Face it: The best stuff is expensive
Burmester B25 speakers
(Credit: "Home Entertainment" magazine)Here at CNET we write about all sorts of gadgets and toys, but I've noticed that when I write about high-end gear I get the biggest reaction.
I like hearing about stuff I can't afford, like the recent road test of the $80,000 Jaguar XFR. The big sedan can hit 162 mph, can stop from 150 in 6 seconds, and it's a ball to drive fast. Funny, the road tester never mentioned fuel economy. There you go, people don't buy $80,000 cars for their practicality, they buy them to be seen in and for how well they perform.
High-end audio isn't so different, but it's more private. High-end buyers' families and friends are the only ones who'll ever get to be bowled over by the sound and looks of their spectacular audio systems. So while you've probably heard of Jaguar, chances are you're less familiar with high-end audio brands. I'm here to help raise awareness of quality audio.
I write about the world's best audio gear for "Home Entertainment" magazine, and I recently had the pleasure of testing the Burmester 032 integrated stereo amplifier ($22,495) and B25 speakers ($11,995/pair). Burmester is based in Berlin, Germany. The company builds the sort of hi-fis a Jaguar owner would buy.
The 032 amplifier in all its German splendor
(Credit: Burmester)The 032 amplifier's sculptured metalwork is drop-dead gorgeous. The amplifier's front and sides are covered by machined heat sinks. They provide optimal cooling for the stereo 240-watt-per-channel amplifier's output transistors, eliminating the need for noisy fans. Burmester components, fully decked out in chrome, are a startling sight to behold.
The 032's mirrored surfaces will reflect your room's color and lighting, so the electronics disappear more than your average high-end component would. Each assembled 032 is run through a 300-point computer test regime, the amplifier is then played for a solid week, and then put through the complete 300-point testing process again. The first and second test results must be identical before the amp moves onto final testing. Each and every Burmester undergoes a thorough listening test before it leaves the factory.
The B25 tower speaker's 42-inch-tall cabinet is fabricated from high-density fiberboard and birch plywood. Standard finishes include Aluminum Laminate, Makassar, or Elsberry veneers. Burmester can custom finish speakers to your exact specification. Burmesters decked out in gloss white with chrome baffles are among the most beautiful speakers I've ever seen.
Right from the get-go the Burmester duo's wide-open imaging and sonic purity were hard to miss. Feed the Burmester system high-quality recordings and it will reward your ears with dazzling resolution of fine detail.
My complete review is on the "Home Entertainment" Web site.
Steve Guttenberg is a frequent contributor to magazines and Web sites including Home Entertainment, Playback, and Ultimate AV. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. 
Aesthetically, the best speakers I've ever encountered were some exotic ribbon speakers (I don't recall the brand or model). They were so plain that they ended up resembling some room partition from IKEA: completely innocuous and invisible.
The ultimate high-end audio experience should strive to duplicate a good live experience. There should be no fetishism about the hardware. And when I say a "good live experience", I mean something like the Musikverein in Vienna.
Sadly, Mr. Guttenberg expects his readership to judge the speakers' aesthetics based on the photograph provided.
That said, the next time I visit my local audiophile temple (Audible Difference in Palo Alto, Audio High in Mountain View, blah blah blah), I will keep my eyes peeled for these allegedly gorgeous Burmesters. Or maybe I've walked by them last month and they didn't register because they look like shiny bookshelf speakers grafted to wood pedestals.
Life's a mystery. Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!
Oh, I did a little research. The speakers I was thinking about were not ribbon models (shows you how much I give a damned about high-end audio). They were Sound Lab electrostats.
They still didn't sound as good as a live performance at Musikverein...
Also, live performances--whether they're at the Musikverein or the local pub--are only temporary and fleeting. The only way to duplicate that experience is with high, medium, or even low fidelity. What you choose to invest to recreate that experience is up to you.
One of the benefits of living in Silicon Valley is having a bunch of neighbors who are audiophiles (as well as shutterbugs) and regularly dump almost new equipment onto eBay, Craigslist, and local bricks-and-mortars stores on consignment. Used entry-level audiophile gear can be a stunning bargain, especially if you purchase from someone with a 30-day customer satisfaction guarantee.
