Stereophile Article - Holt telling it like it is.

the sound of stereo systems is far removed and inferior to the sound of live music. it is that way now and was the same 30 years ago.

audio is a subjective, aesthetic medium. while there may be standards of sound quality, they too are subjectively imposed.

since it is all subjective, what one likes = quality.

don't confuse facts with value. quality is not objective. quality is assigned by human beings to a set of conditions. it is arbitrary and there is more than one concept of quality.

live and live and don't worry about what other people think. it is irrelevant. just enjoy the music, regardless of the judgment of others.

gordon holt's view is just one of many. he sounds very dogmatic to me.

Is it me or people making too much out of Atmashperes' comments?

"We've lost our direction....The High End in 1992 is a multi-million-dollar business. But it's an empty triumph, because we haven't accomplished what we set out to do. The playback still doesn't sound 'just like the real thing.'

My living room can never sound like Carnegie Hall or the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Any notion that it can is naive at best and arrogant at worst.

Nor have we solved the common cold, cancer, aids, segregation, poverty, etc.

Some progress has been made.

If all I wanted was accurate music I would only listen to live music. I still enjoy our hobby after 30 years.

Jbaussie, although we can't actually bring the Carnegie into our homes, It is possible to bring it darn close.

Is it me or people making too much out of Atmashperes' comments?

I was interested to learn about the Sound Labs....surely that was worthwhile. I enjoyed Macrojacks anecdote post too - great info on the TT and Tanoys.

I think a very messy room and smoking with cig butts everywhere is distasteful to many people (this was no doubt all Atmasphere meant)...it is, however, an anecdotal tidbit that adds color to the man who is somewhat of a legend in the audiophile niche world. So thx Atmasphere!

Any more on what gear he has used? I am interested considering he critically reviewed so many over such a long period. No doubt he owned many different components at different times - like many of us.