The "audiophile party" in Ghost World is pretty funny.
No Audiophiles in Hollywood
A thought just came to me that a lot of movies show us the lives of fictional people doing the everyday things that real people do. However, we never see anyone sitting down and listening to a high end system.
The only thing that I can remember is when the billionaire played by Robert Redford put on an LP on what appeared to be a high end turntable in the movie "Indecent Proposal".
I have never seen exposed tubes on-screen, or an amp of any type for that matter. Big speakers, fuggedaboudit...it seems hifi does not fit the decor scheme of movie sets, or more realistically, audiophiles are rarer on earth than Klingons and Romulans and hollywood does not know of their existence.
It would seem that some of the well heeled actors, directors and producers would own a killer 2 channel system and periodically include one in a scene when the character has discretionary income.
We've all seen scenes with the wife complaining about the husband always watching sports, but never complaining about him pampering his hi-fi rig.
We've all seen characters with automobiles and other toys that we've envied, but never a stereo system to make you salivate.
Anyone ever see a hi-fi system onscreen worth mentioning?
Just a thought.
The only thing that I can remember is when the billionaire played by Robert Redford put on an LP on what appeared to be a high end turntable in the movie "Indecent Proposal".
I have never seen exposed tubes on-screen, or an amp of any type for that matter. Big speakers, fuggedaboudit...it seems hifi does not fit the decor scheme of movie sets, or more realistically, audiophiles are rarer on earth than Klingons and Romulans and hollywood does not know of their existence.
It would seem that some of the well heeled actors, directors and producers would own a killer 2 channel system and periodically include one in a scene when the character has discretionary income.
We've all seen scenes with the wife complaining about the husband always watching sports, but never complaining about him pampering his hi-fi rig.
We've all seen characters with automobiles and other toys that we've envied, but never a stereo system to make you salivate.
Anyone ever see a hi-fi system onscreen worth mentioning?
Just a thought.
187 responses Add your response
Sadly, I cannot remember the specifics names of the shows/commericals I've seen hi-fi in, but I've seen it every now and then. On some semi-popular 80's movie... the main character runs Krell KSA gear and a TT.. I couldn't make out the speakers as they were just out of the scene. Years ago I spotted some Polk Audio LSi gear in a commercial on Nickolodean. The most shocking surprise I got was when I was flipping through the channels and saw a pair of JM LAB Grand Utopia's on a childrens show (meant to entertain your 3-5 year olds). |
"The Departed" was based on the Hong Kong movie "Infernal Affairs". I have not seen "The Departed", but I've wondered if Scorsese kept the audio store scene. In "Infernal II" and "III", we got to see more of the hi-end store. There was a scene in the listening room and the conversation had to do with crazy audiophiles and tube equipment. Recently, there'a Korean Soap on TV here in the Bay Area and the guy has all Classe equipment with a pair of B&W 801s in his apartment. FrankC |
There was a sex in the city epsiode where one of the chics boyfriends was an audiophile and was playing jazz through a tube system. He was really into it and it was the focus of a 2-3 minute long scene from what I remember. The best part is that the guy turned out to be a dud and only made an appearance for that episode. On point! lol... -Rob |
A few updates for this thread: If you see the movie "Jumper" the guy's place is filled with Meridian gear. If you watch the movie "Basic Instinct 2", Sharon Stone's shrink has some Classe gear in his office. If you watch the show Californication on Showtime, the main character has some old Krell gear (or is Forte or Threshold). Definitely 80s stuff. He has a turntable too, but I cant remember what it is right now. |
If these have been mentioned before forgive me, but this thread is over 4 yrs old and I didn't read through all the posts. Anyway, two films that easily come to mind are Indecent Proposal, where the Redford character had an audiophile turntable and played LPs for romance at a time when LPs were considered (by me, too) totally dead. In The Bone Collector, the Denzel Washington character has a pair of walnut-staved small Sonus Faber speakers mounted near the ceiling and aiming down. Although John Cusack in High Fidelity isn't an audiophile, he does have an interesting mix of mid-'70s hi-fi equipment, and he runs a primarily vinyl store in 2000 before it was hip or popular. |
