Yes, speaking of pricing, things are going bonkers everywhere, not just in highend audio. Speaking of which, just around 2019/20 during covid lockdown, the very last pair of CLX's sold for 50grand AUD. Now the Ren15a's are priced at 50grand and above depending on the finish. The 13A's are around 32grand and the 11A's are around 15grand. The Classic 9's are about half that.
Gone are the days where you can work hard, save up a bit and afford the highend... no chance now Charlie!
There are certain deals that only a handful of dealers are willing to do, and they are the ones who will gain a loyal customer base, just like my primary ML dealer, great chap! Always willing to help out in any way.
Unfortunately, in this business scenario I'm not sure how these prices are structured... for now the Neolith's are a cool 160grand!
One brand of tube gear that I've been so familiar with since I was a teen, is Conrad johnson. I currently own four pieces of their top end gear but it's now considered vintage! It was probably a miracle that I could afford it about a decade ago but now forget it!
The starting price point of CJ gear in Aus is around 7grand, and that's the most entry level integrated control amplifier. The preamps start at 9grand and goes upto 40grand for the top of the line Art88. The power amps start at 16grand and go upto 80grand, ha! No worries mate, just write that cheque or swipe that platinum card shall we!
My days of must have upgrades are over, and I was fortunate enough to put together all this gear starting from scratch over again since 2004/05. It took that long up until 2018 to acquire the CLX's, so I'm done! The only thing I do now, apart from getting the BF210 just recently, is I upgrade or mod the existing tube gear. This involves a lot of skill and steady hands and lot of knowledge in power supply design in Class A topology. Once the mods are done then it takes time to arrive at an ideal balance of trouble free operation, in terms of thermal stability and performance, to reduce levels of distortion and keep power supplies under control without going into thermal overload.
It took around three years to get these mods done, which included original parts and certification from the main brand. Now, that these mods have been done, I can confirm that it was totally worth it, mainly because it's performance sometimes surpasses the latest gear which costs 10 times more! And for what... most probably a marginal improvement in the latest gear... no point.
My benchmark in percentage of overall performance improvement must be at 40% and above. Or at least thereabouts...say 35% minimum. If the new gear isn't going to provide me that extra 35 to 40% in improvement then it's just a waste of money. These marginal improvements are not worth it, they're meant only to get aroused and entice the owner's who've already purchased the top of the line... only to learn that in another year or two, that top of the line is now surpassed and labelled as vintage!
So be it maties! Once your system has achieved a certain threshold, that's it! Trying to better that it terns of exhorbitant spend just because that new gear is supposed to be the latest & greatest... well... I don't think so. Again, 40% improvement? Ok... at what price? 80grand for a pair of monoblocks! Mmm... must be really desperate to scratch that ego. Must have...must have...
As for me, it's the end of the road. Hats off to the lofty gear and those who can afford such high end prices, nothing wrong with that and respect
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For those who've already reached the threshold, just relaaax. Pour that scotch, light that cigar and enjoy those fine tunes!
Woof! RJ
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