In reply to:"You want to spend how much for that new amplifier in our home theater? Isn't the one in the receiver good enough?" Those might be the words coming from your wife when you tell her you are buying yet another box for the den. Hi-Fi equipment is expensive, at least the good stuff is. But, it's all relative. The problem is that our worlds exclude each other, even on vacations. We go golfing, and they go to the museums. We like audio equipment, and they like jewelry. EarringsWell, it's not such a problem after all. Here is a picture of a pair of tanzanite and diamond earrings I bought for my wife as an anniversary present (original design copyright Alex Samet 1998). They cost $2,500. About the same price as a Velodyne HGS-18 or M&K MX-5000 subwoofer, two of the best in the world. Now, I may be a typical male, but jewelry seems like just a bunch of shiny rocks that cost a lot of money. No inherent value, really. Bushels of uncut gemstones sit in warehouses to keep the price high. On the other hand, subwoofers, amplifiers, speakers, etc. have a whole bunch of stuff in them. Things that took a lot of work to make. Things that required parts from all over the country, maybe even all over the world.
You might wonder what a pair of earrings has to do with the Bryston 9B-ST. Well, both are handmade from the finest parts. Both give pleasure to their owners. Both are expensive, and both are worth it to the respective purchaser.
I'd never pay so much for a Bryston when I could get the same from NAD/Rotel/Outlaw for a much lower price, but I still liked the writeup.
