Pricing astronomy: the madness of luxury, controversial concepts, industry masterpieces and 50 kg of Japanese gold
“Someone is dripping on the lobster as an infant tear,
The nurse of the violin of the sufferingivin is moved ”
Branimir, “Yashenka”
It is known that for audio devices with high fidelity of reproduction, spectacular design and stable, reliable performance, sometimes you have to pay impressive sums. In some cases, these amounts reach such values, from which it becomes bad. Not always the fabulous cost of the device significantly affects its qualities.
')
Moreover, in the history of the audio market, it happened when low-cost or relatively inexpensive devices became iconic and legendary, thanks to a unique balance of price and quality. With this post, I want to start a cycle about devices, the cost of which, on the contrary, is prohibitively high, that is, to tell about the most expensive audio reproducing electronics in the world. Earlier, I already touched the topic, describing the Opera Only amplifier, talked about pricing in High End and did a review on one of the expensive Astell & Kern products.
I am interested in what of these devices is really a technological masterpiece, and what is a dubious quality item for luxury for not very sophisticated buyers with a thick wallet. Under the cut description of the five sound-reproducing devices, which represent the embodiment of approaches to the creation of super-expensive equipment.
In 2012, the year Graff Diamonds Beats By dr. Dre Studio set a price record, not beaten to this day. The version, which British jewelers from Graff Diamonds covered with 114 carat diamonds, was valued at $ 1,000,000.
Actually, write something about the virtues of fidelity to play Beats By dr. Dre Studio, I think, unnecessarily. During the existence of this model has been written a lot. The sound in these subjects is shocking as disgusting as the headphones themselves are known for. As a confirmation of my words, I can give the results of the AFC test of these low-frequency jumblers.
The already fussy design of Beats By dr. Dre in diamonds has become a real benchmark for bad taste and vulgarization of jewelry. Meanwhile, the model has caused a stir among the non-poor representatives of the African-American “musical elite”. I do not mean those who play blues or jazz. The first person who publicly put this “tiara” on his head was one of the members of the SkyBlu team.
With all due respect to the Focal, as to the manufacturer, I cannot ignore their development, presented at CES 2017. Unlike the above Beats, Focal was not too lazy to create a separate headphone model for an ultra-expensive concept.
I think the reason for the development of this non-trivial model was as follows. The noise around the diamond beats has passed. Probably all the precious copies had already been bought by the “kings” of 130 streets in Harlem and went to gather dust in a dark closet after a couple of days of epatizing others. And now the opportunity to re-announce the creation of the most expensive headphones in the world, which, in fact, Focal did. By the way, the cost of "utopia" is several times less than that of rapper beats, only 120,000 dead American presidents.
I was not able to visit CES 2017 this year, but one of my good acquaintances for some time even held a precious gadget on my head. I quote his review:
“Very ergonomic, despite the weight. The sound is good, but nothing supernatural, similar to the 600th sins, only better - more honest. No other features revealed. ”
As the emitter used 40-mm domed driver Berylium 'M'. The frequency range of jewelry utopia goes far beyond the audible spectrum: from 5 Hz to 50 kHz. Impedance is not the highest: 32 ohms. I could not find any other information about the sound and technical characteristics of the next “most expensive headphones in the world”.
The design was created by Philippe and Mathieu Tournair, a family contract for jewelers from Maison Tournaire. The main geometric forms in the bizarre design of "utopia" have become a square, a triangle and a circle, directly related to the symbols of the jewelry house. As conceived by Philip and Mathieu, the figures embody the three stages of life: past, present and future. I think the geometric concept was also chosen because the guys decided to promote their workshop thanks to the Focal product.
Perhaps the ornamental design with a reduced (compared to the described bits) number of diamonds, someone can still be impressed. However, in my opinion, the aesthetic merits of “utopia” are a very controversial issue. For an additional 10,000 Euros, they offer to buy a gold stand, the design of which, I think, deserves more attention than the design of the headphones themselves.
Not without social responsibility, which to some extent justifies the manufacturers and the product. Part of the profits from the sales of Utopia and the booth are transferred to the P'tit Louis association, which rescues eight-year-old Louis Bischini, who suffers from a rare form of muscular atrophy.
