5 Dumb Things Audiophiles Believes.

Life is just too short.

@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 ;-) .

@barryinseattle 

Maybe the best 1st post I’ve yet to see. Brilliant analogy.

And yet Ron uses Anti-Cables for his speakers that are raised off the floor.  I think his drift into duck dynasty hood has hurt his message.  Generally he is all for the things that most here would agree with; tube amps, good r2r dacs, well placed open baffle speakers with good room treatment.

I think his message here is not very good.  Also, being a super taster I can only imagine how well some people can hear!

Jriggy- maybe there is a correlation here, I find jasonbourne52 posts 90% crap!

IMO- there are very few true audiophiles, this is true with the reviewers in the trade rags. The majority of people on audiogon, or any of the so called audiophile websites, and especially reviewers of audio magazines, have poorly setup rooms: wrong dimensions, wrong or no treatments, and with no reasoning on how to position their speakers.

How many times have you seen a pair of $100k speakers positioned right up against the wall, up against the media rack, or with furniture blocking the front of the speaker.

Since being an audiophile starts with the room, if you don’t have the room done right, then you aren’t an audiophile. Maybe you are just a music lover which is fine 

IMO, the video's not especially entertaining. If this was a stand-up act, I'd probably use the time to go to the bar. But that's a matter of taste. In terms of the substance of the video, it's a mixture of inaccuracy, misinterpretation, straw dogs...and, in one instance, a profound truth.

1. He gets off to a bad start, as he clearly doesn't understand what "perfect pitch" is. When a person has "perfect pitch," it means they can correctly identify the frequency of a note (C-sharp, B-flat, E, whatever) without reference to a tuned instrument. Some first-rate musicians have it, some don't. The ability to play by ear, which is what he describes, is entirely different and, I think, much more impressive. Anecdotally, Mozart heard the Allegri Misirere once and then wrote it out from memory. That's an extreme example (if the story is actually true) of having a "good ear."

The term "Golden Ear"—which I don't like—is something different from either of the above. It refers to the ability of an experienced listener to assess the sound of audio gear and recordings in an informed fashion. I've never heard it used outside the context of the audiophile pursuit. It's often a learned ability, not a God-given capacity like perfect pitch or the ability to throw a 100 mph fastball on the inside corner of the plate. Example? I once had an audiophile acquaintance over to hear a new speaker and he immediately observed that one driver in this complex product was wired out of phase. He was right. His taste in music was abominable.

2. PRAT. Anyone who uses the term (I don't) generally understands (or should) that it doesn't refer to some measurable aspect of a product that's baked in, like frequency response, sensitivity, or radiation pattern. It just a way of subjectively describing how well the product has been engineered to render music in a satisfying way. It's really no different than using terms like "speed" or "transparency" or "imaging" to qualify the success of a component. If a reviewer or consumer knows what PRAT means to them, it can be useful—to them.

3. Loudspeaker placement. I read a lot a manuals and find that recommendations, as expected, vary according to the speaker's design. Some—typically models without a rear port—can be placed near a room boundary. That's how they were designed, and bass response may suffer without any improvement in spatiality if they are pulled out into the room. To generalize, as the gentleman on the video does, is unfair to both manufacturers and to most audiophiles I know.

4. EQ?  Except for DSP room correction (which is still anathema for many audiophiles) I think the guy is inventing a crisis that doesn't exist—if by "EQ", he means turning a knob or pushing a slider to alter frequency response. What audiophiles do sometimes is to choose components—say, speaker cables—that "correct" for a perceived deficiency in a system's overall sound. It can be argued, I think, that there's nothing wrong with that. You've chosen a speaker that you really like in terms of a half dozen key parameters. There's one you don't care for, something that keeps it from achieving "perfection." You find that a particular amplifier successfully addresses that one shortcoming? Go for it.

5. System optimization. He's 100% right on this one, as others have pointed out. Even informed enthusiasts can be blind to setup issues. Or their may be painfully aware that there are acoustic problems that can't be addressed with room treatments because of the dictates of a spouse/partner. That's life, and one of the things that makes this hobby endlessly fascinating to me. Audiophiles, usually, aren't "dumb." They're just dealing with their reality as best they can to enjoy music to the highest possible degree.

Andy Quint

I got a good chuckle out of the video .

@sokogear I agree it rings true and I think the folks 💩 on it could see their own shortcomings in this video. I know I did. 

