HiFi is an opinion - nothing more


The audiophile community spends vast amounts of time and resources trying to claim truth about something that boils down to be no more than one persons opinion. I read where some proclaimed audiophile has created nirvana by rotating his loudspeaker 1 degree off axis when used with a certain type of interconnect cable. Phew... I might remind everyone that the human ear and the mechanics of hearing are highly individual, namely we don't all hear alike. Add to that the processing that goes on in the brain to add value to what we hear, we end up with nothing more than an opinion not fact. Case in point, a system set up to accurately reproduce sound in terms of phase, and frequency amplitude response would not be desirable by most audiophiles. It would sound bright, thin and certainly not have enough bass. Most audiophiles would prefer the sound of a Bose Wave Radio to a an accurately set up HiFi. Get some acoustical instrumentation sometime and try it for yourself. To all of you who savor the delicious warmth of your tuuuuby like transistors and transparent capacitors, I say get a life. If you find yourself basking in the latest techno tweek and thirteenth set of speakers, I suggest you go off line, visit a used car lot, find an old VW Beatle, turn on the radio and enjoy the music again. Re-invent yourself.
larryh

Showing 1 response by kthomas

I think Larry's comment on the VW was just a re-phrasing of the oft-cited, "it's supposed to be about the music!", and not an indictment of all things pertaining to luxury.

Why are posts like Larry's always the ones that inspire the most voluminous threads when everyone is saying "go away"? It would seem like if what he says is so useless nobody would ever visit the thread again, much less take the time to write a response.

It does give me an idea for a new thread, though - "How many pairs of speakers have you gone through in your audio quest?" Nothing derogatory intended, it just strikes me as an interesting question. For me, the answer was one before my wife began rolling her eyes and exclaiming, "what the hell do you need a new pair of speakers for - your current pair works just fine!" The count for my current incarnation is three with the fourth being strategized on.