Acoustic Transmission Audio Ultimate system was considered the most expensive in the world from 2009 to 2012. Given that the kit described includes a huge powerful speaker with its own amplification, you can consider Transmission Audio prices almost budget compared to the useless jewelry tsatskoy from Graff Diamonds.
Some boldly call this system “concept car” in the world of modern audio. Engineers decided to apply several ultimatum solutions to create emitters. The idea is as follows: powerful acoustics with uncompromising sound and the smallest possible thickness of the body.
The system includes:
The total length of the tape in the tape radiators of the system is 68 meters. The system has a sensitivity of + 100 dB / 1 W / 1 meter and can continuously produce 15,500 W per channel with a margin of + 3 dB. The total nominal power of the system is 31000 W, creating a sound pressure of 146 dB (SPL).
Some more details. THD (SOI) is 0.02% (measured at 99 dB SPL). The tape radiators of the system are controlled using 652 high-power neodymium magnets. The special pride of the company is the high performance of their tape drivers.
It is difficult for me to say whether someone needs such ultimatum delights and whether people are willing to pay for them, but the fact remains that 100 copies of the system were released. The company does not provide data on sales statistics. The 10-year warranty on everything up to the last screw (though, for such money could give life for a lifetime) and modest statements from the series: “Well, we are certainly not sure, but judging from what we know, we have the best system in the world. " I would nevertheless refer this piece to conceptual technological masterpieces, rather than to the folly of developers, and I would call the cost partly justified characteristics.
The price record for Transmission Audio Ultimate loudspeakers was beaten by D & W Aural Pleasure’s golden two-way freak in 2012. Why did the eminent manufacturer really standing (in all senses) the AU needed a golden kitsch can only guess. Not even 3 years later, as the ex-director of Sony's Tokyo division and head of River's Tone Michio Sakamoto, created the dream of an audiophile oligarch called Pure Gold, which is still considered the most expensive. In fact, it is an amplifier and shelf speakers made of gold and encrusted with diamonds.
All these pieces have quite modest characteristics for the most expensive system in the world.
Amplifier:
Acoustic system:
Gold weight: 50 kg.
Mass of diamonds: 40 carats.
Issue price: $ 5 million.
Naturally, the device is assembled manually (the manufacturer does not specify the full moon and virgins).
Based on the foregoing, it makes sense to evaluate the subject only as a luxury item, because the justification of the cost of technical capabilities is absurd. By the way, despite the amount of gold, I was impressed by the design of the device, which, in my subjective opinion, may well be considered a piece of jewelry art. But this is a matter of taste.
Sennheiser HE1 Orpheus - is the concept of the main engineer of Sennheiser - Axel Grell (Axel Grell). A unique sample of electrostatic headphones with a tube amplifier has been brought to immaculate condition for over 20 years. The first conceptual prototype was shown to the descendants of the great Fritz Zenheiser in 2009. Small-scale market samples began to be released in 2012. The modest cost of the kit is $ 55,000. In this case, one can hardly say that the manufacturer was stingy with the materials or saved on something significant.
Alex Graell used the lamp circuitry for the amplifier as the most suitable for electrostatic emitters, in his opinion. The amplifier used 8 lamps SE 803 S, own production Sennheiser. The manufacturer writes that in order to eliminate even insignificant structural noises, they had to place lamps on a free suspension in a case made of Carrara marble.
Uncompromising fidelity of reproduction is achieved through the use of a 2.4 micron thick membrane. The use of an ultrathin membrane and a number of engineering solutions allowed us to achieve the lowest level of nonlinear distortion ever measured in sound reproducing equipment: 0.01% at 1 kHz at 100 dB SPL. In addition, the headphone design allows you to get an incredibly wide for electrostatic headphones frequency range from 8 Hz to more than 100 kHz (the range of frequencies heard by a person from 16 Hz to 21 kHz) with uneven frequency response of no more than + - 0.25 dB.
