thanks for posting - this is a fascinating documentary - one of the only films I've ever seen (OK the only one) that introduces the audiophile hobby to the lay person. Very interesting - I urge everyone on audiogon to watch it - and share with your non-audiophile friends. Well made. I'd purchase on DVD if available. Be prepared to laugh at these guys and yourselves.
My wife said - "so there are others like you out there... you're not so bad compared to these guys." |
you have to be GREEK to understand that these guys are normal, i understand perfectly. great documentary!!!! |
Thanks for posting this...really cool! |
Hi Poolie,
Good posting ... saw this a few weeks ago. Especially funny is the expression on the wives faces when they find out how much there man has really spent on there obsession, er, um, hobby :).
Merry Christmas,
Garry |
Great idea, I'd like to see more stuff like this, these guys are into it.
Nice looking turntables ! |
20 minutes and not one mention of "Brilliant Pebbles"?!?!
Blasphemy. |
Both my wife and I are of Greek decent. When I show her this it will make everything ok. She will now understand.
Yassou!!!
Art V |
I lived in Greece for a few years back in the 80s. Those guys, their attitudes and inflections are exactly as I remember the Greek friends I made. Wonderful film. The filmmaker has several others on the site, they are all worth a look. |
That was awesome. Watching that I didn't feel like it was anything like me. Then true story I walked downstairs on my way to the fridge and happened to notice the 2 pairs of speakers I bought last night for modding. Oh right, I need to take those out to the garage where the other two pair I'm working on are. I'll order some crossover parts while I order the caps for that vintage receiver I picked up recently. You see I'm nothing like those guys. It's just a hobby. Ya know, just to see what stuff sounds like. Yea I feel better now. I hope you guys take a good hard look at yourselves. LOL! You folks have a safe and happy holiday season. |
Ive followed their website for years, excellent short but as a greek myself I was wondering why they were listening to Krall and Barber, where's Sfakianaki and Mitropanos pethia? Give those nicotine and ouzo laced vocals spin with those glorious tubes. |
The Reviewers are raving:
"A Turntable Tour de Force!"
"Some of the most intense audiophile footage ever recorded!"
"230 Volts of Cinematic Pleasure!"
"An Olympian Acoustic Accomplishment!"
"An Epic, made for less than the cost of a rig!"
"The only movie to see during an Earthquake!"
Seriously, did anyone catch the expressions on the faces of the women? Authentic pain. They are true saints to put up with it. |
I'm not Greek, but I love avgolemono & embrace the right to deny the acknowledgement of my own obsessions...good enough to join the club? |
The best voice in Greek music is that of the late ,great unsurpassed Stellios Kazantzidis.We lost him a few years ago to lung cancer.His nick name was in Greek "O Theos" meaning "God' a name reflecting his voice.His duo with lady singer Marinella gave us some unforgetable songs
Others that are exceptional are Panos Gavalas,Kaiti Grey,Mary Linda,Poly Panou,Vicky Mosholiou,Tolis Voskopoulos,Giannis Poulopoulos,Giannis Kalantzis,Stratos Dionysiou,Grigoris Bithikotsis,Spyros Zagoreos,Stamatis Kokkotas,Litsa Diamandi and others that slip my mind at the moment.
Also I need to mention the two Pillars as we call them of Greek music of Rembetiko or Greek Blues style and that's
Vasilis Tsitsanis and Markos Vamvakaris.
This is the music I grew up with and the reason I entered this hobby of ours.
A big "Yia sou" to all the Greek audiophiles out there.
Regards
George Papoutsis |
My wife sat through the whole thing, mainly because she is 100% Greek. At the end of the film she kissed me on the head and thanked me for not being that crazy. Well worth the time. |
I know that Gregm live in Greece. Waiting to read his comments! :-) |
Hi Bombay: Busted! I have actually met some of these people, and listened to their systems. However, I think the film is more than a display of systems.
I actually found this little film moving in certain ways. Nicely made; the editing, the music and images blended quite nicely. And the hobbyist nature came out well.
