My system is currently pretty engaging when playing classical chamber & acoustic jazz. With full orchestral music, I feel there are limitations, so, use a dedicated headphones setup. I have been mulling speaker upgrade to Dynaudio Confidence series.
I think I heard you say you used to work for McKinsey, so please bear with street chatter:
A benchmark playlist could be used to assess my system and system upgrades in the same room. It could also be used to assess room enhancements using the same system. So, it’s my system vs. my system and my room vs. my room (internal benchmarking)
A benchmark playlist could be used to compare 2 different systems, but on the condition both are in identical rooms. It could also be used to compare one system in two different rooms. (external benchmarking) I bitterly fail on this one.
My preferred benchmark playlist here is 1988 cycle of Beethoven 9 Symphonies & Overtures by Claudio Abbado & Vienna Philharmonic not that it sounds amazing, but simply because I know the whole set by heart.
Just back from my dealer (15 minutes away).
Demo of the Marten Coltrane 3: 125 000 USD in basic version, 139 000 USD in statement version.
Amp and preamp : CH precision, cost about 100 000 USD.
A first picture (my wife took some better ones, I will post them soon).
Previous demos included Focal Utopias driven by Dartzeel, Sonus Faber Aida’s with Macintosh, Magico M6 with Nagra, MartinLogan Neolith, Wilson Alexx driven by Relentless Dags, etc.
I’m impressed that your wife is a participant on your audio journey. It’s been many years since mine has been in an audio store. Many years ago she surprised me with a pair of Apogee speakers that I had been admiring. That was thirty years ago. She has moved on to much more practical contributions to me on special occasions. You’re a lucky man.
Love the looks of those Macintosh’s! I’ll bet it sounds as good as it looks!!
Back to the non acoustic thing. You really don’t have a good reference to how it should sound, so it’s not a good item to use. I want to replicate as much as possible the live event in my living room. If you could be in the recording studio listening to the live event being recorded, that would be the ideal benchmark, and have a copy of that master to bring home to listen to in your own system. But unfortunately few of us has that luxury.
So some of my benchmarks would be to go and listen the San Francisco Symphony playing live at the symphony hall. My son who plays the violin at his school orchestra playing live at the school auditorium. Small bass, violin, viola, ensembles at a local music hall. Of course I can never make my system sound exactly the same even with the same music because of the different space it is played, and the recording equipment used, but it gives me a good feel for the live event that I’m trying to replicate.
She loves it. She just said: « like we are on a date ».
She just made me go through all the Mahler 5th symphony adagiettos’on Quobuz, to choose her favorite. I am the luckiest man on earth …
So …
Her verdict is Neeme Jarvi and Karajan for the Mahler adagietto.
I have to agree : fantastic base on the plucked strings, wonderful crescendo to the climax.
I am still waiting for her photos of the jewelry / porn audio …
Here you go, enjoy, my friends …
300 k usd gear to listen to, and 5 times that much on the floor.
The sound?
In one word, amazing.
The largest soundstage I have ever heard.
Dynamics to wake up the dead.
happy to say hello to another belgian ! 