A high-end home theatre for the average Joe

We spent last weekend walking around the Melbourne International Hifi show. Earlier this year we were at Munich High-end show. The thing that strikes us is the staggering number of components priced for nobody other than the less than one percent top income people. A $15,000 DAC? A $30,000 stereo pre-amp? Several exhibitioners were complaining about the amount of ‘tire-kickers’. How come this is a surprise to them?

Fact is that the vast majority of consumers can’t afford such products, yet they keep popping into the marketplace in the five- and even six-figure range. It’s a bit like the Lamborghinis of the audiophile world. Many of us like to stare and go for a test ride, but when it comes to a purchase, it’s in the no-way zone.

It does raise the question: for those of us who live in the real world, what is the right price for a truly top-performing piece of AV gear?

Here’s the deal: everyone’s budget is different, as is their financial situation, and there is nothing wrong with that fact. Some consumers can absolutely afford $10,000 audio components but simply have no interest in the performance that they (claim to) offer. On the other side of the coin, some consumers would love to own cost-no-object products if cost truly were no object. Whether forking out $30,000 for a pair of speakers is a smart investment is a different discussion, but if you can afford it and it makes you happy, by all means: go for it and enjoy!

But for the rest of us desiring high-end AV gear, the question it boils down to is: what is ‘the sweet spot’ for a top quality audiophile home theatre outfit. At what stage do you start paying Rolls Royce prices, without adding too much extra on performance?

One of the factors that pumps up the price of audiophile gear is overall scarcity. Simply put, most audiophile companies don’t make too many of these lofty, cutting-edge components. Much like in the wine industry, many audiophile products are priced based on small-volume manufacturing. With audiophile components, if the cost of the parts needed to make the gear are sky-high then so will the price be. And then you have to factor in labour, engineering, marketing and distribution. All of it contributes to the high cost of exotic gear.

So, what is the right price for an aspirational AV product?

For a home theatre projector one might argue that the magic price point is about $6,500 to $10,500. It’s the price of the 4K enhanced Epson and JVC projectors. There is the newly released Optoma UHD65 4K UHD projector. And at this year’s CEDIA Expo, Sony dropped the first true 4K projector that will be around a similar price point as well. Pair that puppy with a nice screen, and you’ve got cinema-level 4K video performance at pretty much any size your room can accommodate.

When it comes to sources, there is a lot to argue for the Oppo blu-ray players starting at just over a $1,000. If streaming is more your thing, today’s streaming gadgets go for around $300 for a Roku or Apple TV, and most come packing 4K capability.

When it comes to amplification, you have the choice of either going for an AV receiver or separates. It basically boils down to the toss-up between convenience versus performance.

Generally speaking, AV electronics can be a dangerous pool to swim in because of volatile and ever-changing standards, formats, and codecs–like HDMI version 2.x with HDCP 2.2 (or whatever they are up to these days) and surround formats like Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and Auro-3D.

AV electronics are always going to evolve, so you should try to have somewhat of a thick skin when it comes to upgrades.

Today’s mainstream AV receivers deliver the latest in HDMI and object-based surround format performance and prices are usually very competitive. Costly chipsets and expensive licensing definitely are a determining factor in price. This makes it easier for large manufacturers like Yamaha to keep up with the latest and the greatest, but it’s important to watch out as these bells and whistles sometimes come at the cost of other important factors like amplification power.

Smaller companies like Anthem tend to not buy into the upgrade craziness as much; instead they rely on producing a high quality product for the practical audiophile rather than a mass production product at the lowest possible price. The downside is a heftier price tag.

Add in the price of a decent digital room correction system, and you realise that an AV receiver can cover a massive range in price.

Two-box amplifiers, on the other hand, involve splitting pre-amplification (input selection and volume control, fundamentally) from power amplification. The idea is to keep the sensitive preamp circuitry (and the delicate audio signals flowing through it) away from the electrically noisy high-current power amplifier section. Having separate power supply sections helps to improve the sound too. So in this way you double your component-count but, as long as your pre- and power-amps function together sympathetically, you should enjoy a better performance. Emotiva was recently added to our range exactly for this purpose: offering audiophile grade separates without the five figure price tag.

There is definitely something to be said for making use of the preamp outputs of your AV receiver, pairing it with powerful high-performance amp to get the latest in connectivity and format support, which helps save money and leaves upgrade options on the table for the future.

And then there is the subject of speakers. By no means do you need to spend $7,500 on a pair of front speakers to get a killer system; however, if you can afford it, you’re in for a real treat. Of course, you can spend even more than that–just know that much of what you’re paying for when you get over the $7,500 price point are fancy finishes, advanced parts, better build quality, and bragging rights … not necessarily performance.

You can get some really good speakers for a much more modest budget than the one we are discussing here, but we are talking about the tipping point of where you get as much performance as possible before you start paying for the gloss and the silverware.

Dropping $7,500 on a pair of floorstanding speakers or $5,000 for some bookshelfs will get you into an amazing sound system, whether you’re looking for a simple 5.1 or a crazy 11.2.4 configuration.

Options for these beauties from companies like the ELAC (The 400 series or the new Adantes), Focal (The Aria series) and Definitive Technologies (The BP9000 series) offer speakers that hit that performance/budget sweet spot without tipping the balance on the fancies that cost as much as your car.

If an object based system is what you have in mind, Definitive Technology gives you the option of integrating the up-firing speakers into the top of traditional tower speakers so that the overhead sound bounces off the ceiling while the main channels beam information at your ears. Alternatively, you have the option of height effect speakers like the ones from SVS. The results are pretty wow, even in a somewhat modest home theatre system.

There are excellent in-wall and in-ceiling speakers from Definitive Technology that can perform to audiophile and cinematic standards while hiding in the rafters. We have them in the office at the Rapallo home where I write the blogs, and I keep being amazed by the level of detail and the balanced sound you can get from an in-ceiling speaker these days.

We have always been strong advocates for including (a) subwoofer(s) in your set-up. You want a nicely balanced range and that includes the lows. SVS is still the undisputed king of subwoofers. The size you opt for very much depends on the size of your room. We say multiple subs are to be preferred over one big beast.

And then there are the things to complete your super-duper home theatre: We’re talking control solutions like Karson by Openmotics automation. Depending on your solution and the size you are looking at, you might not be able to automate every corner of your home, but you could build a good one-room control solution, including lights, shades, and climate control, with room to grow.

Add a custom rack system with faceplates for all your gear, fan cooling, and a simple custom cabinet made by a local carpenter, complete with some hospital-grade locking casters to allow you to hide your gear neatly and have it run better, cooler, and more reliably.

To finish it off, you want to pay some attention to room acoustics. Don’t overdo it though. More is not better. The last thing you want is an acoustically dead room. Have a look at the Primacoustic range of bass traps to fine tune the reverb of bass in your sacred space.

We want to finish with saying that the part of the fun of owning a high-performance AV system is the journey. The gear and technology will, without question, change over the years. What’s important is to enjoy the result after a long time of of saving, but also every change, tweak, and upgrade as part of the process on the road to that ‘wow’ moment.

Source: Anthem, Yamaha, Home theatre reviews, Audioholics, AVSforum, ELAC, SVS, Karson.