Goldmund's $17,000 Blu-ray player

[akrako1]

Goldmund's $17,000 Blu-ray player

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9879105-1.html
http://www.slashgear.com/the-swiss-goldmund-eidos-20-gets-blu-ray-upgrade-2510443.php

Goldmund claims "the finest AS-Curator power supply circuit and magnetic damping for ultimate sound and video reproduction with least amount of mechanical and electrical distortions,"

talk about excessive...

[bendixG15]

Great, now find the person with perfect vision and hearing so they can appreciate it.

[jman98]

A fool and his money are soon parted. Then again, there are people who spend thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars on vinyl record related technology, so there are probably a few customers interested in this kind of thing.

[DereX888]

Great, now find the person with perfect vision and hearing so they can appreciate it.

better yet - try to find a matching $100K+ HD TV to go with this $17K player

[jagabo]

the finest AS-Curator power supply circuit and magnetic damping for ultimate sound and video reproduction with least amount of mechanical and electrical distortions...

For morons who think it makes a difference to the ones and zeros passing through their HDMI cable.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Great, now find the person with perfect vision and hearing so they can appreciate it.

better yet - try to find a matching $100K+ HD TV to go with this $17K player

How about $70,000USD?
http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?displayTab=O&store...el=TH-103PF9UK

[edDV]

Cheaper than a yacht and doesn't need annual varnish.

[ricmetal]

i don't get it. why is it that expensive ? does it connect directly to your brain?

...

besides, its a horrible piece of metal. id pay 50 bucks for that thing. talk about the opposite of feng shui

...if you spend 17k on a freaking player, you should be a little more aware of life, outside of technology.

its just for viewing video!

[raffie]

i don't get it. why is it that expensive ? does it connect directly to your brain?

There are always those with too much money on their hands that believe the best equals the most expensive. And these ppl go for the most expensive without a hassle. So you can bet there will be a demand for something like this.

As a manufacturer/vendor you have options: make something as cheap as possible and manufacture shitloads of it, with smalll profit margins per device (and heavy competition i might add). Or, make something as expensive, and therefore, as exclusive as you can, with huge profits per device. Either way, you'll make money.

[ricmetal]

yeah. people with too much money do go for high priced stuff like that

i would expect a 17k player to be at least good looking though

message to anybody that buys this hospital equipment, as the dude from slashgear so very well put it: think real!

at least get something nice

i doubt that will sell allot. its just a way of making a few big bucks from naive, money-full-lazy bastards.

'testing the market', maybe? i think so

[hech54]

Anyone remember the Sony "ES" stuff?

[Xylob the Destroyer]

Sony still makes their ES line....
Kinda like Pioneer and their "Elite" line. Solid copper chasis on a laser disc player, ran somewhere in the neighborhood of $8000.00...

[DereX888]

Sony still makes their ES line....
Kinda like Pioneer and their "Elite" line. Solid copper chasis on a laser disc player, ran somewhere in the neighborhood of $8000.00...

Too cheap!
WTF, would you plug such cheap sh*t to your $17 grand player?
Blasphemy!!!

[olyteddy]

I saw them on another forum for $16,990.99, if you're bargain hunting...

[Xylob the Destroyer]

\
Too cheap!
WTF, would you plug such cheap sh*t to your $17 grand player?
Blasphemy!!!

No way! $8000.00 for a laserdisc player was a freakin' FORTUNE in 1994!
Gotta adjust for inflation man... :P

[MOVIEGEEK]

No way! $8000.00 for a laserdisc player was a freakin' FORTUNE in 1994!
Gotta adjust for inflation man... :P

So true,you could buy a house for $8000 in 1994. :P

[TheFamilyMan]

There's a "subculture" out there, that refer to themselves as videophiles/audiophiles who will pay these kind of prices for what it perceives as the absolute best. To see it alive and well, check out this site. The most foolish thing I've seen was a standard 3 prong wall electrical socket for about $300 US that was said to "provide the cleanest possible contact".

[jagabo]

LOL! This is a good one too:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?powrcabl&1206897875

"Why use stock power Cord when an upgrade is less than $60?... will bring unlimited dynamics, rhythm articulation and exceptional low level resolution to your system..."