The used Thiel Audios sitting in my living room weren't even one percent the cost of the Burmesters mentioned here. That's getting your money's worth.
I agree that those memories are temporary and fleeting, but I'd rather go and be there. Not all of the performances are recorded anyhow. I personally like travel. Sure, you can enjoy the world from the comfort of your computer and peruse other people's travel albums on Flickr, but I want to go. I'm more about having stamps in my passport, than ostentatious display of consumerism.
$80,000 buys a *lot* of plane tickets.
Getting up close to the actual speakers won't change the basic design of the units. While I am not familiar with these particular speakers, I am quite aware of what fine quality craftsmanship can be like. But if you see a minivan in a picture, then get up close, it's not going to turn into a 2-seat roadster.
I consider myself a fairly modest audiophile. My equipment has varied over the years, but I don't think I have ever exceeded $4,000 for the entire system in any one setup(this does not include video/home theater). I can't say I've ever been truly dissapointed in any of my equipment.
One thing that doesn't get discussed much in the audiophile world is, "point of diminshing returns". Does $8000 worth of equipment sound twice as good as $4000? Does $16,000 sound twice as good as $8,000? Of coures it doesn't. We all know that. Throw in that fact that the average adult over the age of 30 has some degree of hearing loss, and the miniscule increases in fidelity compared to the price increase is usually not even relevant. I don't begrudge any person that has the ability to purchase the ultra high end equipment. I just figure they have more money than good sense or possibly an ego that needs some stroking....
What gets my goat, though, is that despite the ability to easily measure this stuff quantitatively and comparatively, there is a peculiar reliance in the audiophile community to to rely on subjective (and often unsubstantiable) reviews. This, we end up with reviews that talk about "danceable" cables; cables that need to be installed in a certain way (wow, who knew AC signals were directional, Monster?), power cleaners that mysteriously ignore the fact that the transformer is going to rectify away all of the noise, speakers that rely on metaphysical properties to function (I'm not implying that the speakers above do that, BTW), and so on. That money is better spend getting a system that helps you position your speakers properly.
But he never backs his premise up. He NEVER breaks down the cost structure of the equipment. The components to Burmeister?s amplifier probably cost far less than half the amp?s final price, and QA tests can?t add that much more. But Steve never does a tear-down to examine how much the equipment really costs, or whether the components are truly top-notch. He just spouts the company line about exotic materials! cutting-edge design! True Audiophiles hear the difference! Pay up!
Here?s a thought, Steve: do some blind sound comparisons with expensive stuff and mainstream equipment. Also, ask yourself honestly whether a $22K amps or $45K speakers really need to cost as much as a new car?something that?s a lot more complex to design, test, manufacture and maintain than audio gear.
Frankly, I?d be embarrassed to stick my name on drivel like this blog.
I think there is a lot of vairation to the mix of audiophiles. I don't consider myself one, but have noticed a lot of what S.G. is talking about. 20k for sound? Hell no. But then I don't have the trained ear you do. For one thing I don't think there is a tuned guitar in my house, where you would notice a slight nuance of out of tune by virtue of being a musician. I seldom hear life, you likely did and do live. For 2500.00 I'd can put together a system that tickles me pink. You would pick out defects in sound that drove you nuts.
Now if you started hanging out at my house and started training me on what to listen for, I'd probably curse you as I traded in what I thought was perfectly good as crap....
You obviously don't have a clue about retail pricing. When you add design, assembly, testing, packing, shipping, distributor margin, advertising, warranty, and above all a retail margin, you'll find that it's almost impossible to sell consumer electronics for less than about 5 times the raw component cost while maintaining a profit.
Wire is where the worst examples of what's wrong with the concept of 'the audiophile'. Even in cable where I can actually hear a difference between set A vs set B, from my own experience in MAKING my own interconnects and speaker cables I know bloody well that there's no excuse for the ridiculous excess that some of these companies dare to charge for their products.
That said, with great electronics a good set of wires does make a surprising and pleasing difference. The caveat is that they just shouldn't be PRICED as much as they often are.
