Are audiophile products designed to initially impress then fatigue to make you upgrade?

@mitch2 Could another reason be that the constant barrage of review press, forum threads by enthusiastic owners, manufacturer marketing releases, new tweaks, and "breakthrough" innovations has conditioned many audio enthusiasts to continually look for the next best thing

That has a lot to do with it, plus if you're a gear-head (nothing wrong with that), you're always going to be looking for the next big thing.  It's like guys with customized cars.   There is no end point, only a continuous series of upgrades to make things better/faster/louder.

cdc 04-02-2023 at 09:09pm

Can you explain more? Agreed, I have been coming to the same conclusion and decided stereo is inherently unnatural.

I often dislike the way my stereo sounds. when I turn on the stereo, my brain has to adjust from natural sounds of real life to this odd noise coming from boxes. Maybe people who listen to orchestra music do not have this adjustment problem..

People who listen orchestra music hear the same ear adjustment problem.

There are natural sounds (human voice, dog barking, baby crying, water flowing, etc.) and unnatural sounds. Human can’t hear a natural and unnatural sounds together simultaneously. If they are presented at the same time, the human ears must choose one of them. Audiophiles can switch back and forth (extremely fast) between natural and unnatural sounds due to years of practice with their audio systems. However, most people (non-audiophiles) ears are almost in natural sound mode.

In below video, if I didn’t say "hello", you could hear both (L & R) speakers fine with automatic audiophile’s ear adjustment. But saying "hello" (natural sound) holds your ears to stay in a natural sound mode and you are hearing what non-audiophiles hear.

The both speakers in videos were same sounding speakers. The right speaker is converted to a natural sound speaker by me. The left speaker is untouched. Almost all speakers (include $million speakers) in the world sound/behave like the left speaker.

Piano (Natural vs. Unnatural sound)

Orchestra (Natural vs. Un-natural sound)

Vocal - Coffee (Natural vs. Un-natural sound)

Alex/Wavetouch

@bipod72 

We have something in common. I raced bikes as a Cat 2-3 for twenty plus years. For racing, I rode bikes that my local bike shop sponsor supplied that I liked but did not love. They were carbon fiber and lighter than my other bikes, but basically junk. They had all the latest fake innovations-nobody loves a squeaky press-fit bottom bracket in a carbon frame. The bikes I love are custom steel. They will never go out of style to my mind. A Landshark, JP Weigle, Doug Fattic, Rob English, and Vanilla/Speedvagen. All with Campy. I don't ride with manufactured wheelsets, all of mine were handbuilt from scratch, mostly with ENVE rims, Sapim spokes, and either DT or Chris King hubs.

This dovetails into approaches to audio. My two sets of loudspeakers feature enclosures that were built in-house with attention to detail and to my taste, sound  signatures that are subtle and suit the long haul. Spendor 7.1's and DeVore O/93's. After going through multiple turntables, I ended up with two enduring classics that will last virtually forever-a Thorens TD124 and Garrard 301 on huge artisanally built custom plinths and with Reed 3P arms. My phono stage is a Manley Steelhead-the Brooks Brothers suit of phono stages. I am fairly certain I will never tire of my DAC, an SW1X DAC III Balanced.

If you buy compromised gear, you are doomed to own it for a relative short time.

Back to the OP topic, c'mon! The larger manufacturers are not calculating in THAT fashion. Like car makers, they calculate for curb appeal and profitability. They have to or they can not survive. The artisan producers struggle. The exact same applies to mass produced bike manufacturers vs. custom builders.

Let's take PrimaLuna owned by Kevin Deal. The guy is brilliant and rich. You come up with a design that is fairly solid and you send it out for mass production in a highly efficient factory overseas. To use one of over a dozen easy bicycle examples, there is Specialized who draws up a supposedly cutting edge frame design and then sends it out to the "Red Zone" of Taiwan where 98% of the world's better carbon fiber frames are cranked out. They are very high quality in terms of sheer performance. But the failure rate with extended use is very high in relative terms and they are designed with flavor-of-the-month esthetics and features that will not endure.

@fsonicsmith1 

I have friends who ride Doug Fattic frames.  Ti for road and gravel here.

Back to audio, I believe many of the products from manufacturers that frequently release new stuff (i.e., the opposite of Lamm) are “designed to initially impress” but not necessarily “then fatigue.”  I believe their primary focus is on new sales by one-upping whatever came before, whether by actual performance or by advertising hype.

@fsonicsmith1

The bicycle analogy is pretty good. I am an avid bike rider… with a long distance / touring slant. I have four custom made bikes of my stable of eight. Each is carefully crafted, with every detail thought out to the highest level.

There is a real difference with true top end bike frames and equipment and great high fi gear and true audiophile gear. For those of use really dedicated: that ride thousands of miles a year and listen hundreds of hours… there is no substitute for uncompromising designs, meticulously purpose built equipment. It outperforms in every way just very well done stuff… and sets it apart.