A billionaire is shopping for ultra-high-end system!

95bcwh · « **on:** 24 Sep 2006, 05:14 am »

Ok, the son of a billionaire (from Asia) came to visit me in Houston, he liked my Salk HT3, unfortunately that's way below his budget

He asked me one simple question:
- If he has US$1 million to spend on a two channel system. What would I recommend him to buy?

I told him:"Let me think about it"..so now I post this question to you guys, who're much more experience than I..

He listen to all kinds of music except heavy-metal.

Appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks
barry

ZLS · « **Reply #1 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 05:23 am »

aa A $975,000 house with a custon designed listenung room. The remaining $25,000 can be used to purchase components from any manufacturer active on Audio Circle.
An alternitive would be to use stacks of $100 bills as dampening material in his listening room.

denjo · « **Reply #2 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 05:36 am »

Launch a hostile takeover bid over Audionote or some big name company! With that kind of $$$, lots of options!

On a more serious note, I would go for the late Kondo-san's legendary Ongaku (power), M7 (pre)!

Denjo

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #3 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 05:45 am »

Grab your shopping cart and look around here......
Maybe those speakers on the opening page....

95bcwh · « **Reply #4 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 05:53 am »

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 24 Sep 2006, 05:45 am

Grab your shopping cart and look around here......
Maybe those speakers on the opening page....

Oooo...I did see some "exotic" stuff in that link...that Italian made speakers look real nice.. how does it sound?

By the way, I forgot to mention one thing, I know there're a millions of high-priced, exotic stuffs out there, but to make my life easier, please only suggest some thing that you guys have listened to, and are very positive that they would sound nice.

$1 milion is his budget, but he doesn't have to spend it all.. aa

Based on what I have auditioned so far, the only thing that fit his budget and looks good is the Acapella Spharon

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #5 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 06:05 am »

More info needed....

Music taste...Rock, Jazz, Classical, World, etc....
Room size...Big, small....
Source....cd, TT, computer...
Prefer....Tubes, SS

Do you have those answers Barry ?

nathanm · « **Reply #6 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 06:17 am »

He should go out and listen to whatever he can and maybe find out he won't even have to spend that much to get what he wants. At least on the gear alone. For that much it seems only natural to go full monty and build a dedicated listening room. If he doesn't want to do that I think spending a million on equipment would be wasted. If it was me I would want to visit somewhere like Gateway Mastering. I'm sure he could book a few hours there.

95bcwh · « **Reply #7 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 06:22 am »

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 24 Sep 2006, 06:05 am

More info needed....
Music taste...Rock, Jazz, Classical, World, etc....
Room size...Big, small....
Source....cd, TT, computer...
Prefer....Tubes, SS

Do you have those answers Barry ?

Music: Everything except hard-core rock/heavy metal, with stronger preference in jazz, classical, R&B, hip-hop, blues.

Room size: Big... at least 40ft long, 30ft wide

Source: CD

Prefers: The best of both world -> Tube-like from mid to high, good punchy & slamming bass, big soundstage, transparent, natural, as close to "real" as possible when listening to live recording.

F-100 · « **Reply #8 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 06:28 am »

Quote from: 95bcwh on 24 Sep 2006, 05:14 am

he liked my Salk HT3, unfortunately that's way below his budget Surprised

Have Jim build for him a special HT3 with the most expensive and exotic wood in the world with custom Rhodium plated drivers and diamond inserted around them. Then just tell him that this is the one and only one of a kind speaker in this planet and only cost a merely $500K USD.

95bcwh · « **Reply #9 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 06:35 am »

One of the problem with these billionaires - they don't have time to go shopping...

I have told him about building a dedicated room and he said no problem, just tell him what he needs and he will do it..

Oh by the way, anyone heard of Marten Design speaker? How do they sound compared to Acapella?

I didn't want to recommend Wilson, because I have read more than once that people were not impressed with it...

Quote from: nathanm on 24 Sep 2006, 06:17 am

He should go out and listen to whatever he can and maybe find out he won't even have to spend that much to get what he wants. At least on the gear alone. For that much it seems only natural to go full monty and build a dedicated listening room. If he doesn't want to do that I think spending a million on equipment would be wasted. If it was me I would want to visit somewhere like Gateway Mastering. I'm sure he could book a few hours there.

Cacophonix · « **Reply #10 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 06:38 am »

I can sell him the setup i have ...

GR Research A/V 3 : $400,000 (MSRP)
Onix SP3 : $350,000 (MSRP)
SqueezeBox 3 : $250,000 (MSRP)

I'm serious (Do you see a smiley anywhere? See ... ). Check out my audiogon and ebay feedback. Spotless. Ask him to PM me.

The above prices are in MSRP (My Suggested Retail Price) ... I can't help it if the manufacturers refused my suggestion and chose to sell them for far less.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #11 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 06:46 am »

http://www.marten.se/base.html ....Marten...made in Sweden...Coltrane Supreme....the ultimate reference....so they say.

