[RPM123]

To have that much disposable income!

I was checking out AudiogoN and noticed an ad for a Sloutuoin 755 phono stage (retail price of $72,000). However, now you can own one for the  "mere" price of $45,000.

Better hurry or it might be snapped up. Check out how many hours the owner has put on it. Must have been an impulse buy. 

"We are selling this Soulution 755 Phono Preamplifier for the original owner.  It is located in our store in Anaheim, CA. The 755 can be used as a traditional phono stage into a preamp or as a stand-alone phono stage w/ a world class volume control to go directly into amplifiers (for vinyl-only playback).  This unit was purchased from our store new in box and installed January 2020.  It has less than 5 hours of playing time -- customer went a different direction.  Includes all factory accessories: user manual, power cord, remote control, original wood crate, etc. Local inspection and demo is available."

[JLM]

Audiophile incomes run the gambit.  The key to life is to find contentment in your station.  In my 40+ years at this, the lower income audiophiles are more sincere and have better listening habits than the well endowed who tend to flip gear on a regular basis.  Being an audiophile means never being satisfied with your system.

[Stu Pitt]

Some people have more money than common sense. Some have so much money that the price of anything makes absolutely no difference.

Is having that much money really that nice? I honestly don’t know. I mean, how do you get excited about anything? There is no “dream” house, car, vacation, et al. They want it or envision it, they get it; end of story. Of course there’s far more to life than wanting to buy things, but being able to get whatever you want whenever you want it without any contemplation necessarily kinda takes the fun out of a lot of things. Then you’ve got the idea of are these people around me genuinely around for me or for my money. Above all else, that one would get to me.

Sorry for the rambling.

[Letitroll98]

I initially thought there's no piece of electronic audio gear, excluding speakers and turntables, that could possibly have enough BOM cost to justify a $72k pricetag, especially a phono stage.  So I went and read Fremer's review and I might be wrong in that thought.  140db noise floor, response from DC to 2mhz, and sound quality to die for.  So while grotesquely expensive, reserved for the 1%ers, it may be worth it.

A separate subject brought up is who buys these things.  I've known several people who have obtained this type of wealth and some are the biggest, pompas aholes you've ever encountered and some are the sweetest, kindest, most interesting people you could hope to know, just like all the rest of us.  The human condition remains regardless of wealth or standing.

[JLM]

The human condition of and by itself means never being satisfied.  Audiophiles are a prime example of that.  The cure to the human condition is to strive to be more than "merely" human. 

[Stu Pitt]

I initially thought there's no piece of electronic audio gear, excluding speakers and turntables, that could possibly have enough BOM cost to justify a $72k pricetag, especially a phono stage.  So I went and read Fremer's review and I might be wrong in that thought.  140db noise floor, response from DC to 2mhz, and sound quality to die for.  So while grotesquely expensive, reserved for the 1%ers, it may be worth it.

A separate subject brought up is who buys these things.  I've known several people who have obtained this type of wealth and some are the biggest, pompas aholes you've ever encountered and some are the sweetest, kindest, most interesting people you could hope to know, just like all the rest of us.  The human condition remains regardless of wealth or standing.

I know quite a few too. You’re absolutely right. And I know quite a few people without a pot to piss in. Same thing. And everything in between.

[RPM123]

He probably drove to the store in a Lamborghini.

Impressive specs though on that phono stage! Can't imagine what he didn't like about it. Perhaps he's a tube guy at heart?

[FullRangeMan]

It no even is a tube phone

[toocool4]

This is nothing new, it happens all the time.

At the dealers I go to, a client saw the Cabasse La Sphere speakers. He liked it bought it immediately £100000, did not even listen to it. Some months later when my dealer went to the buyers house to deliver something else, he saw the speakers just sitting there under the stairs not even hooked up. It turned out the buyer just like the looks and has no intention in using them.

[Big Red Machine]

I initially thought there's no piece of electronic audio gear, excluding speakers and turntables, that could possibly have enough BOM cost to justify a $72k pricetag, especially a phono stage.  So I went and read Fremer's review and I might be wrong in that thought.  140db noise floor, response from DC to 2mhz, and sound quality to die for.  So while grotesquely expensive, reserved for the 1%ers, it may be worth it.

A separate subject brought up is who buys these things.  I've known several people who have obtained this type of wealth and some are the biggest, pompas aholes you've ever encountered and some are the sweetest, kindest, most interesting people you could hope to know, just like all the rest of us.  The human condition remains regardless of wealth or standing.

All hope is not lost! I have met quite a few 'well off' audiophiles and always found them to be sincere and discerning. I've not met the a'holes. I hope not to. Odds are low since we don't typically run in the same circles of life.