If Steven Spielberg walked into an audio store, and was mesmerized by say, an Oracle CD transport or turntable, most hi fi store owners: 1) Wouldn't recognize him 2) Would ignore him and/or be really condescending because he was wearing jeans 3) Would discourage and squash his enthusiasm for any stunningly exotic component and attempt instead to get him focused on some tweaky garage built no name brand 4) Finally, would say that, no, he couldn't borrow or return any equipment - even if it wasn't even plugged in during a blockbuster Hollywood scene -- and there would be a 25% restocking fee. Arrogance and incompetence have killed far more 2 channel audio industry sales than video and and the internet combined. |
In American Psycho in the main character Patrick Bateman has KEF 105.3 speakers that are visible in a couple of scenes. The placement is a little off I think. ;) The stereo rack components I couldn't make out though. do search on youtube for American Psycho Hip to be Square and you'll see video where you can see parts of the sound system. The scene is very graphic though with foul language. |
Because high-end audio is just silly business. The greater population could care less about sitting down to listen to music. They are too busy, if they listen they have the perfect system for a busy life, an iPOD. You may think why bother and they are thinking the same thing when we bias a tube or clean a record. |
On the latest episode of 'Californication' a rack of stereo equipment had prominence in the foreground, off to the side, for a couple of scenes. I couldn't make out what they were. There was some high end stuff in 'Die Hard'. There were some Apogee speakers and a high end amp in an office room and the 'terrorists' spoke in German about them. The only other movie that comes to mind was 'Love Potion No. 9'. The hooker used the magic potion to get the guy to give up his Transciptor Turntable (the same one used in 'A Clockwork Orange') and I believe he had some Krell gear as well that went out the door and was dumped in the trunk of a car. |
Fun subject. I think that was a Threshold amplifier and maybe Primer or MF components topped by a turntable in Californication. He was about to buy his daughter a nice Les Paul. Fabio, Anybody who can make a good living by simply having a sense of humor about himself has got to be somewhat cool. http://www.transparentcable.com/news/files/reviews/ref_scottwilkinson_avinteriors.html |
. Saw 'The Mechanic' last night starring Jason Statham. He had what appeared to be a ClearAudio turntable and tube preamp or tube integrated in his killer bachelor pad. Of course he went through the record cleaning ritual before he put the LP on the turntable....that was a nice nod to audiophiles. He also told his house guest to NEVER TOUCH his rig. Later in the movie, the guy foolishly touched his rig, and Jason made him pay dearly for it. . . |
The most memorable "system" for me in a movie was from Philadelphia, as mentioned previously by Tubedaddy. Tom Hanks was an audiophile, given the equipment he owned. But more than that, he was a very passionate listener of music. Touching scene in a very touching movie.....Let's also not forget the giant sub woofer/speaker in that Back to the Future movie. Maybe not high end, but wow..... |
Don't know if anyone else caught this but I saw the latest Chrysler 300 commercial featuring fashion designer John Varvatos. It starts off with him buying a record at a record store and in the end he plays the record and then there is a cut to a shot of a blue meter on an amp. It looked like a an older McIntosh meter but I'm not sure the exact model of it. Also I couldn't ID the cart and table that were in the commercial. The cart was green and white. This reminds me of that Acura commercial some time back where they are talking about luxury and there is one guy next to a sweet looking tube amp or integrated and he says it can produce frequencies a dog could hear. |
A post on another audio site says it was a Teac X-2000r, which is a gorgeous device! |
House lists Sota at the end of the program. I don't watch it, but love Castle and that apartment is great. Haven't seen stereo in it yet, but the last two shows have shown a very big flat screen up on the wall. Covert Affairs shows a nice rig in the living room of the guy who plays the blind computer whiz. |
QUOTE: 07-24-11: Barruch86 In "The Mechanic"(remake)Jason Statham plays a pro-ject rpm 9.2 and a tube amp, not sure what it was though. That was funnier than hell! At this point Statham was really tolerant of the immaturity of his understudy. The kid walks up to the Turntable and starts to play with the tonearm. Statham grabs him and snaps, Dont EVER touch that! Priceless LOL |