The Mainstreaming of Audiophilia


So I found this just goofy enough to be fun: I picked up the May issue of GQ today and found in it a feature which takes a survey of cost-no-object material goods and provides a verdict for each on whether they're worth it. Among the few worth-it winners: Wilson Audio's Alexandra X-2, at $148,000 a pair (hence the speakers forum). The losers include Kobe beef, white truffles, pricey golf clubs, and a night in the Ty Warner suite at Four Seasons (all of which go for a lot less).

It seems to me I've lately seen a decent amount of mainstream press coverage of audiophile goods and issues, from news coverage of the evils of dynamic compression to general-readership features on great headphones, high-end speakers, and the wonders of vinyl. I was wondering if anyone else had noticed incidences of this trend and if we might compile a list--it seems positive to me, and a possible outgrowth of, or reaction against, iPod mania.
ablang

Showing 2 responses by kmulkey

Much of this has to do with the demographics of those who buy this stuff. Namely, baby boomers. Most of us (yours truly included) are making as much as we ever have and have the expendable income to spend thousands on turntables, speakers, amps, and cartridges. Not to mention $30 a pop for the latest re-issue of whomever on vinyl. We remember what a fun ritual spinning vinyl was and we still like it. There's just something "sterile" about putting a CD in a drawer, it disappears and suddenly sound comes out of your kit. It was much more "real" to see a disc spinning.
And we can tell, barring hearing loss, just how horrendous 128, 192 and even 256k mp3's sound. I stop at 256k because I must admit, music I've burned at 320k isn't all that atrocious, though definitely not audiophile quality.