You try out your older stereo just for fun and comparing and you discover that it sounds "not bad" and quite enjoyable.
And then regret rises in your head for spending that much money on your actual stereo. You could have used the money to buy a full hd tv or rims for your car.
I completely agree with the notion of audiophile ripoffs. But when you want the best and only the best, where do you stop before you drop ? Sadly noone will tell you (in the audiophile community) Halt ! Slow down your expenses. This model will be just fine, you don't need to spend more.
By the way, what's so special about the design of the speakers in the aticle ? They are just boxy with a minuscule sheet of aluminum to add some unsuccessful "chic". Why don't they try something poetic with the design like a ripple of sound or a blossom of musical notes. Whatever, something different.
I generally subscribe to the principle that everything has a diminishing rate of return that accelerates exponentially as the price gets ever higher.
Just like comparing that 80,000 dollar Jaguar to a 150,000 dollar Maseratti.
I admit it's awfully hard to be fair with audiophile crowd; there's a fair bit of anal-retentiveness with the obsessiveness that's often found with our brethren. That said, for those who consider themselves 'audiophiles' as I do, it's as much of a hobby as it is some sort of chase for auditory perfection. We pursue this 'absolute sound' just like any collector goes after than elusive rare coin, autocar, baseball rookie card, fine wine or rare butterfly. Yes it's an addiction of sorts, but it's also quite FUN as well; we meet like-minded codgers like ourselves and swap war stories, ideas and the like, and too top it off we get to listen to great-sounding music to boot.
That said, a REAL audiophile doesn't concern themselves with the snob factor of the gear, but they do recognize that as a general rule the best gear tends to be the most expensive. Why? Because the people who are genuinely SERIOUS about producing this sort of equipment are just as anal-retentive as the audiophiles themselves...because they THEMSELVES are audiophiles. They sweat the details unlike what the mass-market manufacturers will settle for and do. They generally seek out the very best parts with far less concern regarding price, whereas the mass-market gear makers are no different than Ford, Toyota or GM in the auto industry...they get parts from whomever is going to meet their basic specifications and more importantly, who's going to be most cost-effective when the bids come across the bean counter's desk. VOLUME AND PROFIT is always paramount with the mass-equipment makers, whereas with the boutique manufacturers it's as much passion as it is about making a buck.
Keep in mind that these sorts of gawd-awful, bloody expensive pieces usually have annual builds that measure in the low hundreds or thousands, if that, and not hundreds of thousands or hopefully millions like the mass-market equipment guys base their business and profit model on. Hi-end gear is generally handcrafted at a workbench and less the assembly-line widget whose net worth is measured in units per hour. It isn't just about some mind numbing price tag, but about belief in the skill, engineering and craftsmanship of the makers and their talent. These guys are just as passionate about the gear as we are, and we appreciate that.
There's indeed the exclusivity factor, which may or may not actually equate to actual performance gains, though broadly stated in hi-fi terms there usually is some amount of performance disparity beyond the impact to your VISA balance between the eye-watering receipts that the spendy stuff brings over the average, run-of-the-mill plastique boxes that Best Buy peddles. Does a Rolex or a Patek Philippe really tell time any better than a Casio or Timex? No? Then why do they sell for hundred times more? Even stepping up a bit in class, does a Nissan R35 GT-R drive circles around a Ferrari F430? Yes? Then why does a new Maranello beast exchange hands for 2 1/2 times more than the car from the Land of the Rising Sun?
Yes, I admit there's a fair bit of snobbery when it comes to high-end electronics, just as there is with virtually anything else that panders to and fawns for the attention of the elitist mentality. Is it necessarily justified for audio gear, when the latest advances often overshadow and outdate last year's product? Hard to say...limited equipment can still sell for premiums on the secondary market even after factoring in the effects of depreciation. Cassette tape is very much a dead format, yet there are still those who pay into the four figures for a pristine Nakamichi Dragon tape deck, a nearly two decade old cantankerous beast well-known for superlative sound quality as much as for its tendency to fly into mechanical fits of (downtime) rage, something I sadly know all too well. On the other hand, your average mass-market Aiwa, Sony or Technics home tape deck of the same vintage can't be given away...more like you'd actually have to PAY someone to take it off your hands.