Quote

Oh by the way, anyone heard of Marten Design speaker? How do they sound compared to Acapella?

dave_c · « **Reply #12 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 07:03 am »

MBL reference line: http://www.mbl-germany.de/english/start.html
TEAC Esoteric P-01 and D-01 (you need 2): http://www.teac.com/esoteric/ComponentSeries.html
Giant, whole system battery power supply.

jon_010101 · « **Reply #13 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 07:05 am »

Quote from: 95bcwh on 24 Sep 2006, 06:22 am

Prefers: The best of both world -> Tube-like from mid to high, good punchy & slamming bass, big soundstage, transparent, natural, as close to "real" as possible when listening to live recording.

If not going for MBL (which would be VERY tempting in the multi-$100k price range) ...

and if I had the space/funds for something truly outrageous (and couldn't build anything myself), I'd buy (on the basis of aesthetics alone) an ALE horn system, and power each driver with individual low-distortion tube amplifiers operated well-within their linear power ranges, via active crossovers which could then be tuned to perfection to suit my gigantic room. I'm sure there are many companies that would be happy to build custom matching tube amps for each frequency range ... Supratek, Emotive Audio, etc., which would be appealing as art even beyond their function. For the source, almost anything in the amazing-fi class would likely suit ... Teac Esoteric, EMM, Goldmund, etc. I think the most important part would be setting up the active crossovers, and positioning speakers to guarantee phase coherence. I bet this could be done somewhat under-budget (but not by much

), be positively gorgeous, and sound "real".

JLM · « **Reply #14 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 10:02 am »

In the 19th century it was the fashion of the newly super wealthy Americans to tour Europe for a year or two to select furnishings and ideas for the mansions they wanted to build. Along the way they also gained culture by rubbing elbows with the elite and attending theater, opera, etc.

If he/she hasn't already your friend really needs to gain the appreciation for music and the music industry first, perhaps while touring the world's finest audio salons. That would suck up maybe half the budget. (After that he/she wouldn't need our advice, but without going through this step it would amount to pissing in the wind.)

Next I'd figure on dropping at least $300k on a well designed room, bigger the better. About a year ago there were postings somewhere around here (A/C) of a guy (I believe from Microsoft who converted a barn into a highly customized and large sound room). As I recall his total investment (room plus equipment) was around $750k.

The rest would go to equipment. I always recommend shopping for speakers first, then the synergistic amp. In a big room my first guess would Avantgarde with the bass units. Or maybe built-in concrete bass horns. Amp and pre-amp would be a season to taste selection. Then I'd hire someone like Empirical Audio to design a fully tricked out computer based wireless audio source with full display remote.

If he/she doesn't have the time and/or doesn't want to go through the effort, I'd recommend scaling way back (to like top of the line stuff around here) and donating the rest to a worthy charity. (Some else that at least some of the super wealthy do.)

PhilNYC · « **Reply #15 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 12:48 pm »

Rockport Hyperion speakers ($90,000/pair)
4 WAVAC SH-833 monoblocks ($700,000/four...use biamped)
WAVAC PR-T1 preamp ($30,000)
Weiss Jason transport ($14,000)
Weiss Medea DAC ($14,000)

Total (without cables, power conditioner and gear rack): $848,000

Cables should be able to push this over $90,000 easily.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #16 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 01:14 pm »

Nice problem to have!

I would say that the issue with attempting to assist, is that one's hearing is what determines "life like"...

The only advice I will give, is for a system of that level, engage a company that builds rooms, and shop in Dubai for the product...

kfr01 · « **Reply #17 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 01:47 pm »

Quote from: ZLS on 24 Sep 2006, 05:23 am

aa A $975,000 house with a custon designed listenung room. The remaining $25,000 can be used to purchase components from any manufacturer active on Audio Circle.
An alternitive would be to use stacks of $100 bills as dampening material in his listening room.

I think ZLS is right on. With that kind of money, I'd focus on the room first. Shit, I would focus on the room first with -any- kind of money.

PaulHilgeman · « **Reply #18 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 01:58 pm »

I'd gladly build him an open baffle, dispersion controlled line array. I've got some other solid ideas too that might be an option.

8 to 10 feet of W22 midranges, ribbon tweeters, and TC Sounds woofers.

All in bamboo of course

.

I am sure it would sound good, let him know that it will probably take me about 6 months to construct prototypes, I would want to do final voicing in his room if that is possible.

-Paul Hilgeman
Nomad Audio

tvyankee · « **Reply #19 on:** 24 Sep 2006, 04:05 pm »

The best speaker i have heard are the VR-11

http://www.vonschweikert.com/zvr11.htm

Hook them up with some Dartzel and then some of that Weiss and i think you are on your way.

Good Luck

If i only had money.