The device is difficult to blame for archaism and low functionality, which is often the case with high end equipment. In spite of all its “warm lampiness”, the amplifier “Orpheus” is capable of receiving digital signals through optical and coaxial SPDIF inputs, as well as via USB. In addition, the ability to transmit PCM and DSD. To convert data into an analog signal, 8 internal ESS SABER ES9018.x DACs are used.
“Orpheus” is a true masterpiece of industrial functional design. Turning on the device is accompanied by a delightful, in my opinion, spectacle: buttons and knobs slide out, a panel with lit lamps rises, a case cover with headphones opens.
Simply put, this is a magic toy with unprecedented high sound quality, the epitome of Sennheiser’s idealized presentation of flawless headphones. I believe that of all the devices described in this post, the creation of Sennheiser is not only the most budgetary (if, of course, this word is applicable for such amounts), but also, perhaps, the most justifying of its value.
I find it difficult to judge the cost of these devices, since it is necessary to take into account a very large number of factors. But it is obvious that the final cost of some of them should be significantly lower, even taking into account precious metals, stones and prestigious pricing strategies. On the other hand, people who acquire such things contribute to the development of the industry and technology. And this is better than if they had bought a box of a bicentennial collection of brandy.
I propose to take part in the survey below.
Jeans
Our catalog contains a wide range of high fidelity sound-reproducing equipment in the widest price range. Among others, a decent place on the shelves of our stores is occupied by the devices of such manufacturers as Sennheiser , Focal , Sony , Stax , etc.
The nurse of the violin of the sufferingivin is moved ”
Branimir, “Yashenka”
It is known that for audio devices with high fidelity of reproduction, spectacular design and stable, reliable performance, sometimes you have to pay impressive sums. In some cases, these amounts reach such values, from which it becomes bad. Not always the fabulous cost of the device significantly affects its qualities.
')
Moreover, in the history of the audio market, it happened when low-cost or relatively inexpensive devices became iconic and legendary, thanks to a unique balance of price and quality. With this post, I want to start a cycle about devices, the cost of which, on the contrary, is prohibitively high, that is, to tell about the most expensive audio reproducing electronics in the world. Earlier, I already touched the topic, describing the Opera Only amplifier, talked about pricing in High End and did a review on one of the expensive Astell & Kern products.
I am interested in what of these devices is really a technological masterpiece, and what is a dubious quality item for luxury for not very sophisticated buyers with a thick wallet. Under the cut description of the five sound-reproducing devices, which represent the embodiment of approaches to the creation of super-expensive equipment.
Diamond Dream artist r`n`b - Graff Diamonds & Beats By dr. Dre
In 2012, the year Graff Diamonds Beats By dr. Dre Studio set a price record, not beaten to this day. The version, which British jewelers from Graff Diamonds covered with 114 carat diamonds, was valued at $ 1,000,000.
Actually, write something about the virtues of fidelity to play Beats By dr. Dre Studio, I think, unnecessarily. During the existence of this model has been written a lot. The sound in these subjects is shocking as disgusting as the headphones themselves are known for. As a confirmation of my words, I can give the results of the AFC test of these low-frequency jumblers.
The already fussy design of Beats By dr. Dre in diamonds has become a real benchmark for bad taste and vulgarization of jewelry. Meanwhile, the model has caused a stir among the non-poor representatives of the African-American “musical elite”. I do not mean those who play blues or jazz. The first person who publicly put this “tiara” on his head was one of the members of the SkyBlu team.
Originality claim with good sound and social responsibility - Focal Utopia from Tournaire
With all due respect to the Focal, as to the manufacturer, I cannot ignore their development, presented at CES 2017. Unlike the above Beats, Focal was not too lazy to create a separate headphone model for an ultra-expensive concept.
I think the reason for the development of this non-trivial model was as follows. The noise around the diamond beats has passed. Probably all the precious copies had already been bought by the “kings” of 130 streets in Harlem and went to gather dust in a dark closet after a couple of days of epatizing others. And now the opportunity to re-announce the creation of the most expensive headphones in the world, which, in fact, Focal did. By the way, the cost of "utopia" is several times less than that of rapper beats, only 120,000 dead American presidents.