I liked it and thought it rang true. Glad I didn't listen to those who said it was a waste of time. I wonder if they watched the whole 10 minutes. How can you argue about speaker placement, etc.? Just because he looks weird to you doesn't mean he doesn't have anything relevant to say.

It wasn't condescending - he was relaying his experiences talking to self proclaimed audiophiles.

where did i criticized him.  just said yet another one talking same thing and I did not watch.  NOT ONE WORD ABOUT HIM.  And yes I missed the part about where you said you agree.. So only 2 people you criticized about..two more than me.  minus 1 about me criticizing your attack reply.  

@fittebd I didn't 'call out' 3 people, just two, try reading again - I was agreeing with the third. You seem to be one of the closed minded variety he mentions.

If you don't fully watch something, how can you criticise it?? You can't. Nor can you have an opinion of something you know almost nothing about.

You say he attacks just to attack - when he's just having an opinion, like you believe it's ok to have, which it is, but HE can't have one according to you. Just because you don't want to (and didn't!) hear what he's saying (closed mind) you criticised him. So, you only listen and agree with people that you personally know?! Then you should stay off here. Maybe you also side with bjoffe (Ben), as he doesn't like him or what he's saying, because of his hat and room decor!!

@daveteauk  I actually do have a place here to comment.  Its an opinion.  I did not like his presentation and I commented about controversial subject to get eyes on video. That's what youtubers do. 

Its post like yours where you call out 3 different people that is why other forums comment on this one. Attacks just to attack.  I stand by my comment about eyes on videos is what its about.  I have seen way too many people talk about the same things over and over.  Had no desire to hear it again from yet another person who i have no idea who he is.  

@fittebd - If you watched it for less than a minute, then you have no place here to make a comment on something you've just admitted you hardly watched! - epic AG comment!

@bjoffe /Ben - So, you didn't like/agree/listen/understand; because he has 'painted wood panneling'!! OMG - what a dumb thing to point out. It shows your level of understanding. What possible difference can that have on what someone is saying? Oh yeah - you also don't like his hat!! REALLY? Is that the best comment you can make?

@coltrane1 "He’s not arrogant at all. You only perceive him as arrogant because your ears, and mind, are closed. He’s only stating common sense". - I absolutely agree, particularly with the closed mind comment.

He's funny in his presentation, yes, and maybe a little arrogant too, but a LOT of what he says is absolutely true, IMO. It seems that the most offended/outraged on here are the ones who have lots and lots of previous posts - you know who you are.

It's not arrogant to say that some have, or can, 'hear' 'better' or 'more' than others, or rather, have a more experienced ear. eg. I have a good friend who used to be an importer/distributor of 'high end' equipment. HIS system sounds awful (to me), and one reason, IMO, is that he has his speakers, which are designed to be used well away from the wall, have their backs up against it, and one is close to a corner! You can imaging the awful bloated, thrummy and ill defined bass, and the effect that that has on the rest of the frequency range, yet he likes it and thinks it's fine. No accounting for taste, or hearing experience, or willingness to experiment with speaker positioning, which is CRITICAL.

The BS that's talked about, a LOT, on this forum provides a lot of humor, for me, and I'm sure for many others. Speaker cable risers does it for me - REALLY!!! Expensive fuses on the input to a power amp!! Get a grip!

He makes a lot of sense and says things which are absolutely true, which has hit hard, a nerve of some of the self righteous, self proclaimed experts on here.

I think this guy is hilarious (in a good way), entertaining, interesting and so very spot on. So what if he's preaching common knowledge? Not enough audiophiles are paying attention to the basics. In terms of what he's selling, I don't know or don't particularly care.

waytoomuchstuff  +1 Good point about the sommelier.

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!  

GARRYINDIANA,

He's Danny Ritchie's Video man now.

Where can I get a cup of acoustic omniscience?

Ron may single-handedly be responsible for a new

Clean-Shaven trend.

@barryinseattle 

I agree. While I seem to have a fairly forgiving hearing system that fits the standard engineering notions of what can and cannot be heard, I stop before insisting that nobody else can hear the things I can't. It's interesting that hearing acuity does not necessarily correlate strongly to being an audiophile. An extreme enjoyment of reproduced music can be had with or without extreme sensitivity to reproduction fidelity.

@juanmanuelfangioii I certainly did not. I was talking to the brewer because I was getting heartburn from their beers sand he said it is because they use Mexican hops (I think he meant neomexiconus or something, but Mexican is much easier) and it gives a lot of people heartburn. Wonder if that could be your issue too?

