Larry B Nice insight.
As far as complexity, it has benefited the hiend dealer community to obfuscate and complicate to the best of their capabilities. This may bring short term shot in the arm revenue but will ultimately end with a lot of turned off jaded customers.
What I do see is that people could care less about the way things sound, as the low end products have become quite good. In fact, my mother in law was over the other night and said her Bose sounded better than my system because it was surround(!?)
The technology you describe is the death knell for hiend because it is simple, sounds good (to a point) more consistently than a lot of thrown together hiend gear.
Another reason is that some hiend gear is so overpriced for what it delivers as to be ludicrous. This is just another reason that the piper will be paid be unscrupulous manufacturers and distributors at the next economic cycle... |
Seevral things that come to my mind are:
1)Money. People put music low on the priority list.
2)Anlytical listening. Most people don't listen to how the music sounds, they just listen to the music.
3)Many people listen to music only at parties or get-togethers. Music is just in the background.
4) They haven't gotten the disease. Kind of like golf. Once you catch it your hooked.... |
Eagleman,
Good and to the point response. Your second point on analytical listening is so true. |
I'm sorry Eagleman67722 but I disagree w/ your point (2).
IMHO, analytical listening is exactly what will drive people away from audio!
One needs to do analytical listening but only when setting up the system i.e. buying the gear, placing it, speaker positioning, room acoustics fine tuning & tweaking it. Once that is done, hopefully the listener will be listening to music rather than listening to the sound of his stereo (as you have suggested). The gear is just a means to an end. Judicious selection is paramount to getting to that "end" but after the selection, it's time to play music. If one continues w/ analytical listening, one is totally missing the point. Anyway, just my 2 cents. FWIW. |
I think it has much more to do with aesthetics than anything else. Just look at the System rooms of any Audiogon member, and compare it with the audio/HT room of someone who is not into high end. One is displayed as a part of one's life, and the other is hidden.
Virtually everything for sale on this site would lead one to believe that there is a hobby at hand, and most people would rather pay the guy at the big audio chain store to just come in, hide everything in the walls and cabinets, and hand over the decorative, "it even wipes your rump" remote. And the remote--just like the kids toys, the dishes, and the evening mail--is hidden away as well. If it cannot be used without aesthetic intrusion, they don't want it. |
Boa2, you're point about high end being in the hobbyist realm is exactly the problem. Look at how daunting and ridiculously expensive home computers were while they were still for hobbyists back in the late 70's.
With hobbies, user unfriendliness and crazy prices for little iddy biddy things are the rule. Practicality is the very last thing that's important. I guess that's what makes it a hobby.
Unfortunately the kind of good sound you can get before entering the hobby realm has a very low ceiling. This wasn't as true in the days of analog. Those mass market Marantz receivers, a moderately priced turntable and a decent speaker kit where all you needed to get a very pleasing sounding and versatile rig.
The mass manufacturers at some point figured out that features were more important to the consumer than sound quality, so for those where sound is king, we're forced to wade into the waters of the hobbyists. I guess there aren't enough of us around to cater to. |
It takes a learned skill to appreciate music. If you never learned the skill you dont need an audiophile system.
Most people listen to "pop culture" music which requires no skill or time investment - very quick catchy 3 minute tunes.
As an example compare this with an opera singer who spends many many years learning to sing. It would be strange (and insulting to the singer) to think we could immediately appreciate that music with no investment. I would suggest it takes the listener many years to learn to hear and appreciate an opera singer. people dont invest that much time in music anymore and therfore have no need for high fidelity systems or ability to use them. Society is looking for quick gratification and music doesnt offer that. You need many many years of learning, education and patience which is a major commitment.
andy |
That's the best explanation I've ever read for why opera accounts for less than 1% of music sales. |
To Bombaywalla,
Point #2 analytical listening. I checked with my wife who has no interest in high end audio. She doesn't listen to how the music sounds. All she is interetsed in is what song is on and if she likes the song. I began my analytical senses by buying a $10 woofer and hooking it up to my tape recorder back in college in the early seventies. i know I wanted to have strong heavy bass. I didn't care whether it was boomy or not, I just wanted bass. So I took the bare woofer, and pointed it into a corner where it would exhibit a "boom boom" during certain passages.At that point every song that i listen to from then on had to meet a certain criteria. I found that I enjoy music but, it had to sound pleasing to my ears. On the other hand, when I had a friend over and wanted to show off my system, most of the ones who liked music really didn't appreciate my systems dynamics. They either liked the song or they didn't. This is what separates the analytical from the "just plain" music lovers. I have records that I like the music but, can't play them because the recordings are so bad. Every CD with old groups that I purchase has to have a notice that it was digitally remastered or i won't touch it...
