Jadem - I feel the urge to address your most recent comments that seem to question why certain folks are posting here. Perhaps you might consider to extend the definition of "audiophile" to anyone who appreciates the reproduction of music outside of the actual performance, and the associated gear used to reproduce it. My guess is that all who pursue this hobby don't limit the hobby to the same absolutes and extremes that you are writing of here, yet do enjoy it at all the various levels which it can be appreciated on (which are many). That would include ten year old Aiwa's, boom boxes, as well as those who choose to invest larger amounts of money into the hobby. One need not be a champion swimmer to enjoy swimming, nor does a car enthusiast need to own and tinker with Ferraris in order to truly appreciate the automotive hobby. That's a long way of saying that I take exception to your singling those folks out whose investments appear to drop below a certain threshold as not belonging on this forum. I find the elitist viewpoint that appreciating musical reproduction and the associated gear has something to do with some kind of "absolute truth" to be, well, to be polite about it, a bunch of hooey! That said, I agree (I think) with what you seem to be asserting in your original post, that the hobby becomes a pursuit of rapidly diminishing returns as greater investments are made. I'd also be willing to bet that the vast majority of folks posting and reading here are not investing the kind of money into their sytems and related room treatments you are talking about demand. Therefore I wonder why it comes as any surprise that you'd get more than just a few folks raising an eyebrow and questioning the motivations to pursue the hobby to those extremes (which, by the way, I think you addressed quite eloquently as far as your own viewpoint is concerned).
Marco |
JD - Looks like your nose hairs could use some trimmin'! I doubt boom box owners are interested in wires since there are very few connections on your average boom box. Now bring up where to get the best prices on 'D' batteries, or rechargables VS. disposables and you've got yourself an exciting thread!
Marco |
I'd like to add a little chocolate fudge sauce, whipped cream and some jimmies to my apologies. I didn't mean nuthin' by any of it...really I didn't! Just the part about the "hooey", and the elitism, .... but I weren't meaning no harm to JD or anyone else, just funnin' y'all, that's all! I'm a smart-ass, what can I say. I see the opportunity to make smiles amidst the almost mortuary seriousness some of us take our pursuits to with this particular hobby and I grab it by the horns. I appreciate you are doing the same in a way, JD, with your strap-on TNT comparison in the original post. My initial objection about the 'elitist' angle of this, or any other hobby, stands. I truly do not get the pursuit of some "absolute" that does not exist. It is all entirely relative, and my interest in this thread was that it strongly leans towards some kind of "absolute" goal. This was my main motivation for chiming in. I wasn't necessarily trying to say JD is an elitist, though I think he could easily come off that way in the way he stated the follow-up post I responded to, but heck, I don't even know him, nor any of you really. So you can just call me a smart-ass...but there usually is some point buried deep down there in all the silly bits (sometimes they're just silly though). No offense, at least in this case, was intended. There, now I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy inside! C'mon, group hug now!
Marco |
ART ...is the appilcation of a science. Not the science.Science is just another belief like religion.LOL
Math and logarithms are a language of symbols,not an absolute. This reminds me a bit of Art Dudley's piece in the beginning of the Dec. 05 Stereophile (which I could not have said better)! His contributions to that magazine make it worth the cost of a subscription IMO. I'll see if I have some time to look up the quote(s) of his (not online yet) that remind me of what I think you are trying to say (which I applaud with both hands in a most hearty and rhythmic clapping. Can you hear em', cause they're starting to get raw!?) Marco |
Ah, here's a tidbit from Dudley's piece titled "Reistance is Futile" - pick up the December 05 issue of Stereophile if you care to read the rest. I still prefer my own path to audio bliss: I want the music in my home to have a sense of flow and momentum, and I want all the texture, presence, and sense of scale I can get- and I'm willing to sacrifice a certain amount of timbral neutrality in order to be faithful to those other, more important criteria. But I know that my approach is "better" only inasmuch as it's the one I've worked out for myself, howsoever subconsciously, and while it allows me to internalize and enjoy the art of muisic to my own satisfaction, that's all that it does. Art isn't truth, it's freedom from truth: It's the ultimate in relativism, and any approach to diseminating art that seeks to confound that notion is doomed ot irrelievance.