I was just saying, and it sounds like it may have came off wrong, if someone dosen't like something you don't it dosen't make them wrong. I mean, some people like their cucumbers pickled. 😉

No way I can do an IPA or a Stout after a strenuous workout. Kudos to you. You have a great weekend as well.

@bjoffe dont take it personally it was sarcasm. IPA give me heartburn.

I like a stout or a porter after good run in the evening or a bike ride.

Have a great weekend. 
 

Many audiophile’s don’t want real advice. He’s not arrogant at all. You only perceive him as arrogant because your ears, and mind, are closed. He’s only stating common sense. And how many actually purchase a new component as a system fix, myself included, rather than treating their room? I bet that number is at least near 90%! Why? Because room treatment’s aren’t sexy, while a shiny new component is. Now, tell me how wrong I am?

from his title, I'm guessing that he's stereo-typing

He is pretty bombastic in his presentation but in most cases, I agree with his points. Not so sure about his "PRaT" spiel but he certainly has the right to his opinion. I found it mildly informative and entertaining.

@uanmanuelfangioii Here’s the thing. I dont necessarily drink IPA’s very often (usually its blue light after hockey), but I also dont tell other people that their taste buds are wrong.

Not a huge fan of stout’s but been privy to some good ones here in Michigan. Founder’s CBS was fun for a few years. Maybe ill try to pick up a single of zug zwang and try it . . . . then I could say it sucked for me (or was the best thing I ever tasted).

@bjoffe You should have just moved on. IPA do suck, they suck real bad. I prefer a Stout and I only have one. Had a great one in S.D. Last week at dinner. If you are in Sioux Falls check out the Granite City Food and Brewery. 

ZUG ZWANG

Vanilla Porter

Roasted and chocolate flavor that you’d expect from a classic Porter. Zug Zwang is a Gold Medal winner at the World Beer Championships by Tastings!

By now we should all understand how reliable 'reliable' internet sources are. Best term I've heard for social media, internet, 'alternate fact' based information and internet opinion pieces...................tech based garbage can. 

Each person is entitled to believe what they wish. But be careful, if you repeat it, you could sound like a gullible lunatic

8:40... "We need to start looking at hi-fi like a complete system."

Truer words were never spoken IMHO.

Happy listening.

Dude is an idiot!

Jerry,

Why post a video of a guy in a Coors hat telling everyone how dumb they are? Guarantee same guy says IPAs are trash. Love a good shared opinion, hate a stupid one.

Nice painted wood paneling in the background

Ben

Its all about the # of eyes that watch his video.  This video has gone viral.  He has done just what he set out to do.  Find a controversial subject and make an entertaining video on it.  I watched it a few days after it came out, turned off after less than an min..  sorry my view counts towards his totals.

He's definitely passionate about audiophile and his experiences. I have to agree with his points on making sure your system is set-up correctly and the main point it's a system! Equipment, placement, room acoustics, type of music, media used. It all affects the output. I too can't tell the difference between a $10,000 set of speaker cables and my monster cables nor an expensive power cord from the one the gear came with.

I like the Tiger Woods analogy.

Regarding the wires, the sample set of individuals exposed to or owning them remains relatively small, and is skewed heavily toward narcissisists with large egos, big mouths, and a larger pot of money. How many of us can afford or would even choose to invest thousands of dollars in wires to test these claims? I'm all in on hearing the contrarian voice., and appearance for that matter. 

It's ironic that some Golden Eyes in the community are put off by this fellow's dress.

@au_lait you are right, we shouldn't shame anyone's physical appearance, yet I tend to associate certain "looks" with certain (political, medical, religious, or audio-related) ideas and sadly I'm most often not very far off. 

@au_lait you are straight to the point, thank you. Critical listening is something that can and should be trained, and no we are not all made equal. Just like I was never able to shoot in a ball or catch one, and it would take me hundreds of hours of training to spare me the embarrassment. Good thing I don't sport.

No need to shame his appearance, I’m sure nobody on this forum is Brad Pitt. 

@richardmathes No, I wouldn't, because I don't like that kind of self-proclaimed "specialists" who seem to "own the truth" in the eyes of some, who frequently repost their pain-in-the-@$$ vids trying to prove a point 

"The quality of my musical enjoyment is not directly proportional to the irrational sums of cash I gleefully plunk down" - mine isn't either, altho I don't really see the connection here. For most, who don't do the DIY way, it's a rather expensive hobby,  and that's how it is.

