In the middle of a pandemic, Stereophile reviews ~ $30K equipment
Not at all. I recently fired up my trusty Nakamichi cassette deck and started to play cassette tapes again. Its been a few years since I last played cassettes, and a lot of improvements have been made to the system, including a judicious effort to clean up the AC power. I have to say ... well recorded cassettes sound really ... really good. Frank |
erik_squires OP I just spent a bunch on cassettes, a couple grand, which everyone tells me is old technology. Was that wrong? 😳 VHS or Beta? >>>>>Master Beta |
Here it comes, you knew it was coming. Spike city! https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ |
geoffkait, "Say 99 in Swedish three times fast."I misplaced my Swedish-Swedish dictionary. I will do it as soon as I find it. I am not defending Sweden. I am just a little more cautious with assumptions. You may need to follow some of the other European countries closely to see how it develops. Those that had very strict and successful measures which are normalizing now. They are starting from virtually zero and have no herd immunity for sure. Those are the places to follow. Some of them are tourist spots and are vying for visitors. That will be a good thing to watch. See the bigger picture. |
"I would love to see a price breakdown of that $53,000 tonearm."Assuming it is made in a garage, for two tonearms: $700 for parts, $400-600 for machine use, $10000 for marketing, Roughly $100000 left for living a year until you can find another two customers. For which you may need to raise the price to stay competitive. |
On a bit of a tangent, I get more and more disillusioned with the actual prices of some of these things. They have no basis and relative reality of the prices of comparable items. You will never convince me that a tonearm, no matter how incredibly manufactured, is worth $53,000. I know, something is worth whatever the buyer pays for it. I would love to see a price breakdown of that $53,000 tonearm. |
Herd immunity is a dumb idea when we don't know what we're dealing with. Humans don't have a great track record with developing herd immunity from respiratory pathogens. Never did. We usually end up developing medicines to tamp down the symptoms. A lot of the times we're just crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. How many times have we heard that the vaccines we use are for flus that we've already caught? We get reinfected. All the best, Nonoise |
geoffkait, "Sweden’s idea of herd immunity didn’t work. End of story.I agree that it is a little suspicious, but it is not end of the story yet. Not in Sweden, not in Brazil, not in the U.S.A. Sweden merely chose not to "flatten the curve", but to, sort of, take a hit at once. It is a different approach with its own shortcomings, but it is hard to assume that long-term outcome will be much different. Again, remember that social distancing was to "flatten the curve". It was not automatically assuming better final statistics. It was to decrease the strain on the healthcare system at one time. Hoping that, eventually, it would improve outcomes for individual patients. Which is likely, but not guaranteed yet. |
But Sweden's idea of being a herd does seem to be living out. I read that Sweden is in fact a very polarized society, on many issues, including this one. I heard a number of Swedish doctors who were furious with what was happening. Had they wanted to try and establish herd immunity, that's not how it should've been done. Not enough and not broad enough the exposure of what they did. They murdered thousands for nothing. Those who made those decisions...well, I would feed them to Chinese or Koreans or whoever else eats dogs. |
Sweden. Come on, guys. Don’t be a knucklehead. It’s too late now, anyway. https://apple.news/A1gbakY86SLy_YsyAsOThAg |
I used to like TAS, then Wilson came out with a new true bookshelf speaker and TAS published a 12 page full glossy brochure for Wilson and called it a review. I was done. I also caught one of their reviewers doing curious things and decided it was not for me. I've not looked at HiFi plus or What Hifi in a while but maybe I should. |
Received my first issue in 1972, and J. Gordon Holt became my hi-fi guru. Also liked Dick Olsher, from the same school as JGH. Stayed with the mag even after Larry Archilbald, having bought the mag from Gordon (publishing was NOT Gordon’s forte), handed the reins over to John Atkinson. As time marched on, I found the roster of newly added reviewers to lack the point-of-view and credibility of Holt and Olsher, the new writers being from the TAS school of hi-fi critique, of which I am not fond (too subjective). After Gordon's death I found $9.99/year worth it just for Atkinson’s bench tests, and the unique and interesting approach of Art Dudley. With Dudley gone, all that’s left are Atkinson’s measurements, and perhaps Herb Reichert (Art’s heir apparent). Is that enough to keep me interested? We shall see. |
I subscribed since the time when Stereophile was nothing but a stapled booklet. It was run by J. Gordon Holt. It was also when Stereophile was at its best. Holt pulled no punches and called a spade a spade, and junk, junk. Now, it just caters to manufacturers, especially the ones who place expensive ads in the magazine. Has anyone noticed that Stereophile magazine keeps getting thinner by the issue, while TAS flourishes? There's a reason for that. As for me, I dropped my subscription to Stereophile three years ago. Why? Because I got tired of their snarky little political snipes, and the downright arrogance of one main reviewer in particular, who I will not name, other than to call him an offensive little jerk-off. In addition, check out the music they use to review equipment. It is mostly electronically enhanced recordings that are dripping in artificial reverb. Using "music" like that, how in the world can they honestly review equipment? Save your money and buy records. Frank |