I was not able to visit CES 2017 this year, but one of my good acquaintances for some time even held a precious gadget on my head. I quote his review:
“Very ergonomic, despite the weight. The sound is good, but nothing supernatural, similar to the 600th sins, only better - more honest. No other features revealed. ”
As the emitter used 40-mm domed driver Berylium 'M'. The frequency range of jewelry utopia goes far beyond the audible spectrum: from 5 Hz to 50 kHz. Impedance is not the highest: 32 ohms. I could not find any other information about the sound and technical characteristics of the next “most expensive headphones in the world”.
The design was created by Philippe and Mathieu Tournair, a family contract for jewelers from Maison Tournaire. The main geometric forms in the bizarre design of "utopia" have become a square, a triangle and a circle, directly related to the symbols of the jewelry house. As conceived by Philip and Mathieu, the figures embody the three stages of life: past, present and future. I think the geometric concept was also chosen because the guys decided to promote their workshop thanks to the Focal product.
Perhaps the ornamental design with a reduced (compared to the described bits) number of diamonds, someone can still be impressed. However, in my opinion, the aesthetic merits of “utopia” are a very controversial issue. For an additional 10,000 Euros, they offer to buy a gold stand, the design of which, I think, deserves more attention than the design of the headphones themselves.
Not without social responsibility, which to some extent justifies the manufacturers and the product. Part of the profits from the sales of Utopia and the booth are transferred to the P'tit Louis association, which rescues eight-year-old Louis Bischini, who suffers from a rare form of muscular atrophy.
$ 2 million for “allinclusive” - Transmission Audio Ultimate
Acoustic Transmission Audio Ultimate system was considered the most expensive in the world from 2009 to 2012. Given that the kit described includes a huge powerful speaker with its own amplification, you can consider Transmission Audio prices almost budget compared to the useless jewelry tsatskoy from Graff Diamonds.
Some boldly call this system “concept car” in the world of modern audio. Engineers decided to apply several ultimatum solutions to create emitters. The idea is as follows: powerful acoustics with uncompromising sound and the smallest possible thickness of the body.
The system includes:
- 4 subwoofers, formed from forty separate low-frequency sections with 15-inch drivers;
- one mid-bass dipole panel per channel (24 eight-inch speakers in each);
- two tape mid-panels per channel;
- one ribbon RF panel per channel;
The total length of the tape in the tape radiators of the system is 68 meters. The system has a sensitivity of + 100 dB / 1 W / 1 meter and can continuously produce 15,500 W per channel with a margin of + 3 dB. The total nominal power of the system is 31000 W, creating a sound pressure of 146 dB (SPL).
Some more details. THD (SOI) is 0.02% (measured at 99 dB SPL). The tape radiators of the system are controlled using 652 high-power neodymium magnets. The special pride of the company is the high performance of their tape drivers.
It is difficult for me to say whether someone needs such ultimatum delights and whether people are willing to pay for them, but the fact remains that 100 copies of the system were released. The company does not provide data on sales statistics. The 10-year warranty on everything up to the last screw (though, for such money could give life for a lifetime) and modest statements from the series: “Well, we are certainly not sure, but judging from what we know, we have the best system in the world. " I would nevertheless refer this piece to conceptual technological masterpieces, rather than to the folly of developers, and I would call the cost partly justified characteristics.
Japanese restraint and 50 kg of gold from River's Tone
The price record for Transmission Audio Ultimate loudspeakers was beaten by D & W Aural Pleasure’s golden two-way freak in 2012. Why did the eminent manufacturer really standing (in all senses) the AU needed a golden kitsch can only guess. Not even 3 years later, as the ex-director of Sony's Tokyo division and head of River's Tone Michio Sakamoto, created the dream of an audiophile oligarch called Pure Gold, which is still considered the most expensive. In fact, it is an amplifier and shelf speakers made of gold and encrusted with diamonds.
All these pieces have quite modest characteristics for the most expensive system in the world.
Amplifier:
- Digital amplifier - the class is not specified (here at fans of lamps hair began to move).
- The total nominal output power is 130 W (quite a lot for polochniki, but the price obliges).
- Amplifier output for high - 25 W x 2.
- The output of the amplifier for low - 40 W x 2.
