Last night we were invited to dinner at the home of one of my GF’s business partners.
Unbeknownst to me, but knownst to Lynnie, this fellow is into hifi.
Here’s what I heard: ( btw–it hurt me. Now my system sounds a little like a toy)
Ypsilon monoblocks, line and phono preamps
Continuum Caliburn TT
Lyra “custom made” cartridge (can’t remember the arms)
Wilson Alexx V speakers (gorgeous pearl silver blue)
Stealth (very pretty) cables
The dedicated, well treated listening room is 22X30ft
He had fun demonstrating; he started at whisper quiet levels at which we sat for a long time just drifting along in the detail. Then he upped the volume in maybe 5 dB steps. It was wonderful.
Later, I’m going to make myself feel a bit better by adding up the preposterous total price.
OH! I forgot!
He had four P20s. One for each Ypsilon thingy.
Yeah but is he happy? 
I’ll bet once you add it all up, you’ll think your own system sounds pretty good! 
True dat.
My condolences. Once the memory begins to fade into the distant past, you’ll regain your appreciation for your own system. Time heals all wounds.
Just remember to decline any further invatations to the home of the best system you’ve ever heard.
stay in touch for when he gets the upgrade bug. Introduce him to Al …
Who knew?!
I’m guessing it will be about equal to my home value :^ /
That’s the kind of system most of us would have to hit the lotto to afford.
I’m not sure of the Hyperion and preamp prices, I don’t know what the tonearms are (2), I don’t know what level Stealth cables and I’ll assume they’re top level, so I’d guess that system must exceed $500K.
I’m going tomorrow to hear his digital system, which is in his “barn”. Oh brother.
Right, Gary. My system is already making me very happy. I knew it would.
I think Al uses Stealth cables so I bet a few cables = my entire system especially since I have down sized. The best system I have Never heard is probably Al’s. I do have a buddy that has 140K Sonus Farbers, Dagastino separates, Kassandra DAC etc. Not sure of value but I have yet to go hear it.
Sounds odd probably but I don’t think I want to. (lol). I do love my rig though. And my addiction.
Oh this will be interesting. Does he put it in a barn so the power contamination from digital does not affect the rig in his main house analog rig?
His logic is that he “works” in his barn, so in that scenario, vinyl is a pia.
The list price of his turntable is over $130k. His speakers list for $150k. From your description I think $500k is a low figure. More like $750k. I wish I could visit him!
The deleted post, I’ve got to know. Was it a cry for help?
LOL
It started off: waaaaaaaaaaa
It ended: waaaaaaaaaa
Following a very nice breakfast, I had to fly out of there after a call from mom’s nursing home. When I got there, she was fine as usual.
While I was in the “barn” (an Architectural Digest worthy structure), I was listening to, from a great distance, his digital system, a Pass Labs INT-250, a Tambaqui and Sasha DAWs, all wired together with Transparent cables.
It sounded quite nice in the as yet untreated space. I could definitely hear similarities to my Sabrina X / Int-250 combo.
My new friend invited me over to hear his “new gizmos”. Stromtank battery power generators.
Two; one for the power amps and one for everything else.
He compared them to his P20s.
To avoid all the standard superlatives, all I’ll say is if I were to start another business, I’d build a competitive, less expensive version. Wow. They are expensive, but wow.
They are a completely independent source, made to also cover power outages as they told me.