I think I'm in a bad moodlooking at this stuff! Actually Audioline, I think it's a step down in design than the prev top of the line it's replacing. Seems a little too "smoothed out", the previous one was a lot butcher, this looks like it's been on the fat free frozen yoghurt. And big racks of mono amps that look a little, well, '80's. Hell, get a pair of SOTA horns, and some tube amps, and be done. The cost of the GOTO/TAD compression drivers alone alone on on the Magico Ultimates 2 make it's $600k price understandable. And I'd be really surprised if the Cessaro Liszts being driven by SOTA tube amps like the Koda K70s (total price $200k) would lose out to these. Nothing will convince me that a collection of drivers in the usual box w/a stack of amps is SOTA, and worth this entry price. But of course, that's just me.
I've read your earlier comments...and i think i would make some distinctions where i do agree with you (as would many here i imagine). Personally, I am happy when designers push the envelope on performance because there are audiophiles out there willing to pay for performance. And i am the beneficiary of trickle down in instances here, and i DEFINITELY like that!
At the same time, your concern is that designers may be just building a mediocre box and charging 4x because some greater fool out there will pay it. And yes, i have 0 tolerance for that (for my own wallet anyway...though if there are people who buy it...well, that's business!).
