Thoughts about the entry level room in RMAF - 2018

Dealers don't want to say it's the best $5,000 system with a fat profit margin but that's obviously a factor.  I can't personally imagine spending as much on cables and vibration control as I do on the integrated.  Not to mention another $200 for a rack and power conditioner.  I don't blame dealers for not recommending better performing systems that would put them out of business.  It'd be better if components had higher margins so dealers wouldn't have to pretend $500 for speaker wires in that system makes sense but that's probably an unsolvable problem.  

"Wanted to understand that for a 5000$ budget do we really need to spend money on power conditioners, speaker cables and interconnects?"

Any dealer or audio manufacture (hint: the people running the show) will say yes. That is almost certainly why 1/5 of the budget is towards tweeks.

Setting a hard limit for your budget seems like a stupid idea anyway. I find it hard to imagine that someone purchasing they Salk Sound system wound really be content forever. And this my opinion which is purely subjective, I think the Salk speakers look positively dreadful. I can't stand those brass coloured whizzer cones.

"Dealers don’t want to say it’s the best $5,000 system with a fat profit margin but that’s obviously a factor. I can’t personally imagine spending as much on cables and vibration control as I do on the integrated. Not to mention another $200 for a rack and power conditioner. I don’t blame dealers for not recommending better performing systems that would put them out of business. It’d be better if components had higher margins so dealers wouldn’t have to pretend $500 for speaker wires in that system makes sense but that’s probably an unsolvable problem. "

You are absolutely correct. In fact, you could forgo the last 6 items on that list, spend about $50 on interconnects and speaker wire, pick up an amp rack at a garage sale, a $200 to $300 dollar DAC online and spend the savings on carefully selected loudspeakers and get a better sounding system. Of course, some very high profit margin companies will be left out of the loop which defeats the purpose of these shows in the first place.

Wanted to share a story. I once asked Israel Blume if I should get his Dynamite Speaker + Dynamo amp and line stage or perhaps one of his other speakers like the super victory 2. I said I had a budget if $10k

His response?

He suggested I spend $8k in all of his top of the line interconnects and power cables and a pair of his Dynamites and quoted me exactly $10k, no tax. Funny guy...