Ripping my CD collection

[jaybee]

this'd sort your t-amp and dac woes?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0038WWJD ... ot_redir=1

[Diapason]

Nope, not buying another Wadia.

Edit: although maybe at THAT price...

Edit 2: Balls, now I'm actually tempted!

[DaveF]

6k to rip CDs and the need to add a HDD to it? F*cking bullshit Hifi industry indeed. A PC/laptop costing a few hundred quid would do exactly the same.

Was talking to a few dealers recently. From what they said, the big manufacturers see little profit in general hifi sales in Europe and some of the USA. So they are increasing prices to ridiculous levels. Main reason: They are going after the Russian and Asian markets where there are loads of people there with deep pockets that will give the manufacturers the margins they want.

One of big speaker manufacturers in the UK have plans to revamp their flagship range in the next two years. That will conicide with a major major price increase which will effectively kill off sales of that speaker in Ireland and the UK as there isnt much of market for that sort of price level.

Why? Because there are other speaker makers who have already done the same, yet they cannot produce their speakers fast enough for these Far Eastern markets. So this company wants a slice of that pie too.

Cant blame them in a way but a pity all the same that hifi appears to be going in this direction.

[jaybee]

Nope, not buying another Wadia.

Edit: although maybe at THAT price...

Edit 2: Balls, now I'm actually tempted!

soz! it is tempting isn't it! I'm just trying to work out where it could fit with my plans!! (wadia don't like my vinyl!)

[Diapason]

Why? Because there are other speaker makers who have already done the same, yet they cannot produce their speakers fast enough for these Far Eastern markets. So this company wants a slice of that pie too.

Cant blame them in a way but a pity all the same that hifi appears to be going in this direction.

You only have to look at the show reports from Munich, Vegas, Rocky Mountain etc. to see the effect clearly. The number of "new" manufacturers, previously unheard of, with speaker offerings at 100k+ is mind-boggling. It's hard not to be cynical.

soz! it is tempting isn't it! I'm just trying to work out where it could fit with my plans!! (wadia don't like my vinyl!)

I wonder would it have enough oomph? Seems perfect for my needs in every other way, it will even provide a useful plinth for my NUC.

[jaybee]

I wonder would it have enough oomph? Seems perfect for my needs in every other way, it will even provide a useful plinth for my NUC.

50 wpc isn't enough! Have you bought maggies?!!!

[Diapason]

50 wpc isn't enough! Have you bought maggies?!!!

Ah yes, but when you read around, it would seem that the quoted 50w is a bit of a cod. It's 25w into 8 ohm, and a lot of the reviews talk about a lack of drive. Most of the reviews of this are from the point of view of a desktop system, not so much for my expected use. Having said that, with the right speakers I'm sure that would be a non-issue.

Speaking of maggies, my 151 research brought me to this page:
http://www.magnepan.com/model_mini_maggie

[Adrian]

Hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa............

Yes I thought pushing all the shiny boxes was good fun.....

However on a more interesting note.... the Weiss is coming in at £6K...(I think) and the NAD M50/M52 combo at around £4.5K....(roughly)... so there is money in this sector to be made.

What if Rotel were to enter the fray... with a two box system for 3K... and then Denon come in at 2.5K.... and then Arcam etc etc etc.....all the time the entry price getting lower!!!

I mean when you google internal pictures of these components... there is almost nothing there.... see below...



A tiny power supply, a Sony CD drive,,,, and then a tiny motherboard with various connections etc

So I am hopeful that in a few years time.... something like the NAD combo could be had for 1.5k or even 1K. Give it enough time and there should be more competitors in the market, with the effect of pushing down prices.