Musings from old school on High Fidelity
High Fidelity means REPRODUCTION with as little distorion and color as possible and a flat neutral FR within the range of human hearing that retains as much of the original source as possible. This day and age we have the ability to come close but we have chosen the path where High Fidelity means whatever subjective opinion I choose. It might be what one prefers but it isn't HiFi.Do you see any signs of future vitality in high-end audio?
Vitality? Don't make me laugh. Audio as a hobby is dying, largely by its own hand. As far as the real world is concerned, high-end audio lost its credibility during the 1980s, when it flatly refused to submit to the kind of basic honesty controls (double-blind testing, for example) that had legitimized every other serious scientific endeavor since Pascal. [This refusal] is a source of endless derisive amusement among rational people and of perpetual embarrassment for me, because I am associated by so many people with the mess my disciples made of spreading my gospel. For the record: I never, ever claimed that measurements don't matter. What I said (and very often, at that) was, they don't always tell the whole story. Not quite the same thing.
Remember those loudspeaker shoot-outs we used to have during our annual writer gatherings in Santa Fe? The frequent occasions when various reviewers would repeatedly choose the same loudspeaker as their favorite (or least-favorite) model? That was all the proof needed that [blind] testing does work, aside from the fact that it's (still) the only honest kind. It also suggested that simple ear training, with DBT confirmation, could have built the kind of listening confidence among talented reviewers that might have made a world of difference in the outcome of high-end audio.
Yet you achieved so much, Gordon.
I know I did, and my whole excuse for it—a love for the sound of live classical music—lost its relevance in the US within 10 years. I was done in by time, history, and the most spoiled, destructive generation of irresponsible brats the world has ever seen. (I refer, of course, to the Boomers.)
Showing 7 responses by asvjerry
"...and Heaven is in your mind...." It still comes to what constitutes one's Heaven, and the ways and means one applies to attain It... There seems (mho) to be a 'doubt' function in play.... I doubt my speakers are reproducing what they should.... I wonder if my cables are introducing distortion... Is that DAC working properly? 'Something'....is amiss.... It's human nature to 'externalize'.....and what ones' focus can zero in on tends to be that which one desires their intention of 'perfection'. *s* Just musing 'different' here....;) Old Skool and Proud...but just being the Devils' Advocate for the moment....*g* |
@tannoy56....Agreed. I've come to equate that balance to watching someone walking a slackline vs. a tightrope... The latter allows for a relatively consistent 'base' on which to tread. The former, which I consider the 'line' (which is more of a strap of some width) as an analog to the choice of format one plays and the quality of that recording....which all seem to agree is 'variable'... 'Staying on top' of either can absorb varying amounts of ones' time, cash, and perception. Since none can really claim to be equal on any of those variables... I've been lucky to have the company of identical twins within my life. It takes time, but they aren't perfectly identical....but it does take time and perception to tease those differences out.... Mho of audio equipment....nobody has cloned the spaces that we put them in.... ;) And that's just the start.... |
...and, considering the 'better tomorrow'... which was yesterday...*smirk*...or the 'best gear' which we debate to distinction or deletion.... One of these speakers is now being offered @ Costco for 350$ sans a penny....under 'furniture'.... My heart is stilled....thankfully, I have defib on board. ;) (No, it's Not the one you might accept on style.....) |
I wonder if this link will 'disappear' again.....since I've no connection to this company or even previous knowledge of their products.... https://soundstream.com/product/stsw-180mcm-g/ It IS funny it's marked 'MCM...', the common initials for Mid-Century Modern....not a great example of the period, nor the placement pics which is lame for an omni of any kind.....just saying... |
This silver IC's do seem a step up from Cu, and the $ not so stratospheric to do so. So I'll say 'good move, and expond further on what you percieve, please. *S* But I'm charmed by the 2x4....and Please, change your fan to a pair of 'puter fans...they're so much quieter...*s* (The shoes beat the socks...;) I'm a 'sandals' guy myself, but spouse sez I've got 'ugly feet', 'hammer toes & ruined big toe nails L&R....'omg'*L*) "Real High Fidelity".....Well, you're almost There... ...for now. ;) OK...Now, Enjoy! If only for the moments you seek on That LP, in that moment. It's seems too damn transient a time for most who haunt here. Not that I belittle the quest in the general sense of the meaning; trust me here (and hear *s*), because I do understand...and appreciate the Quest. I seek in my own fashion, as do (I hope) anyone else that frequents AG. We all have our various Nirvanas....*S* I prefer 'flat' response....to the point of having a separate digital eq that allows room DSP for whatever speakers I'm running. This in a space that has been 'temporary' for far longer than I'd care for, less so to admit to. One adapts....and moves forward....eventually.... I have no problems with 'The Quest', and what we do to attain our goals. 'We' may be a breed doomed to extinction, considered 'extremist', 'driven', or just merely 'nutz'. "Old Skool....and Proud." We Can (perhaps) utilize our experience, our collective knowledge, and ( for that matter), 'tastes' to shape the inevitable future of 'fi'. Make class D live up to its' promise. The 'next Gen' speakers really sound like Real High Fidelity, and for that matter influence the digital processes that 'synth' 3D audio 'environments' to Really Work...every damn time, without sounding like ones' been dumped into a Pollak or a de Kooning of audio fuzz.... ...or we can sit here, and just argue and bitch. How...fullfilling. Anyway...I like the idea of silver cables that don't cost replacing the engine on a car. I recognize the seller, good 'stats'. The world needs more heretics. Cheers, J |