And this is important. After all, and despite everything, there is passion in this hobby; it's time a little bit of our own passion came out in the open -- not as "Oh you guys are crazy" -- but simply as "you guys are really into something, just like other people are into s/thing else". "And it's fascinating", because it is after all.
As s/one said in the film, "other people buy Mercs, I buy hi-end gear... For me they are crazy". Why not?
BTW, a few of the systems are not only expensive -- they are superlative (sonic=wise).
Cheers. |
Excellent documentary and with very fine video work. I enjoyed it immensely, and at two levels, the first being the outrageousness and neurotic nature of the hobbyist contrasted against the true lover of music. The latter bringing the sanity to why we do what we do in my mind and maybe validate our madness just a bit to the outsider. I hope. Interesting though, how a guy with a 100K in his system and a mighty fine TT at that, doesn't even know how to read simple directions on the proper use of a Zerostat gun. With all due respect, again it reveals the juxtaposition.
Happy Listening! |
R_f_sayles, I'll bet it's more likely that he's familiar with the instructions, but after 50 or so hours of experimentation he feels he has discovered a better way to utilize it. In the thinking of an obsessive audiophile one cannot spend enough time trying to improve upon tweaks which others have already spent countless hours developing! |
touché! Douglas
Happy holidays |
my favorite part was the guy that states that "electricity is 50% of the sound"...then goes on to say that the rack is "30%" of the sound.
I guess that just leaves 20% for all the other variables.
not to mention his utter lack of a sense of humor...
yes I can play it during an earthquake
hahahahahahaha.
I'd be willing to bet that this video would turn most people off to the idea of "high end audio"...if not for the prices that were mentioned...the people would do a good enough job. |
Ellery, I concur. If only we knew how WE look to others with our audio inanities! However, I must chastise you for not knowing immediately the brand of your monitor stands described in your system! "Ummmmm" is NOT good enough! We cannot impress the non-audiophile world with generalizations! We must be able to trot out phrases like, "My stands are compeletly inert!" Actually, I love how into it they get, spewing all their technical audiobabble. How excited would we be over someone gushing about the intricacies of dolls or baking, or computer building, or hunting, (actually, I once heard a live talk about Turkey Hunting and it was so well done that for a moment I actually thought about taking it up, until I thought about the cost, the time, etc. How out of touch with reality ARE those hunters anyway!?) etc.? What the video does show is passion, and that passion for music may lure some unsuspecting folk into trying it. Then, they are doomed! |
Hi all, Moderators may remove another post I entered about the film a few days back, since it seems this is a more proper place for such a discussion. Thank you for your nice comments. I would just recommend a visit to the introductory page of the film @ http://aca.gr/event06-3.htm, where everything about the film's genesis is explained, links to the "actors' systems pages" are placed, thumbnails of the main scenes of the film are inserted, etc, etc... The film itself is also embedded there (from YouTube) Merry Christmas & a Happy (and more insane...) Year 2007! |
That's a great video. Brought back memories from my childhood. I grew up listening to reel-to-reel deck. When I was 3 or 4 I would record myself making noises, then I would record my sister singing. What I remember vividly that on one occasion the deck caught on fire and since then Ive been blamed for rest of my life for burning it. Thanks to the occasion my dad upgraded it to Revox B77 and since then I got caught up in HI-FI. We had home made speakers the size of the refrigerator, Sony TA-1120 amp, Apollon cassette deck (made in Japan, to commemorate Apollo 11 mission, still cant find any info on this unit), Technics turn table. |
How often you meet people:1)that rent their houses and own
expensive cars? 2)live in a totally messed up environment
because they love dogs and cats(with all their money in petfood and vets)3)Their fridge is empty of food but their closets are full of Armani...4)Buy the latest hightech cellphone whose countless capabilities will never use...
I can go for ever.Please check how relaxed and in heaven
they are when they listen to their music alone.All have their eyes closed.I bet a lot of people would pay 100.000$
to have this happen to them every day,in their homes,any time they feel like it.It really makes you a better person.
If you think that there is no need to go so high it's ok.
BUT you have to try convince yourself that there is no difference between a 30000$,a 60000$ and a 90000$ system.
You'll really have to try... |
