5 Dumb Things Audiophiles Believes.

@aquint: Great post Andy! Your point about Ron not understanding what perfect pitch actually means is one that occurred to me, but left the front of my brain soon thereafter.

I've known only one person who had perfect pitch, an actual genius (Hewlett-Packard---with whom he was employed in the capacity of programmer training---had him tested) who was a music major at the University Of California in Riverside,CA, well known for it's excellent music department. In his first year of Music Theory each student was tested in front of the class at the ability to sing intervals (singing first a tonic, then its 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. interval). After a couple of intervals the teacher stopped and asked him if he had perfect pitch. Kent told me everyone in class turned and stared at him ;-) . He told me his trick: he "heard" middle C in his head, and just worked his way to the other notes in half steps.

By the way, his first favorite composer was Mozart, but just like Glenn Gould came to revere J.S. Bach above all others. When Kent left H-P he paid a years worth of rent in advance for a 3-bd house in Palo Alto (for one person?), spending that year playing computer chess and recording Bach keyboard works on his upright piano. Whatta nut ;-) .

I came across Ron's early New Record Day videos many years ago, and found myself wondering: Does this guy not know that all his proclamations (made with a very self-congratulatory tone) are already well known to others? That his "new" discovery is one made by everyone on their audiophile journey, and that he has barely "rounded first base"? How 'bout a little humility?

Every new loudspeaker he auditions is the best he's ever heard. And then the next one is. He appears to believe that his every declaration is evidence of a newly-discovered (by himself, of course) truth, previously unknown to anyone else. As others have said, he sure gives off an air of self-satisfaction. It's embarrassing.

At the hi-fi show in SoCal in 2014 (I think it was) I found myself in an elevator with Ron. When spoken too, he made no eye contact. I couldn't tell if that was evidence of deep insecurity, or of smug arrogance. Either way, it's unattractive.

I like the help he has provided Danny Richie in the latter's GR Research videos, but in the videos in which they both appear Ron acts as if he and Danny are peers. Talk about a lack of self-knowledge!