000 |
Northeast |
Qbase 10 Reference 2pcs |
€ 43,000 |
Northeast |
Accessories (multiple) |
€ 4,000 |
Bassocontine |
Revolution x line – Maxi argo |
€ 30,000 |
Bassocontine |
Ultimate line – Golia |
€ 14,500 |
Bassocontine |
B by bassocontino – power amp means agostino |
€ 17,000 |
Stem tank |
S6000 Alpha |
€ 84,000 |
Line 20 – cell 0 |
Total |
€ 3,448,000 |
But as much as these prices hurt my jaw, after hearing the thing in action, I must say that it has produced something really special.
The two Chronosonic Wilson Audio Wamm Chronosonic speakers obviously dominate the scene, although they are hidden on the edges. Well, as much as you can store two seven feet speakers weighing 900 pounds (400 kg) each.
Each of the speakers includes two low-end woofer drivers, two lower half-pause drivers, two higher semi-rolling drivers, a front shooting tweet and a rear-oriented tweet.
These speakers are designed so that you can make physical micro-adjustments to the positioning of each driver, by moving them slightly forward or behind to perfect the timing for your particular listening space-no “ audio treatment of the automatic room ” here, they need manual calibration to improve their output.
Now you might think that with a 10.5-inch bass driver and a 12.5-inch bass driver-that is to say the sizes of subwofers quite serious for the use of the theater at home-these speakers can manage their own bass.
Ah, what an idiot you would be. Obviously, you need a separate subwoofer behind each of these speakers, each more than five feet high, and has three 12-inch drivers.
The supply of these four speakers includes four monobloc amplifiers, each of which is capable of producing 1,600 watts at 8 ohms, and weighs 570 lb (258 kg). Keep in mind that for affordable house options among the best stereo speakers, 80-150 watts per channel are generally more than sufficient.
However, you will wonder where all these efforts take place. There was a scale in the sound produced here which simply cannot be equaled otherwise by launching This A lot of power and movement of air.
There is so much dynamic range in each part of the dynamic range, it feels closer to an orchestra than a set of speakers – it is as live that a recording can hope to sound.
The piercing sound of a woman’s groans on a track disturbed my brain in a way that other speakers cannot. When Bassy’s drums strike, they come so low, so dispersed and so resonant that they do not feel like part of the same sound scene as the voice, but in a good sense. They look like a different thing, as if they were not linked together by being part of the same audio waveform. Each element is quite its own thing, completely recreated.
The capacity of the system to produce lower mediums that you can feel in your diaphragm was unprecedented compared to all that I heard outside an IMAX theater, and I went to many demos of fanciful speakers. He gave acoustic instruments brutality, again lending himself to this feeling of being in front of a colossal live performance.
Likewise, I do not know that I have never heard such details before, maintaining such a delicate touch on fluctuations in the lowest frequencies – and yet at the same time as being such a thoughtful touch on the bass, you could feel The bass when the track wants you to do it.
He has so much more speeds than less speakers; So many different levels, it can move, to deliver just the right amount of punch – the right tools for good work.
Sitting in this room, you knew that you listened to something special – but it also made me think of decreasing yields, perhaps inevitably.
Once you reach a certain point in the world of hi-fi (or televisions, or something really technical), you start to pass a plot More fair to get an improvement of 10%.
Would I have also been impressed by a configuration with the own Alexxa V speakers of Wilson Audio (around $ 150,000 per pair), which use the technology of the Chronosonic range? I suspect that the difference would not have been vast in the ears of most people, in the right configuration – but I always think you will hear the difference.
I am happy to have heard one of the most elaborate, powerful and – yes – yes – dear to the world. Hearing what is possible when you do an all-out, I have a better understanding of the good configuration of a house for a small fraction of the price with regard to sound per book.
It’s simultaneously slightly I ruined my listening experience at home, while improving my appreciation. And what is a hi-fi system of $ 3 million if it is not to give you mixed feelings on the whole case?