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Thoughts about the entry level room in RMAF - 2018

Hi,
Wanted to get some opinion on the RMAF entry level room for 5000$ as posted here - 
https://www.audiofest.net/attending/show-schedule/ (Entry Level Room: $5,000 @ Room 2018, Summit Tower 2)

$5,000 Analog Setup
Speakers: Salk Song Tower, 2-way floor standing ($1995)
Amp/Digital Streamer/Phono Preamp: Peachtree deco 125 SKY ($999)
Turntable: VPI Cliffwood ($900)
Speaker Cables: Danacable Duo Mk.2: ($479)
Interconnects: Danacable Onyx Mk. 2: ($199)
Power Conditioner (provided by Audio Advisor): Furman PST 6 ($99)
Rack (provided by Audio Advisor): Pangea Vulcan ($99)
Vibration Control: Gingko Audio ARCHs ($299)

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

Also, for the speakers Salk Song Tower (http://www.salksound.com/model.php?model=SongTower ) - will they hold their value when selling? I did a little research and was not able to find someone selling these speakers. Although I am new to all this, it seems sensible to put money in components that hold their values when being sold (like B&W 805D3 speakers - they are a bit pricey for me).

Thanks.
neo_the_one
jon_5912
252 posts
 
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.  
d2girls's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
d2girls
641 posts
 
"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.
danoroo
166 posts
 
"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.
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