Sharing my experience to see if others have had something similar.
I have been into audio for nearly 37 yrs and love music. The gear never matters to me, just a means to an end. Over the last 2 years I have been to a demo that was far from ideal and in both cases it was how the gear was setup. Today was one of those days and I am candidly shocked how poorly the sound was. No Image, No soundstage, No tone or texture, complete lack of dynamics thanks to a large amp being plugged into an Audioquest Niagara 1200...
The total system cost that I heard today was in the $60k ballpark and I have achieved far better sound with a $600 pair of speakers and an SMSL Class D integrated streaming bluetooth from Tidal.
So the ask here is that if you are a dealer spend a day and watch Acoustic Field Videos on dos and don'ts. Read the info on the AQ N1200 and dont connect a $13000 solid state amp to it and please recognize that while 2-3 racks of gear stacked 48" high looks super cool it literally destroys your stereo image. Not 1990 anymore so cut the mullet and ditch the 4ft racks.
Room
- Speakers close to the front wall
- Not equal distance from the side wall
- Tall rack(s) between the speakers nearly flush with the baffles
Gear
- Amps connected to power conditioners
- Painfully obvious by the connection choices that the "dealer" has little to no experience
- Source that is uncharacteristic in price and performance relative to the rest of the system