[JohnnyMalaria]

LOL! This is a good one too:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?powrcabl&1206897875

"Why use stock power Cord when an upgrade is less than $60?... will bring unlimited dynamics, rhythm articulation and exceptional low level resolution to your system..."

Oh boy. What to charge for a medical grade power connector (i.e., transparent so you can tell whether it has a ground or not).

The proper thing to do is to run these stupidly expensive toys off a DC source. i.e., a bank of 12V deep cycle lead acid batteries and the electronics designed to run at 12V DC.

Of course, Wal-Mart batteries wouldn't do. They'd have to have extremely pure lead, sulfuric acid, ion exchanged + reverse osmosis water. Oh, and a special rack to put them on to isolate them from any vibration. After all, you wouldn't want to perturb the trajectory of the microbubbles of hydrogen created by the electrolysis lest they somehow affect the 12V and interfere with the digital signals coming from the Blu-ray player.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Check out their $300,000 turntable:

http://www.goldmund.com/products/reference/

Looks nice.

Some of the reasons for the price....

Supporting table of extreme rigidity and inertia (250kg) with 100cm platter height for easy manipulation

That's right, it sits on a 500 pound pillar. No different than optical isolation benches used in labs around the world. I used to use one - barely a fraction of the cost, 8' x 4'. I could jump up and down on the floor and the optics would only move by a fraction of a micron. Next...

5-layer platter design (3 metacrylate and 2 brass) with 12 lead damping inserts

Would be nice if they knew that it is "methacrylate" - which is known plexiglass or perspex to most.

Liquid-nitrogen-rectified belt, as the original Reference - Servo speed capture by optical encoder

WTF? Last time I put an elastomer in liquid nitrogen, it didn't do it any favors.

Universal joint machined from a block with Mecasyl-lubricated zero-play ultra-precise ball bearings

Machined! Damn! Oh...another typo. It's "Mecacyl" and is merely MoS2 (molybdenum sulfide) - commonly used as a fuel additive in performance cars.

3 built-in Teflon tubes carrying signal wire with no vibration and no magnetostriction effect

Built-in no less! Sounds rather iffy to me - what about the tribocharging that will occur? Magnetostriction applies to ferromagnetic material - like steel or iron. So they are using steel or iron as their signal conductors? I seriously hope not. I would expect to read that they use platinum, gold, silver or copper (in that order). It which case you are guaranteed no magnetostriction.

Unique hardened-Aluminum headshell especially designed and machined in 3D for zero-resonance

Hardened aluminum? Do they mean hardened aluminum alloy? Machined in 3D - LOL. Come on - can't you do 4D?

Exclusive integral limited edition Phono PH8 Preamplifier using the new Goldmund 140dB A/D circuit

What? A/D? But this is all about digital <> true fidelity.

Analogue output using the latest new Goldmund Alize 6 D/A circuit with 140dB of dynamics

WTF? The analog output is from the digital signal??? Pick up -> A/D -> D/A -> obscenely priced speakers?

Digital output using "Swiss Chrono" zero-jitter 96kHz 24 bit connection to Universal Preamp

You mean it meets the specifications for digital audio? "Swiss Chrono" no doubt means quartz crystal oscillator.

Built-in digital processor providing RIAA correction, and complete time/phase cartridge compensation

So correction of the RIAA signal compression is performed entirely in the digital domain???? Phase compensation? Does it use Heisenberg compensator coils?

Each turntable installed by a Goldmund Team, with complete calibration included

First class? Concord? 30-day MBG?

So, apparently, vinyl is superior to digital in every way. Yet this record player on bricks gets into the digital domain as soon as it can. Presumably, the digital output is of exceptional quality - quality deserving of a true vinyl aficionado.

So, that same digital output could be recorded to a hard drive etc and played back at a later date through the same sound system. Perhaps recorded to some kind of optical disc - but compact in size. Like the compact disc.

So, it is possible to take an analog signal and faithfully capture and reproduce it digitally.

So, other than paying a small fortune to isolate a mechanical system from vibrations etc, what's the point?

