I’ve heard Boulder amps once, with larger very nice Avalon speakers. It had a unique intriguing midrange detail and presence, like some ARC and VAC and Atmasphere amps I’ve heard. My audition was short so just an initial impression. I don’t know what they do different or better or not relating to feedback. |
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One reason very wealthy people rarely have a high-end system may be that they aren’t as passionate about music as are we. I got my first better-than-normal system because I heard music played through the one of a friend, and it radically improved the most important thing in my life---music. How many people these days care about music the way we do? I never saw any of the characters on Seinfeld (or any other TV show---the barometer of where our culture is) listening to music. Normal people (my sisters, for instance) think nothing of spending a coupla grand on a large screen, but that much on a "stereo"? Whatta ya, nuts?! But that doesn’t explain why musicians generally have terrible---and I mean absolute garbage---systems, if they have one at all. One exception is, surprisingly (to me, at least), Henry Rollins (Black Flag, etc). He has a nice little system ;-) he bought from Brian Berdan at Audio Elements in Pasadena: a pair of Wilson Alexandria XLF, VTL Siegfried electronics, SME table with Graham arm and Lyra pickup (I believe), Cardas cables, etc., installed in an acoustically treated room. Not bad for a punk! |
One reason very wealthy people rarely have a high-end system may be that they aren’t as passionate about music as are we.99% of my friends are not audiophiles and consider Bose high-end. At least 90% are NOT wealthy and majority live check to check. I would agree there are fewer wealthy audiophiles due to fewer in proportionate to the lower income. |
For an interesting side view on the nouveau riche and their taste in audio I recommend reading "The Invisibility Cloak" by Ge Fei. This is the story of a hi fi manufacturer/dealer in contemporary China. It's a quick read and the audio references are mostly accurate 😏 http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/539780/the-invisibility-cloak-by-ge-fei-translated-from-the-... |
Daves suggestion regarding socioeconomic comments is a valid one, and upon reading it, I realized I had unintentionally done just what he advised against. What I was attempting to say was not that the wealthy may not be passionate about music---heck, they provide the funding for many of the country’s major Symphony Orchestras---but rather that our culture in general is not as passionate about listening to music reproduced in the home as we here are. And that though the rich could easily afford a very nice system, only the rare fanatic amongst their ranks does so. The non-wealthy, even hardcore music lovers , cannot afford such a system, so that explains why they don’t. But even if they did, people now---rich or poor---are just not aware of, or interested in, high-quality music reproduction equipment. Big screen TV’s, yes. Why is that? When I got interested in hi-fi, wanting to have a good one was commonplace. Acoustic Research ran ads for their speakers in Rolling Stone, conductor Seiji Ozawa being one of their endorsers/spokespeople. Everyone I knew wanted McIntosh amps, A Thorens turntable, and AR, JBL, or Klipsch speakers. Somewhere along the line, being an audiophile took on a negative connotation. The Classical buyer at my Tower Records spoke contemptuously of "audiophools", more concerned with the sound quality of a recording than it’s musical quality. As if the two are completely unrelated ;-. |
"When some of us old timers were growing up, there was very little (interesting) programming on TV..." Not much has changed except the explosion of the quantity of uninteresting programming. lol ;>) However, the immersion experience from our stereos was much greater than our B&W TVs or even the 19" color picture tubes in our father’s console TV. We could only get somewhere close on our Saturday trips to the local theater for the matinee. Much different today plus TV programming is designed to require little cognitive effort to participate. Dave |
@dlcockrum I think that's it! TV, movies, social media - they all require minimal cognitive effort and, indeed, often reduce cognitive abilities. Listening to music requires focus, imagination and effort. The exact opposite of what the more popular media require. And, to top it off, you need to be really into music.. Which by it's nature is more abstract than, say, a TV show where the whole gestalt is created for you and you can just consume. That doesn't mean people can't go deeply into movies and theater systems.. But I think they'd be the minority as well. |
I loved when researches discovered that playing Mozart to babies made their brains develop faster. The brain tries to make sense of the information it receives, and the more complex, abstract nature of Classical music demands more of it. Mental exercise accelerates a brains development! Watching a movie is a much more passive activity, not needing to be exclusively focused on. Plus movies are a more social, group activity, music a more personal, private one. You can't converse and listen to Mozart at the same time. Groups of people get anxious when no one is talking! |
Bdp24, I hate to say Mozart makes great dinner music, at least for me. Though I think the problem now is that music and music theory haven't been taught for decades. The sonata form has finally been supplanted by rap/hip hop. It really is a new era. The thing I hope for is that eventually all our great music will be rediscovered by future generations, just like China is embracing classical music now, and incorporated into something new- Just like Jazz did in the 20th century. |
Bob, Mozart is great for dining, as is Baroque imo. Music Appreciation, and the Humanities in general, were taught in my Elementary School (I was in the school band in 6th grade), Jr. High (now called Middle School), and High School. When Ronald Reagan was elected Governor of California in 1967, he took care of that, cutting funding for such programs. He also closed the State's mental hospitals, throwing the patients out on the street. Compassionate conservatism at work. In 1892 Oscar Wilde wrote "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing". The great photographer Ansel Adams used the quote when discussing Reagan. His Royal Trumpness has already declared he intends to cut funding for PBS and the Arts in general. Republicans are so dependable. |
Absolutely Erik (love it spelled with a k. Wish my parents had, instead of a c). Also important for the soul of a country imo. I'm reading a great book right now, a biography of Leonard Bernstein written by Humphrey Burton. Bernstein is quoted heavily throughout, his thoughts on culture in general (music and literature in particular, of course), education, politics, religion, and romance/love/sex fully expressed. One of the 20th Centurys major artists (and a flaming liberal ;-). |