Over time, I got an impression that not many pay attention to what Stereophile writes anyway. I used to be a subscriber for a long time. I realized I would read a few issues a year at most. After subscription lapsed, I did not feel I was missing anything. How many visitors to this thread actually subscribe to Stereophile? Most? A few? |
Erik loves to firestart threads and he ain’t listening to bose equipment Well, I can't argue these two points based on facts. ;-) To be fair, my despair in writing the original post was NOT to debate effective government policy, medical evidence of the effects of the virus or how to save lives. That was something everyone else brought here on their own. :) I encourage everyone who wishes to read up on the start of the great depression, as well as the Spanish Flu of 1918 (probably started in Kansas) as well as the data regarding how different US states handle it and what the consequences were. This is not a new event no one has seen before, we just didn't spend a lot of time in history class with either. I will be happy to discuss those things with you on history boards, not here. What was on my mind was the sense of community of being an audiophile. Our hobby was started by experimenters and hobbyists, and continues to have support among many who listen to good music with modestly priced systems who aspire to have great music reproduction experiences. I so rarely feel Stereophile attempts to support this at all, and this month was a great example. |
No middle ground? Wear a mask is prudent.... Wash hands prudent... Universal health care in usa overdue Real minimum wage prudent If you are older or have a preexisting condition stay home.... BUT if someone does not wanna wear.a mask in public it’s their life he or she is risking and other imprudent people around them .[ASSUMING prudent people wearing a mask] On the other hand if you are not 65 and over or health compromised or live with someone who is...you do not need to hide in your attic like a modern day Anne Frank hoping and waiting for a.vaccine[ unless you want to emotionally] The overwhelming majority of death and ICU PATIENTS are elderly and health compromised....this means diabetes and pre-diabetes....this means smokers...and yes perhaps one percent IF THAT who for some reason may have serious complications and otherwise healthy. My girlfriend works at hospital treating covid and it’s virtually all old or smokers or poor health or overweight or poor diet and lack of exercise or some combo.... So please dont say odds are anyone can end up hospitalized as that is not what is happening for close to 99 percent of those in ICU.... If people ate better exercised and had proper medical care and sick leave in usa we would have 90 percent less death even with this clown as prez. Look at germany capitalism and low death rates no surprise.....maybe they can give us Marshall plan....or maybe we could stop military overspending.. Nothing wrong with pricey equipment but obviously much is ridiculously overpriced and mediocre to boot....try to hear before you buy and avoid paying msrp...at least 25 percent off discount or used or I don’t consider buying Erik loves to firestart threads and he ain’t listening to bose equipment |
Yeah, I am somewhat skeptical, but this is not my specialty so it's hard for me to guess. But I do have higher hopes - as of today- that at some point the virus will get tired and bored and will leave. Might take years, though. And all those apparently coming back soon interstate and international travels..I don't want to think about it. And I want out of all this madness. Any suggestions ? By the way, wearing proper mask is quite uncomfortable, and you can't eat without removing it.. Ain't life a ..full of surprises. |
inna It appears that this virus can sometimes evoke complex autoimmune reactions that damage various body parts and systems, including blood and heart. This is also going to be one of the difficulties to develop the vaccine. You want the correct immune response, both in quality and in quantity. Yes, it might become endemic but it does not mean that it will remain this virulent forever. That is unknown. >>>>If you’re skeptical about the development of an effective vaccine you’re really going to like this article. This just in! https://apple.news/AeOK4NvcrQ1mbM3ICd6jYQg |
Nonoise, they are not necessarily stupid, they may be very frightened and they deploy denial, at least partial denial, which is a form of psychological defense. However, this defense might cost them and in this case the others their health and even life in the extreme cases. It appears that this virus can sometimes evoke complex autoimmune reactions that damage various body parts and systems, including blood and heart. This is also going to be one of the difficulties to develop the vaccine. You want the correct immune response, both in quality and in quantity. Yes, it might become endemic but it does not mean that it will remain this virulent forever. That is unknown. |
