I'm surprised so many people agree with this fellow. Im sorry, but as one of the younger folks on A-Gon he sounds to me like nothing more than a bitter old man whos pissed off because the world of hi-fi didnt adhere to his very narrow vision of this hobby. He also seems to think that there was a time when he was the only voice and vision of all audiophiles and as contentious as the debates on this forum are I highly doubt that. His dogged insistence that the only goal of hi-fi should be perfect reproduction of the sound of real music in a real space is silly.
I like listening to my system because I love music. The sound quality is certainly important but not always paramount and I dont have any foolish notions of being able to recreate Carnegie Hall in my 18x15 family room. I just like to listen to music.
Is the industry suffering under its own inaccessibility? Yes, certainly. Its completely lost its appeal as something that most people aspire to own because most people dont see the value in it. Its the same reason most people choose a Chevy over a Rolls Royce. Both perform the same basic functions but for most people one is justifiable and one is not. For most people playing music on any old thing is good enough, and the more stratospheric hi-fi becomes the more people are simply going to settle for good enough.
Thats what happens when you put your manufacturing dollars into smashing the last 99th percent out of a system instead of making something thats merely really good and packaging it in a way that people want to live with. Someone will buy that highest performance piece, it might even be me, but it wont be most people. And then were really going to wring our hands because sales are declining? Really?
I wonder if Mr. Holt, is really all at the point where he cant enjoy a record because the sound quality is mediocre? Am I missing something? Should I toss my Charlie Parker recordings because the acetate pops? The first time I heard Coltrane was out of a single speaker in a really loud 1979 F-150 but it still grabbed my attention.
And frankly, whats wrong with good sound is whatever one likes? Otherwise youre presuming that there is some perfect, agreed upon standard of what good sound is. Two people sitting right next to each other in a concert hall can hear totally different components of the music and take away a vastly different live experience. Suggesting that there is some attainable perfect reproduction of live music is fallacious for a lot of reasons and very few of them have anything to do with hi-fi technology.
I dont care if this guy is a legend in the industry. Hes a crank.
I like listening to my system because I love music. The sound quality is certainly important but not always paramount and I dont have any foolish notions of being able to recreate Carnegie Hall in my 18x15 family room. I just like to listen to music.
Is the industry suffering under its own inaccessibility? Yes, certainly. Its completely lost its appeal as something that most people aspire to own because most people dont see the value in it. Its the same reason most people choose a Chevy over a Rolls Royce. Both perform the same basic functions but for most people one is justifiable and one is not. For most people playing music on any old thing is good enough, and the more stratospheric hi-fi becomes the more people are simply going to settle for good enough.
Thats what happens when you put your manufacturing dollars into smashing the last 99th percent out of a system instead of making something thats merely really good and packaging it in a way that people want to live with. Someone will buy that highest performance piece, it might even be me, but it wont be most people. And then were really going to wring our hands because sales are declining? Really?
I wonder if Mr. Holt, is really all at the point where he cant enjoy a record because the sound quality is mediocre? Am I missing something? Should I toss my Charlie Parker recordings because the acetate pops? The first time I heard Coltrane was out of a single speaker in a really loud 1979 F-150 but it still grabbed my attention.
And frankly, whats wrong with good sound is whatever one likes? Otherwise youre presuming that there is some perfect, agreed upon standard of what good sound is. Two people sitting right next to each other in a concert hall can hear totally different components of the music and take away a vastly different live experience. Suggesting that there is some attainable perfect reproduction of live music is fallacious for a lot of reasons and very few of them have anything to do with hi-fi technology.
I dont care if this guy is a legend in the industry. Hes a crank.