And how does it deal with "oops, I've scratched it!"

[BJ_M]

i would rather get a 10 grand laser turntable first

[KBeee]

Quote:
""Unique hardened-Aluminum headshell especially designed and machined in 3D for zero-resonance"


Hardened aluminum? Do they mean hardened aluminum alloy? Machined in 3D - LOL. Come on - can't you do 4D?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd like to see them machine anything in any dimension other than 3D

[DereX888]

True videophile would also go for better energy sources

"...only we provide pure clean energy always at 110V or better, never less..."

(quoted from memory, but I still have a jpeg of it somewhere if anyone wants *exact* quote)

- hehe thats from one of the old pamphlets from enersource (I think) that were given out during de-regulation of electricity market in Ontario, Canada
Thats how they explained their prices not going down IIRC

Somehow I'm not sure such most expensive electricity (at 110V "or better" LOL) goes well with most expensive gear

[jagabo]

"...only we provide pure clean energy always at 110V or better, never less..."

I guess they're supplying DC then. LOL

[JohnnyMalaria]

"...only we provide pure clean energy always at 110V or better, never less..."

I guess they're supplying DC then. LOL

Perhaps Edison was right then.

[Grain]

It's all relative. For the waitress or gas pump jockey out there making $16,000 a year and raising a family, buying a $2000 plasma is an outrageous extravagance. If your an oil executive making $10,000,000 a year, $17,000 is pocket change. I'll not live long enough to be able to afford to buy such a machine, but if I could, damn right I would.

[CrayonEater]

As a DJ on my spare time I can attest that the quality of the deck doesn't matter at that level. That Goldmund garbage won't do any better than my 1200s and that's as pro as it gets. If the record's warped and it will be anyway then Swiss engineering doesn't mean jack. I love to laugh at stupid people who don't understand the principles of what they're dealing with. If I didn't have some scruples I'd be selling my very own "Austrian" made deck for $16,000 to all the dumb puds who would buy it. ROFLMAO! Here's to financial Darwinism!

[Grain]

As a DJ on my spare time I can attest that the quality of the deck doesn't matter at that level. That Goldmund garbage won't do any better than my 1200s and that's as pro as it gets.

Now that's the kind of information that's relevant here! Actual testimony from someone who's actually done a one on one comparison with a $300,000 turntable versus a $700 one (Technics right? nice units!). I personally would be too scared to even touch a $300K unit, thanks for passing on the info

[robertazimmerman]

I always have a good laugh at people who put an item down simply because they can't afford it. The $10k turntable can't be any better than their $169 Dual; the $5,000 Krell CD player couldn't possibly be better than their Sony/Pioneer/Panasonic/Denon units. The $75k price tag that a nice BMW may cost can't possibly be justified when a Chevy Blazer will do.

Don't knock it until you have OWNED one of these items. Believe it or not, K-Mart shoppers, you sometimes DO get better quality when you pay more. Will a $5k CD player sound 50 times as good as a $100 one? Of course not. In audio and video, incremental improvements are disproportionately priced. So a machine that sounds 10% better may cost 500% more, but it doesn't mean that it isn't better.

Secondly, just because YOU cannot see or hear the differences does not mean that they don't exist.

Price is irrelevant to those who can afford these items, so keep on knocking those toys that you can only speculate about, while others enjoy their indulgences.

Roberta

[JohnnyMalaria]

Maybe in some cases but in the case of the $300K Reference II turntable - sorry, record player - I can more than adequately justify my mocking it.

The "features" are, for the most part, nonsense or demonstrate the company's erstwhile and/or wanton ignorance of basic physics and chemistry. Moreover, the whole point of the product is to play vinyl recordings because purists with boat loads (nay, yacht loads) of money want to listen to them in a purely analog signal flow. But, guess what, the analog signal coming out of it has already been digitized, processed and then converted back to analog.

So, yes, buy expensive crap if you wish but be prepared for the vacuum in your wallet to pyschologically distort how the product sounds.

And, personally, if I had that much money to blow on a record player, I'd find a thousand better things to do with it - most not involving indulging my selfish, materialistic hunger pangs.