Why we need Audiophiles

[aphex]

http://i.gizmodo.com/5213042/why-we-need-audiophiles

Make sure to check out the gallery. Excellent article

 

[Old Hippie]

I've been reading his articles forever.

He's got some gear, doesn't he! :thumbsup:

 

[spidey07]

Pretty good article. Listening to a really nice stereo can certainly be a "ear opening" experience. And it's ALWAYS been about the music and not the equipment. The equipment is just there to produce music.

 

[BassBomb]

Look at that guage of cable!

 

[s44]

LOL: Vinyl. Wilsons. Cable voodoo.

He doesn't like accuracy, he likes a certain "high end" sort of distortion.

 

[mshan]

Distortion, no (gear probably has some amazing scientific bench measurements).

Subtly addictive euphonic coloration, perhaps... (why is a stradivarius a stradivarius?)

 

[s44]

Originally posted by: mshan
Distortion, no (gear probably has some amazing scientific bench measurements).

You'd think, but no. Wilsons are (in)famous for far-from-flat FR and having THD peaks you shouldn't find anywhere near that price. IIRC the MAXXes are their best in that respect, but nowhere near "amazing".

At least the guy isn't a tubehead. :laugh:

 

[vi edit]

Audiophilia is a disease. And an expensive one at that. The world doesn't need more audiophiles, it needs more "prosumer" listeners that can balance quality vs cost instead of desiring perfection. Perfection isn't a viable goal for most consumers.

I don't need to be an audiophile or $350,000 in gear to recognize that most recent studio albums are compressed into oblivion. It's the millions of people buying that stuff up and not caring that's the problem. A handful of guys with rooms full of stuff aren't going to fix it.

 

[frostedflakes]

Originally posted by: vi edit
Audiophilia is a disease. And an expensive one at that. The world doesn't need more audiophiles, it needs more "prosumer" listeners that can balance quality vs cost instead of desiring perfection. Perfection isn't a viable goal for most consumers.

I don't need to be an audiophile or $350,000 in gear to recognize that most recent studio albums are compressed into oblivion. It's the millions of people buying that stuff up and not caring that's the problem. A handful of guys with rooms full of stuff aren't going to fix it.

This is why I've tried to steer clear of the hobby. It also seems pointless to dump large sums of money into audio equipment when a lot of music today has shit mastering. Higher end equipment just seems to make all the flaws in a recording that much more apparent, which drives me nuts.

 

[WraithETC]

After being on Head-Fi for awhile you realize that most of the "better" sound people hear is usually just different sound. Up to a point there is more accuracy and detail etc. but its a certain sound signature most people are after.

Its not enough for them to admit to liking a certain sound. The sound they like must be "the better" sound and the higher the price of the equipment the more this must be true.

I think all people can appreciate good audio, but only audiophiles will go to great lengths to have it.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Pretty good article. Listening to a really nice stereo can certainly be a "ear opening" experience. And it's ALWAYS been about the music and not the equipment. The equipment is just there to produce music.

Actually the equipment re-produces the music. Good recording sources are extremely important too! A good recording fed into a good playback system and listening environment can produce an experience for the listener that resembles the environment of the original recording with stunning similarity.

Our little scale, unfortunately, is logarithmic, in that going from zero to 85 doesn't take a lot of effort or money, but going from 98.6 to 99.1 by swapping out a $2,600 AC power cable for a $4,000 one becomes a justifiable end. We did exactly that, and I strained to hear any difference at all (more impressions of our test will follow later in the week), but to Fremer, the difference was abundantly clear?not necessarily better with the more expensive cable, but different, a warmer, fuller sound, as Fremer described it.

Sorry but the only thing going from 85 to 101 here is my bullshit meter!

 

[CallMeJoe]

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: spidey07
Pretty good article. Listening to a really nice stereo can certainly be a "ear opening" experience. And it's ALWAYS been about the music and not the equipment. The equipment is just there to produce music.

Actually the equipment re-produces the music. Good recording sources are extremely important too! A good recording fed into a good playback system and listening environment can produce an experience for the listener that resembles the environment of the original recording with stunning similarity.

Our little scale, unfortunately, is logarithmic, in that going from zero to 85 doesn't take a lot of effort or money, <but going from 98.6 to 99.1 by swapping out a $2,600 AC power cable for a $4,000 one becomes a justifiable end. We did exactly that, and I strained to hear any difference at all (more impressions of our test will follow later in the week), but to Fremer, the difference was abundantly clear?not necessarily better with the more expensive cable, but different, a warmer, fuller sound, as Fremer described it.

Sorry but the only thing going from 85 to 101 here is my bullshit meter!

Next you find the articles by the guys who replaced all the Romex in the walls with oxygen-free copper, upgraded to audiophile-quality circuit breakers and wall outlets, then had the entire house degaussed because of the fear that the residual magnetism of the kitchen sink would affect the fidelity of the stereo system 35 meters away...