- Login - RCA
- Speaker output connector (optional) - NEUTRIK SPEAKON or WBT.
- Subwoofer output (optional) - RCA.
- Dimensions (W x H x D) - 124 x 124 x 170 mm.
- Distortion data is not given.
- Case material: gold, diamonds.
Acoustic system:
- Loudspeakers: 20 mm high-frequency dome driver / 80-mm conical low-mid-frequency driver made of carbon fiber x 1 pc.
- Frequency range - 50 Hz ~ 40 kHz.
- The crossover frequency is 8 kHz.
- Dimensions (W x H x D) - 124 x 124 x 170 mm.
- Distortion data is not given.
- Case material: gold, diamonds.
Gold weight: 50 kg.
Mass of diamonds: 40 carats.
Issue price: $ 5 million.
Naturally, the device is assembled manually (the manufacturer does not specify the full moon and virgins).
Based on the foregoing, it makes sense to evaluate the subject only as a luxury item, because the justification of the cost of technical capabilities is absurd. By the way, despite the amount of gold, I was impressed by the design of the device, which, in my subjective opinion, may well be considered a piece of jewelry art. But this is a matter of taste.
The dream of a sophisticated futurist - Sennheiser HE1 Orpheus
Sennheiser HE1 Orpheus - is the concept of the main engineer of Sennheiser - Axel Grell (Axel Grell). A unique sample of electrostatic headphones with a tube amplifier has been brought to immaculate condition for over 20 years. The first conceptual prototype was shown to the descendants of the great Fritz Zenheiser in 2009. Small-scale market samples began to be released in 2012. The modest cost of the kit is $ 55,000. In this case, one can hardly say that the manufacturer was stingy with the materials or saved on something significant.
Alex Graell used the lamp circuitry for the amplifier as the most suitable for electrostatic emitters, in his opinion. The amplifier used 8 lamps SE 803 S, own production Sennheiser. The manufacturer writes that in order to eliminate even insignificant structural noises, they had to place lamps on a free suspension in a case made of Carrara marble.
Uncompromising fidelity of reproduction is achieved through the use of a 2.4 micron thick membrane. The use of an ultrathin membrane and a number of engineering solutions allowed us to achieve the lowest level of nonlinear distortion ever measured in sound reproducing equipment: 0.01% at 1 kHz at 100 dB SPL. In addition, the headphone design allows you to get an incredibly wide for electrostatic headphones frequency range from 8 Hz to more than 100 kHz (the range of frequencies heard by a person from 16 Hz to 21 kHz) with uneven frequency response of no more than + - 0.25 dB.
The device is difficult to blame for archaism and low functionality, which is often the case with high end equipment. In spite of all its “warm lampiness”, the amplifier “Orpheus” is capable of receiving digital signals through optical and coaxial SPDIF inputs, as well as via USB. In addition, the ability to transmit PCM and DSD. To convert data into an analog signal, 8 internal ESS SABER ES9018.x DACs are used.
“Orpheus” is a true masterpiece of industrial functional design. Turning on the device is accompanied by a delightful, in my opinion, spectacle: buttons and knobs slide out, a panel with lit lamps rises, a case cover with headphones opens.
Simply put, this is a magic toy with unprecedented high sound quality, the epitome of Sennheiser’s idealized presentation of flawless headphones. I believe that of all the devices described in this post, the creation of Sennheiser is not only the most budgetary (if, of course, this word is applicable for such amounts), but also, perhaps, the most justifying of its value.
Total
I find it difficult to judge the cost of these devices, since it is necessary to take into account a very large number of factors. But it is obvious that the final cost of some of them should be significantly lower, even taking into account precious metals, stones and prestigious pricing strategies. On the other hand, people who acquire such things contribute to the development of the industry and technology. And this is better than if they had bought a box of a bicentennial collection of brandy.
I propose to take part in the survey below.
Jeans
Our catalog contains a wide range of high fidelity sound-reproducing equipment in the widest price range. Among others, a decent place on the shelves of our stores is occupied by the devices of such manufacturers as Sennheiser , Focal , Sony , Stax , etc.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/370947/
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