Ricky64
New member
- Thread Author
- #1
I enjoy watching some of Steve Guttenberg's videos. He comes across with a positivity and passion for both gear and music that is very engaging. His channel covers more main stream equipment than is the currency of higher-end focused sharks on this forum.
I recently watched his video on the Linear Tube ZOTL preamp. It is an interesting piece. It did make me wonder, though... Do pieces like this really compete with more expensive components? Can a small, direct to consumer operation truly offer pieces that compete with powerhouse firms like Esoteric, Soulution, Gryphon with large R&D budgets? Or at the end of the day, are we paying for the big boys' marketing departments and Rune Skov's suits?
Are we as high end audiophiles secure enough to pay $10k for components when there are trumped up $70K components out there?
Multiple points above, but at the end of the day, my main question is whether some of these small shop pieces are truly able to compete with the bigger high end forces, that do have extensive R&D and special manufacturing capabilites?
I recently watched his video on the Linear Tube ZOTL preamp. It is an interesting piece. It did make me wonder, though... Do pieces like this really compete with more expensive components? Can a small, direct to consumer operation truly offer pieces that compete with powerhouse firms like Esoteric, Soulution, Gryphon with large R&D budgets? Or at the end of the day, are we paying for the big boys' marketing departments and Rune Skov's suits?
Are we as high end audiophiles secure enough to pay $10k for components when there are trumped up $70K components out there?
Multiple points above, but at the end of the day, my main question is whether some of these small shop pieces are truly able to compete with the bigger high end forces, that do have extensive R&D and special manufacturing capabilites?