Half A Million Hi-Fi?
Posted by: easeback1 on 29 October 2018
Got to hear my first half-million hi-fi system the other day. Half a million British pounds, in case you were wondering. Still not quite sure what to think.
The Naim / Focal dealer in Bangkok invited me to their grand opening. More of a re-opening really: they've been open for a while, but closed for a few days to move some shelves around. It was a chance to pick up my new 250 DR and also get an earful of their unveiling of ND555 / Statement with a pair of Focal Grande Utopia EM Evo.
Total damage for this lot comes in at ~ 21m Thai baht, which translates to not much change out of half a million quid. A fair chunk of that goes to the Thai government in import duties.
The Focal Grande Utopias (265kg apiece) are quite terrifying when wedged into a standard size demo room and that's before playing any music. I calculated the complete system weighed almost a tonne. Probably best installed downstairs in a residential setting, although in fact we were on the second floor. Still, the Bentleys and Range Rovers on sale next door in the Siam Paragon Mall are somewhat heavier, so the floor construction must be solid enough.
Jason from Naim clicked through some demo tracks to a roomful of bemused Thais, many of whom seemed preoccupied recording the event on their mobiles. In between songs, he attempted to enlighten the audience on the joys of discrete regulation and the like, which, even with the benefit of a translator, seemed to get lost somewhere in the inky blackness between the towering speakers.
How to describe the sound? I can't really. Huge. Immense. Awesome. Loud. I think it's partly a scale problem for me. It's so different from how I usually listen to music. Perhaps that's why a simple recording of acoustic guitar plus vocals on the mega-system gave me an odd sense of a 20 foot tall musician playing a Ford Escort-sized guitar.
I sneaked a solo listen the next day when I went to pick up my 250 and got to play some of my own favourites. Yes, absolutely incredible everything etc, but for some reason it didn't make me feel quite as ecstatic as expected for a system that requires you sell your house in order to acquire it. I'm sure I could get used to the scale if I had the money and the space, although walls and a ceiling seem a bit restrictive for the Grande Utopias. A large field might work better.
I cut my listening session short, out of a growing fear that if I spent too long in the Statement stratosphere, my new 250 DR might sound like a transistor radio in comparison. But of course it doesn't. The 250 sounds great with the 272, and is quite big enough for me. For now.
Again not quite as pricey, but I demoed a system in Oxford Audio and they had some kef blades hooked up to some exotic equipment and it was simply beautiful, the level of clarity was mind boggling. I do think 'high end' hi-fi is something else but it's also incredibly expensive. You can have as much fun with a cheaper but good quality system in my opinion.
Said system above didn't look quite as cool as my chrome bumper system either! 
I admit I liked the blades much more in person than from the photos i'd seen.
easeback1 posted:
Total damage for this lot comes in at ~ 21m Thai baht, which translates to not much change out of half a million quid. A fair chunk of that goes to the Thai government in import duties.
Interesting read, however on tbe above point I am move dpto ask: Do they also get the right to pop round for a listen whenever they want, or to borrow the system for government functions? 
Lewis posted:Again not quite as pricey, but I demoed a system in Oxford Audio and they had some kef blades hooked up to some exotic equipment and it was simply beautiful, the level of clarity was mind boggling. I do think 'high end' hi-fi is something else but it's also incredibly expensive. You can have as much fun with a cheaper but good quality system in my opinion.
Said system above didn't look quite as cool as my chrome bumper system either!
Kef Blades are absolutely fantastic. Best looking loudspeaker ever.