For a while, I followed Doug Schneider around, checking out systems that people could actually afford. Although the socialist in me recognized this pursuit as valuable, it was mighty boring. While looking at $1500 amplifiers and $5000 speakers, I found myself mentally rolling my eyes, knowing there were other rooms jam-packed with systems that cost more than a house.
That said, some of these high-rent systems sounded like hammered shit, and when we’re talking seven figures, it’s got to at least sound good, if not great. So, to satisfy the grasping oligarch that lurks beneath my egalitarian facade, I hightailed it to the Scott Walker Audio room.
This system was the bomb. Estelon Extreme Mk II speakers, which cost $296,000 for the pair (all prices in USD), fronted by a Vitus Audio SL-103 preamplifier, which costs $42,000, and two dual-chassis SM-103 Mk.II amplifiers, at $81,000 a pop. Crystal Cable Art Series DaVinci cables and Infinity power cables hooked things up. The price of those wires is high. Add in a whole pile of Audio Realignment Technologies EMI noise reduction plates, which are not cheap.
That’s a lot of money, but I’m still not finished listing it out. This system played the part. It looked elegant, aggressive, predatory. The Extremes seemed about to attack, moving forward even as they stood still. The shallow pyramid of gear looked fantastic, the neutron-star Vitus Audio amps, leading up to that Sonorus Audio ATR MkII reel-to-reel tape deck—a 20th-century anachronism brought up to 21st-century specifications for $35,000, complete with a remote control.
As I sat down, I caught the tail end of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, specifically “The Trial,” being played on that reel-to-reel from what was purportedly a master tape (but undoubtedly a copy of the master tape). Holy hell. Huge, rich, enveloping—this system made the judge sound like the monster he was meant to be.
Next, Josh Doyle, national sales manager for Scott Walker Audio, cued up “The Expert” by Yello. Here we were listening to digital, via the Taiko GSM Extreme music server, which sells for $30,000, and a Vitus SD-025 Mk.II DAC, which adds another $32,000. I keep meaning to listen to more Yello at home, and this experience reinforced that. Another gigantic, insane presentation—bass that went down to the earth’s core, attack that felt like a physical force, highs that shimmered but were utterly without grain. The way these formidable speakers loaded up the bass in this quite-large room was outstanding.
As I was finishing up this article, Doyle rewound The Wall and started the tape again on side 3, and I had no choice but to sit and listen to the whole thing. Damn.
Doyle did the calculations for me and came up with an estimate for the entire system at around $1,250,000. I think I may have used up my daily quota of superlatives in this one article, but it was worth it. Now I’ll have to follow Doug around for an hour or two listening to the little guys in order to recalibrate my brain to audio that lives below the stratosphere.
This system has ruined me.
Jason Thorpe
Senior Editor, SoundStage!