-Art Dudley The rest of the piece is excellent as well, and is certainly worth reading. It will probably be on their website next month if you don't want to buy a copy of the current Stereophile. Marco |
C5150 - Alas, asking ME to correct grammer and spelling is like asking an
infant to do calculus! I'm lucky if I get one or two sentences in without
showing what my least favorite subject in second grade was (actually you're
lucky you did not provide historical references too).
JD, you are obviously a gentleman, to be sharing yourself so generously here,
and with such honesty. I am glad to meet you through this forum. I, on the
other hand, am an acquired taste, and not everyone likes pizza with
pineapples. Might I suggest some Bromo and a hot water-bag for your
stomach after reading my posts. I meant more to provoke thought rather
than to offend, and if I did the latter, I am sorry. I do like to stir the pot on
occasion, and mostly it comes in the form of humor, which I suppose is not
always easy to spot, and certainly not always appreciated by all.
Besides all that, I'm enjoying your thread, so thank you for posting it and
continuing to participate!
Marco |
As for Marco, pay him no attention. Sage advice, as anyone might expect from Albert! I'd recommend following it! Oh yeah, Kitchen photography is my new specialty! I'd highly recommend reconsidering your career direction! Between kitchens, and burning tall stacks of cash, I can hardly find time to eat or sleep! What's a photographer to do? ;-) Marco |
JD - If you would rate your kitchens on the richter scale I will consider each on a case-by-case basis. Did you design for residential primarily? Any specialties yourself? Architecture is only one of mine as a photogrpaher. Architecture was actually my second career choice after photography. I'm glad I went the way I did having seen the struggles of architecture up close and personal, and having got to know a few architects working on various levels. You have my sympathies. I know it has its rewards as well. Anyway, I have yet to master appliance photography but I can always dream.
Albert - Sub Zero makes a very fine little wine fridge with rolling racks. Jeeze, they've come a long way since I was in college. C'mon now, I know you don't need anyone coming round to photograph your mini wine fridge. I'm sure you've got albums full of photos of it already. You're just teasing me now aren't you!
Marco |
How are you about full frontals of a double-breasted Sub-Zero? I have to be honest with you Howard, and tell you that I am not the best qualified to shoot your beloved Sub-Zero nor your Fisher and Paykel double drawer . What you need is an Appliance Photographer to give you your money's worth. It's a whole other specialty field, and the guys and gals that do it have my respect and admiration. I have to warn you, those folks ain't cheap, but you won't just have a photograph, you'll have a family heirloom to pass onto your grandchildren (when they're of age of course). I'll hook you up with an appliance shooter that does discreet work given your request for the X-rated views. Rest assured if you use my guy your fridge won't end up on the Internet on some sleazy site. Now if the built-ins in your kitchen cost over $100K to build and install, and they need to be imortalized on film, then, hey I'm your man! Marco |
Sure Albert, you can substitute Natalie - an excellent choice if I dare say! Ever see her in "Beautiful Girls"? She renders total suspension of disbelief that an adult man could fall in love with a 12 year-old (too late not to have folks peg me for a perv). Great movie too, as is "The Professional" or "Leon" [or "The Cleaner" if you prefer] in a whole other genre, complete with an even younger Natalie, and one of my other favorites, Gary Oldman who is balls to-the-wall in that performance, as he was in "Track 29" ....Hollywood wastes his talent IMO. |
I am qualifying myself as an Audiophile-Lite.small> ...less filling! ...Tastes great! Does that make Jadem an "Audiophile Savant"? Where do I fit in? Wait, don't answer that! Please allow the secret to remain safe in my Audiophile Decoder Ring! Now lets all join in a rousing chorus of the Audiophile Anthem!!! Will everyone please stand.... Marco |
How will you know when you get there? A knock will come at your door, and it'll be God who shakes your hands, hands you a check with eight figures, and tells you, "Congratulations...you're there!" How will you know? Look for the white van marked "Prize Patrol". It only gets better from there. Angelina Jolie happens to catch one of your multiple appearences on the news, leaves Brad Pitt, and seeks you out to have her children and settle down. Your hair grows back. You achieve inner peace and awareness. And that nasty fungus on your left foot finally goes away. All because of that last piece of the puzzle, that new interconnect you finally sprung for! Best $40,000.00 you ever spent, eh? Marco |
