The prices for ultra high end gear is, in many cases, stunning and well beyond what I'm willing to spend. Value, unlike price, is relative. German cars are a good example-I've owned Audis-Mercedes makes gorgeous driving machines, but yet the German cars consistently rank below far less expensive cars in reliability studies. Which car represents value? Depends on who is doing the buying. There must be a few who see value in six figure DAC stacks, and if there is a willing buyer and a willing seller, that makes a deal.
I am sharply critical of the magazines practices, but they are making an effort to cover high quality, less expensive gear. In the current edition of Stereophile, there are extensive write-ups of less expensive gear from Laiv, Hifi Rose, Wattson and Onkyo. As you climb the price ladder, I think you generally get better performance, but the higher you go you pay dearly for pretty small returns, at least that's how it seems to me. Where the sweet spot lies depends on means and priorities. The good news is you can create a really good audio experience for probably ten grand or less.
In the case of Wadax, it seems likely that when they developed the no holds barred six figure machines they knew there would be only a small number of buyers. They likely also knew they could deploy that technology in the Studio Player line and leverage those efforts into higher volume products, and that's a good thing. Forty grand is a stiff price for sure and I have no idea how much profit is in those machines. I can't help but think, however, that if it gets you 90-95% to the big rig, a lot of folks in this hobby will see it as very expensive in absolute terms, but a value for what they are trying to accomplish.
I am sharply critical of the magazines practices, but they are making an effort to cover high quality, less expensive gear. In the current edition of Stereophile, there are extensive write-ups of less expensive gear from Laiv, Hifi Rose, Wattson and Onkyo. As you climb the price ladder, I think you generally get better performance, but the higher you go you pay dearly for pretty small returns, at least that's how it seems to me. Where the sweet spot lies depends on means and priorities. The good news is you can create a really good audio experience for probably ten grand or less.
In the case of Wadax, it seems likely that when they developed the no holds barred six figure machines they knew there would be only a small number of buyers. They likely also knew they could deploy that technology in the Studio Player line and leverage those efforts into higher volume products, and that's a good thing. Forty grand is a stiff price for sure and I have no idea how much profit is in those machines. I can't help but think, however, that if it gets you 90-95% to the big rig, a lot of folks in this hobby will see it as very expensive in absolute terms, but a value for what they are trying to accomplish.
. ...New York sarcasm kicking in... I grew up in Binghamton right near McIntosh 
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