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Can you do it for $1000?

Paul's Posts — 01 December 2011

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Can you do it for $1000?

After reading yesterday’s post I am reminded about the inevitable followup questions people ask after first hearing a high-end stereo system.  ”Can I get that for $1000?  If so, sign me up.”

I always feel so inadequate explaining how this system is a compilation of many hand-selected pieces of equipment, hours of hand tuning and thousands of dollars.  To the new wannabe’s that’s an enormous hurdle to getting into the high-end.  And here’s the interesting part: it isn’t the price, it’s the package they want.

So there you have part of the conundrum in a nutshell – every single person I have ever demonstrated the system for wants one – yet there are no packaged solutions we can offer – at any price.

I would love to be able to just point them to a website, dealer, magazine – anything – and say, “start with system A and you’ll get 80% of what you just heard”.  Instead, I am relegated to suggesting this or that speaker, piece of electronics, etc.

Dealers and catalogs of old used to put together packages like this – but for whatever reason – they don’t any more.

High-end Wannabe’s don’t know what’s possible until we show them – but then there’s nowhere to go.

Someone ought to fix that.

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About Author

Paul McGowan

Paul McGowan is the CEO and co-founder of PS Audio Inc. a Boulder Colorado design and manufacturing company of high-end audio products and services. McGowan has been designing and building high-end products for nearly 40 years. Hobbies include skiing, music, hiking, artisan bread baking, kick boxing and cooking. He lives in Boulder Colorado with his wife Terri and his 4 sons.

(11) Readers Comments

  1. hotrod57

    December 1, 2011 at 5:07 am

    Paul,
    In my experience $1000 is not possible. I did assemble a system centered around the Martin Logan Aerius $2000, a new Sunfire subwoofer $1200, a used Sunfire amp $800, a used GAS Theobe preamp $125, and a used Melos tube CD player and it was the best I had heard in my home. I am just the average Joe with a $60,000 income and a family and I cannot justify spending over $5000 for a system.

  2. kcisobderf

    December 1, 2011 at 7:16 am

    I really think it’s a matter of knowledge. Not that anyone’s holding back, but the knowledge an intended user needs to acquire. You can’t be a race car driver by just buying a sports car. You’re not a chef just by having copper bottomed skillets. Conversely, I bet you can put together a pretty nice system with mass market components because you know how to use them to their best advantage. To a certain extent, the resulting system can be inexpensive but the knowledge and years of experience is priceless.

  3. clatworthy

    December 1, 2011 at 8:12 am

    Does anyone remember the Warehouse Sound Company catalogs from the seventies? I spent many hours dreaming of hearing those systems as a teenager. It was perhaps my introduction to better (if not exactly high end) audio.

  4. December 1, 2011 at 8:41 am

    Actually Warehouse Sound company was one of the catalog houses I had in the back of my mind when I wrote the post. :)

    Even a $5K system that was complete would probably be OK for most. If I had said to most people that ask that question about $1000 “no, but for $5K you can get what you heard” then many would say “great” where do I go? At one time you could trust your dealer. I could say, “call so and so and tell him what you want to spend”. You can still do that today with some dealers but it’s getting rare.

    Why doesn’t some dealer or catalog house do what Warehouse sound used to do? System A is $1000, System B is $2000 and so on. Seems a no brainer to me.

    • Bazza13

      December 1, 2011 at 9:23 am

      I hope that your post will prompt more dealers to “package” components together that make a synergy together. I have been impressed that The Absolute Sound magazine has run features that assemble components into systems at different price points. I enjoy looking them over.

  5. desperaudio

    December 1, 2011 at 10:37 am

    Getting guys into gear for under a $1000 is not generally a problem I have – but then I DO deal in used vintage equipment!
    My view is that I’ll get the client started with some sort of amplification, speakers and a turntable. While I’m pitching that I also have many, many copies of the Absolute UHF Stereophile Sound magazine (especially the Golden Buyer Top Product Ear versions) that I continually reference and show to the client – as well as mention the better audio boutiques around town. (these guys SOOOOOO owe me big time!!)
    I’ll whet the appetite – then it’s up to those local B&M audio stores guys and you manufacturing types to feed them the main course.
    I got Passion for it all – but I can’t afford the main course either.

  6. HalSF

    December 1, 2011 at 3:55 pm

    This struck a chord for me because the seed for putting my system together was planted in the late ‘90s when I started working for Outside magazine, and my colleague Hampton Sides got a freelance assignment from a men’s fashion rag.to write about putting together a low-cost hi-fi system. Stereophile was still in Santa Fe and Hampton went over to pick the brains of the editors for his piece. I nagged him to extract a $1K shopping list for me, but he never came through, and once I started reading Stereophile regularly I realized why my request was pure folly.

    My solution was to put together a system in roughly $1K annual increments over several years, starting with the first decent speakers I ever bought, a pair of Paradigm Studio Reference 20s. Then a used Musical Fidelity integrated amp. Then a Rega Planar 3 turntable and a good Ortofon cartridge, and so on.

    Great-sounding speakers or a superb set of headphones are the gateway drugs. Active speakers and a USB DAC for young people. Give somebody a pair of B&W P5s from the Apple store and you’ll get ‘em hooked. It doesn’t take much to push kids into the pool over at Head-Fi.org, where you can find very smart people doing amazing things with a thousand bucks.

  7. jerry95

    December 2, 2011 at 12:38 pm

    Start with an Oppo BDP-95 at $1000 as your source for CD’s and SACD’s and build around it. IMO nothing comes close.

    Many good speakers without extended bass for under $500 and the Exposure 2010S2 integrated amp for $1500 are options.

  8. December 2, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    Yup, but no one I talk to wants to put various pieces together – why they want and what would sell is a kit – a package with everything included. That’s what doesn’t seem to exist.

  9. December 3, 2011 at 6:26 am

    This reminds me of the first system I bought from my friend Harvey owner of Stereo World in Fort myers, Fl.
    The year was 1976 & Harvey put a package together that I enjoyed for some thirty years & could afford.
    Yamaha CR620 receiver,Yamaha YPD-6 turntable with Ortofon MC cartridge & Yamaha NS500 speaker pair,
    total price $1500.00. That was alot of money in 1976, I just got a loan and went to work to pay it off.
    The only piece left from 1976 is the CR620, still works. Other pieces I sold over the years to promote my new system.
    I totally agree dealers need to get back to that approach. I remember Harvey having Kenwood truck load sales
    and putting package together for people. My friend Scott was one.
    Check out Absolute Sound Issue 218, 6 great systems ftom $2k!

    David

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