2. misc-audio
  3. 1408481799

Is It Ironic?

There's a type of thread on Audiogon where somewhere asks "is this piece of equipment obsolete?" Or a similar type of thread where the question is "has there been progress in some equipment category since" some arbitrary date. The consensus answer to the former is usually yes, the equipment is obsolete. That's even when the equipment in question is only ten years old. The consensus to the latter question is always that there's been significant progress in equipment. Digital is better, loudspeakers are better, amps are better, cables are better, etc. What I find ironic is that much of the music used to ascertain the improvements in equipment was recorded fifty years ago. The touchstone recordings by RCA, Mercury, Columbia, Decca and Blue Note were made with equipment that was being retired as obsolete when Brian Jones was the guitar player with the Rolling Stones. We're using newer and newer equipment to find out that old recordings made with "antique" equipment actually sounds really good. Ironic?
onhwy61

Showing 3 responses by jmcgrogan2

jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Is it ironic? Yes. Ludicrous? Possibly. It's funny how technology is constantly "improving".....until you pop in some old piece of classic gear that demands you ask the question: "Are these "improvements" real?
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
08-20-14: Zd542
Look at it from another angle. If you took a well produced 50 year old record and played it on high quality equipment from that period, and then put the same record on modern equipment of the same quality, chances are you'll hear a lot more of what's on the record.

That may be true, more modern gear does offer more resolution. The question though, is more resolution always a good thing? Using Onhwy61's analogy of looking at the Mona Lisa under a 20X magnification seems apt. Should the art work simply be looked at and/or listened to and enjoyed, or must it be dissected and studied?

I know that there are a lot of resolution geeks out there, I used to be attracted to a more highly resolving sound myself. Resolution can be intoxicating at first. Until I found myself listening less often, probably due to listening fatigue. Listening to all of that information became a tedious chore. Information overload. These days I prefer a more musically relaxing sound, one that draws me in and makes me want to listen more. I am no longer driven by the desire to zoom in and try to listen to the fly buzzing about the 2nd chair viola's ear, or hear the page rustle as the conductor turns it. I prefer to just sit back and enjoy the performance as a whole. Obviously, some are intrigued by the capabilities of expanding technology. I am intruiged by the music.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
08-22-14: Chrshanl37
What's Ironic is when a newbie asks for an opninon on starting a system and then gets chastised by senior members on here telling them to go listen to gear and let your ears decide and then said members go post and often get in to heated debates on topics that are subjective at best. I love this site.

Yes, it certainly is ironic. As you can see, there are NO absolute answers in this subjective hobby. Which always makes the threads asking "What is the Best XYZ?" so amusing and comical, since obviously, there is no "best" of anything.
More to discover