 

[mshan]

http://www.positive-feedback.c...ssue16/lavigneroom.htm

(in defense of Michael Fremer, most of that gear is probably on long term loan from manufacturer while / after he reviewed that product for whatever magazine he writes for; he probably didn't pay a penny for a lot of the gear in that room).

 

[Project86]

"The point is, people like Fremer can not only hear the difference, they crave it."

But of course they can't prove it in a double blind test........

Everybody knows at least 1 weirdo neighbor/coworker/family member. It's sad, but we tend to discount most of them because they have less education, less money, etc. This particular nut (Fremer) commands respect because of his authority position at Stereophile, his way with words, and his expensive gear. I contend that he is still as batty as the lady down the street who claims to see auras and speak with the dead.

It's funny to note the correlation between price and performance according to Fremer and his type. I don't know why they bother reviewing things anymore..... just post the price and that should tell us how well the product performs. $5k speakers are obviously inferior to $9k speakers. A $6k CD player is clearly way better than a $3k CD player, even when both are simply being used as a transport with the same DAC. Add in a dash of analog over digital bias, and a preference for tube gear over solid state, and I just summed up 95% of the "audiophile" reviewer mindset.

 

[JackBurton]

Listen I love high end gear, but when they start talking about $2000+ power cables I just roll my eyes. Just complete BS.

As far as those speakers, NO WAY would I put those awful looking things in my home. If I had the money I'd get these instead. They sound fantastic and they look great too.

 

[ivan2]

as usual boingboing is ripping it apart.

on another note I've just began the search for my first Vandersteen in the used market.

 

[mmntech]

I also appreciate good audio quality. I own a turntable and yes, I actually use it and I do think it sounds better than CDs. Tubes also have a different sound from transistors, not to say that there's anything wrong with the latter but tubes do indeed have a warmer sound. I personally don't use them though because I can't justify spending $5000 on a stereo amp with only one or two inputs. Like the others said, I don't know how anybody could justify spending more than $10,000 on a home audio system. Especially that nonsense with the filtering power hubs and $2000 cables. These people have more money than sense. Wish I could say the same about myself.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Listen I love high end gear, but when they start talking about $2000+ power cables I just roll my eyes. Just complete BS.

As far as those speakers, NO WAY would I put those awful looking things in my home. If I had the money I'd get these instead. They sound fantastic and they look great too.

If I were gay, I'd want to marry you.

 

[Old Hippie]

When I was into it heavily in the early 70s to mid 80s it wasn't near as expensive and there were startling differences between solid state and tube amps/preamps and speakers.
Some combinations were just synergistic and you could close your eyes and "be there".

Regardless, first and foremost, then and now, you have to learn to listen which took me many hours. I fear most of this "learning to listen" has been lost.

When Mark Levinson introduced the ML-1 preamp in 77-78 for $1000.00, I remember thinking "Uh Oh, this stuff is gonna get wayyyy to rich for my blood".

It's gone way beyond my wildest expectations.

My hearing or wallet will never let me experience these uber components but I can't say they wouldn't make a difference.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Listen I love high end gear, but when they start talking about $2000+ power cables I just roll my eyes. Just complete BS.

As far as those speakers, NO WAY would I put those awful looking things in my home. If I had the money I'd get these instead. They sound fantastic and they look great too.

If I were gay, I'd want to marry you.

lol, that's hilarious.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Listen I love high end gear, but when they start talking about $2000+ power cables I just roll my eyes. Just complete BS.

As far as those speakers, NO WAY would I put those awful looking things in my home. If I had the money I'd get these instead. They sound fantastic and they look great too.

If I were gay, I'd want to marry you.

lol, that's hilarious.

What can I say? You have good choice in speakers

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
What can I say? You have good choice in speakers

Well I can choose all I want, unfortunately I don't have the money to actually buy them.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
What can I say? You have good choice in speakers

Well I can choose all I want, unfortunately I don't have the money to actually buy them.

Well maybe we could if we were married, and robbed some banks :laugh:

 

[TC91]

That was a great read.

 

[Rio Rebel]

I loved that article. And while I agree with some of you that it can go way overboard (I, too, don't buy into the argument that changing from a $2000 to a $4000 power cable makes a damn bit of difference), I do believe there are subtleties to audio that some people detect more easily than others - just like any other sense.

I am not really an audiophile, but I sympathize. Like many of us in this forum, I am somewhere in the middle. I paid around $3000 for my receiver and speakers, which some would say in insane and others would scoff at my frugality. (Denon 3805 with a 7.1 Paradigm Monitor setup before they merged the lines) I can hear the difference between my setup and the Paradigm Studios, among others, but I'm not willing to pay for that difference. God help the people who have to pay tens of thousands to get the clarity they crave...

But thankfully, there are people out there who care about audio quality. I appreciate the convenience of MP3's like everyone else, but I do care that I have to give up clarity for that convenience. And I hope one day we can have it all.