- by make_or_break June 15, 2009 8:52 AM PDT
- Defending the Battered Honor of the Audiophile...(part two)
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(32 Comments)And here's another tidbit: audiophiles can be and are as cheap as the average WalMart shopper. We just recognize that the sort of sweat and engineering that finds its way into the hi-end stuff is generally gonna hurt the wallet...and we suffer for it. Yeah there's a point of diminishing returns, but for the audiophile it all depends how SHARP that point really is. Recently I listened to a Meridian 808.2 CD player that literally was the best sounding CD machine I've ever heard. We all know redbook audio CDs are part of a declining market, yet here's an English deck that puts SACD and DVD-Audio to shame with ordinary, sundry CD media, and even dares to rival the best that vinyl has to offer. Years ago I spend what I though was an ungodly sum for my Naim CD deck, if only because once I listened to it I couldn't stand listening to anything else. It was over three times the price of my last deck, a $1300 Denon (another price that I sorely grimaced at when it came time for checkout), yet a half a decade or so later this $17,000(!) Meridian makes my Naim sound so...second-tier.
Is this Meridian really worth the price? Is there really a tangable gain in performance? For those anal-retentive blokes (sadly, like me), we grapple with these sorts of questions all of the time. If one were to drop on my front doorstep without pain to my charge card...I'd be on it in less than a heartbeat. But reality sets in and I know that I don't have the sort of discretionary income to be tossing at Definitive Audio for my own piece of sonic nirvana. There are bills to pay. There's a stale and flat global economy that makes earning a paycheck a real blessing. Then there's my REAL money pit, my beloved Porsche, always with its mouth wide open and clamoring for its own hefty chunk of my available charge card balance. Even audiophiles live within their means, even as we lust for those lusher objects on the other side of the fence.
My own audio listening room isn't what it used to be, but I still manage to maintain one. I had to give up my old comfortable, damn-near perfect acoustical room for other family uses, but the one I have still is serviceable and works rather nicely. There isn't a stick of real furniture in it save a single chair and a small table for setting a drink on (though there is room for a second chair if a fellow hobbyist is over). There's no cabinetry or built-ins; all my gear just sits on 2x12 planks supported by concrete blocks. I didn't really intend on spending bloody thousands on any of that gear just to have it stacked like it was some college dorm room, but my ears felt differently about it and it controls; my architectural eye plays second-fiddle in this space. It's always been about the pursuit of that elusive absolute sound; I don't care if my "installation" looks like some shabby reject that would be laughed at by some snooty interior design magazine...it's audio performance that I'm after. I have easy access to everything. I can swap components out in a breeze. I can toy with borrowed gear and bring home loaned gear from the shops for personalized auditioning. It's all about the sound; everything else is secondary. How "hobby" is that?
That's the life of a real audiophile. It ain't about the price tags, but yeah, I admit it helps if there is the money around to spend. That said, the dedicated few get to mingle with like minds who share this anal-retentive passion, and we get to play with some really nifty gear from time to time. And even if the yard-stick for perfect sound will probably never be achieved or measured, we at least had our fun trying.
As for the issue of bloody expensive accessories: I see that Monster Cable gets hammered often here on CNET, yet I've often found that their wire does sound pretty good. Whether it's actually WORTH IT is entirely up to you. For myself I build my own cables these days, and am quite happy with what I've achieved. I too tend to think that Monster (and a fair number of other) are, at a retail level, unsightly expensive and overpriced. Aside from some fairly old sets purchased ages ago when Monster was up-and-coming and still relatively affordable, I stay away from the boutique makes. But even buying high-grade raw material isn't cheap; shop around for some of that stuff and you can start to appreciate why some of these boutique wires get to be as expensive as they are, particularly once you factor in retail mark-up and profit margin. But then again, does it really make any less sense than when consumers are asked to shell out $35 for a clear plastic case for that brand new iPod that probably cost pennies to produce over in China? It's always a question of perspective, and where you're coming from.