My system is mainly DIY and didn't cost a fortune, far from it, yet it is not only 100% musical and extremely enjoyable, but also revealing enough to show VAST differences between, say, power cords. My most expensive power cord costs 130USD - because I don't buy them through the usual network.

It's been about ten years since a bought anything in an audiophile boutique, yet I'm all for cables and accessories

That stupid idea that audiophiles who "believe" in cables (for example) are arrogant rich jerks with more money than sense is more often than not vehiculated by low-level "sound engineers" with a gigantic ego who feel the need to "teach their sheep" through some internet channels. And I can't stand them, and yes they are a disservice to the community.

Generally speaking, I disdain any video that starts with "the 5 dumb things". I like to decide myself what is dumb and what is not. And I certainly hate being labeled.

What I got out of it was it's more important to get the basics right. If you aren't realizing the best out of your speakers because placement is off, or you haven't done any treatment then you will seek a cure through equipment, speaker or cable change, tweaks and EQ.  I know a lot of readers are past this point and that's great, but does he deserve to be slammed for stating what to you is obvious? Reading college level books doesn't make Dick and Jane less valid and more than likely Dick and Jane helped you along the way

This guy is not as entertaining as he thinks he is.

Would you hear the man differently if he was groomed differently, like say, an urban bro look? A stuffed-shirt Corporate Executive? Perhaps the shallow Senator take on "best dressed"?

I'm sensing a world of unclothed emperors and pricked egos out there. My takeaway is don't take yourself too seriously when making claims that are too frequently based largely on personal subjective experiences. The quality of my musical judgement is not directly proportional to the irrational sums of cash I gleefully plunk down. 

It also bears repeating that he says if it brings you pleasure, enjoy. Just don't bore the rest of us with a claim to have drunk from the cup of acoustic omniscience.

What a waste of time. An ugly redneck with a duck voice telling me I can't hear differences between power cables? LOL, no thanks, hard pass. He's a disservice to the community, in truth.

Human beings have a remarkably wide range of sensitivity to our various senses.

An example: in the early 2000s when Tiger Woods had an entire team at Nike building golf clubs for him, the team sent him 2 drivers that they believed were identical.  After Tiger took a few 125mph swings with each model, he messaged back to the lab:  "I like the lighter one."  Which mystified the team, who couldn't wait to get the clubs back to weight them.  When they did, they discovered one of the drivers was, indeed, lighter - by less than 2 grams, or about 0.5% of the club's total weight.  You could ask 100 more golf pros to repeat that experiment, and it's likely none of them would detect the difference.  Tiger had "golden hands" even amongst PGA pros.

While "golden ears" may not belong to everyone who says the have them... it's equally silly to suggest there are not people who can hear musical/audio details  better than 99% of the rest of us.  I'm willing to believe that some of those people exist among the small community of professional audio reviewers.  For that reason I wouldn't automatically judge that a reviewer could not, for example, hear a dramatic difference between two power cables... even though I haven't been able to reproduce that effect myself. 

 

@bubba_buoy 

+1 I think you got it.

I buy all my equipment from sith audio and they sold me a special sauce tweak that only my golden ear can appreciate.

His delivery some may find "etching" but I think it's his style to be comical.

How you find him relies more in one's wiring and upbringing.

Some think the Three Stooges as hilarious and others as a disgraceful assemblage of humanity.

Whatever fuels ya.

TY @ticat my feeling also. Some it struck home. I rather enjoyed it and the reactions.

@jerryg123 Thanks for sharing...

I find it interesting, the wide variety of responses, from instant venomous outrage to disinterest,  to total agreement.

Some people are easily offended, some don't care what others have to say and some will find value in almost anything.

To each... his own...

I get it. I don't find it or him that funny and certainly not smart nor clever.  I think Ron is attempting to tap into the "everyman" vibe that exists online that mocks the the things that they can't afford as some sort of "al Bundy vs. the snobs" appeal for some more subs/likes/clicks. It'll probably do well for him. I can't watch him.  His voice/tone/attitude have terrible synergy with my ear drums and the smart part of my brain.... "The D&D nerd is mad that Bobby's leaving the circle to buy a moped and make out with Heather under the bleachers."

this guy has been around for  years on you tube .       

never cared for him.