My comments went far beyond "audiophilia"; they went to the heart of this present day "Democracy", that's not a democracy, but everyone believes what they desire to believe; hence "Santa Claus" and The Easter Bunny. Maybe this will enlighten some of you, but not many; http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105 |
The richest have the talent to be born that way. When I was in real estate I came in contact with quite a few wealthy people, but none as wealthy as the 1%, and none who were audiophiles, and even if they were, I guarantee none of them would pay 100K for an amp; think about it. What sensible audiophile would pay 100K for an amp, even if he could afford it? Or maybe that's the wrong question. I don't have any idea who would pay 100K for an amp, do you? Does that deep pocket audiophile plan to buy a 100K amp when he upgrades? |
"I have no problem with extreme wealth, except with how it is corrupting our democracy." Dave, that's where I was coming from, and I apologize to "audiophiles" for getting so far off track. My thoughts are not about one 100K amp, but about this sudden increase in the number of audiophile products in that price range; I suspect those buyers aren't even audiophiles, but people with so much excess wealth they're having trouble finding some entertaining way to spend it. Once upon a time, while you went about your business of working, and entertaining yourself with our hobby of enjoying good sound, there were many people who worked in government agencies protecting all of us; not from some alien enemy, but criminal exploitation by "billionaires"; some of those agencies have been "hijacked" by politicians for their own personal gain. Since audiophiles are accustomed to reading charts and graphs, they know what information is conveyed by them. These charts and graphs convey what you paid for food and gasoline over this period of time. Imagine how much you would make if you could sell gasoline for $2.00 a gallon more than what you paid for it without ever even smelling one gallon of gas. That's what you could do if you were part of the 1% who run the politicians, and therefore this country. The CFTC is the government agency that prevents such exploitation. What if politicians could force the CFTC to look the other way while you conducted your nefarious business? http://wealthisbeingtranfered.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/wealth-is-being-transferred-from-us-to-them/ There are factors in those charts that confirm what I have stated. Those charts are part of public record, they can not be erased. |
Dave, I know exactly where you are coming from, and I both agree and understand your point; top of the line has always been what most can not afford, but what I'm speaking of goes way past that. bdp24, you and Dave both have valid points of view; but what I'm speaking of is the increase in the number of buyers, and why now? To me it seems that those who purchase for the sole point of status have wandered in our direction; think about a 20K tone arm, and all that goes with it; have they gotten bored with sports cars and wandered into our domain. I'm speaking of people who have so much money they don't have a clue how to spend it, and I'm thinking about carrying that a step further into drugs that people can not live without, and raising the price 200%; I'm talking about "oligarchs" and politicians; that is also our domain whether we want it to be or not. I've got stereophiles from 1990 to the present; that's an awful lot of magazines, and only the most current are filled with totally absurdly priced items, like 5K interconnects. What I'm saying is that they may not even listen to the stuff, and it will be gathering dust next year. Excuse me for getting so far off track, but many things that may not seem to be related, can be related to the biggest and most important picture. |
Dave I wasn't speaking of the rich, but the 1% who run this country because that's who the politicians work for, both Democrat and Republican. There is absolutely nothing imaginary about that. Although I fully realize this is not the place for such a conversation, I occasionally test to see if audiophiles know about anything other than "audiophileia", but I am always disappointed; meaning, this should be the last time. If I'm not mistaken, "everybody" is supposed to run a Democracy, but that requires a well informed populace, since it's apparent that "audiophiles" as a group are well educated, it would seem they would also be well informed, "my bad". Peace be with you. |
It's a funny thing about "Audiophiles", they are so obsessed over their hobby, that they are totally unaware of anything else going on. Before now, the wealthiest audiophiles seemed to be in the "upper middle class", Doctors, Lawyers... and other professional people; but now, we seem to have been invaded by people who are so rich, they have no idea how to spend all of that "excess" cash; hence, all of these unheard of high prices. Now we seem to have an abundance of 20K tonearms, and 10K cartridges, plus speakers and amps costing over 100K. Personally, I don't believe their systems sound any better than a long time audiophile's rig who has spent a lifetime obtaining the knowledge required to have a good sounding rig, while those who purchase 10K cartridges, and 100K amps are only involved in the most expensive, not necessarily the best. The rich have gotten richer, so rich they have no idea how to spend it, and the poor have gotten poorer; but most of us are "programmed" to never even think such thoughts. |