Just my .02...... |
Larryb "The most popular types of music - pop, rock and rap is reproduced better on non-audiophile systems."
Huh?
Maybe it's that people who like this type of music aren't the type who are willing to spend a lot of money on a stereo. People making stereo stuff know this and tailor the sound to classical (Sonus Faber for example, Musical Fidelity for another).
I like rock, pop, and some rap and IMHO is is VERY difficult to find a stereo which can do justice to this type of music. ATC active 100's and Naim being the exceptions to the rule. |
Cdc - I'm not sure why you're having such a problem finding equipment to match your musical tastes. My gear has no problem reproducing any kind of music I decide I want to hear.
Perhaps your gear is too "colored" or artificial-sounding. |
Eagleman6722,
Ok! I now see what YOU mean by "analytical". OK, each time I read "analytical" in your text, I'll substitute it with my equivalent word for it - "discriminating". To me "analytical" means somebody critically dissecting the sound into dynamics, soundstage width & height, transparency, air, blah, blah.... All those audiophile words you might have read time & again.
I think what you are after is good & excellent recordings that make the music sound more real rather than the mass-produced CDs you find @ Walmart. Am I right? If so, in my words you are a discriminating music listener rather than an analytical music listener. Anyway, IMHO. FWIW. YMMV. |
Bombaywalla,
Actually I am both. Discriminating as you describe for CDs and records that sound good and analytical. I just changed tubes in my Audio research sp9 Mk2 to Amperex USN-CEP's which completely changed the character of the pre. Last week I bought a TAD-150 on the write ups and advise of Agon members to see if I am getting the best bang for the buck. One of the pres will go, probably the ARc if I agree with the reviews. Then in March when I have a little spare coin , I am sending my McCormack DNA-1 to Steve McCormack for a Rev -B upgrade. So i guess I evolved from discriminating to both over time....
Eagleman |
Hi Rex, I'm happy you have found the system of your dreams. Nope the problem is not coloration. As I said before, I really think the problem is that systems are voiced for people who have a lot of money to spend and most of those people aren't listening to rock. The sytems that "are", have bumped up, underdamped, bloated bass and sometimes a bright tweeter.
Why don't more people love audio? One reason may be because high end audio is not voiced for popular music ("Popular" meaning what most people listen to). |
Sorry, Cdc, but I think your "theory" is ridiculous. |
Hi guys, I'm sorry I don't have the time to read through the entire thread bu I'm interested in the debate between Cdc and Rex. I think good points are made both ways. At age 23 I have quite varied tastes from jazz and a little classical to rock, all the way over to metal and a little hiphop, with various rock genres being my bread'n'butter. I like the musicality, detail and presentation of tubes and have yet to be entirely won over by the SS sond despite the punchier bass for rock and hiphop.
I agree that genres like metal and rap don't always sound "right" on my system BUT I've been able to hear some of this type of msuic through some very nice and very expensive SS gear and I didn't necessarily think that those systems were "voiced" better for those genres. I think it's more a matter of music production, not reproduction. The artists, producers, and engineers know full well that the vast majority of listeners of those genres are not going to be listening on high-end rigs, so the production may flat out not be there--this is espeically true for locally engineered indie rock bands. Some of hte tubbiness in the bass of rap and metal records, I'm finding, is either there on the album, or due to poor electrical and slow cabling in my system.
I listened to Type O Negative's World Coming Down the other day on my current rig and really enjoyed it. It was produced with alot of punch to the kick and bass with a nice wall of guitars. I'm auditioning some Kharma Ceramiques later this week and am curious to hear how it sounds on those puppies! |
Rex, maybe so, but try and find me a review of a component which is made for rock music. Here are some of Sam Tellig's comments:
Harbeth - not for rock.
Electocompaniet / Musical Fidelity / LFD Mistral - "harmonics, lit from within, etc etc."
B&W - classical recording minitor, not for rock
Omega "Chamber music"
Either most components are not for rock or the people reading the reviews aren't into rock so reviewer's don't gear their review for such genres.
If it wasn't for the "toe tapper" crowd in England I think everything we listen on stereo to would sound like Mozart or Yanni. Well, maybe not quit that bad :-). |
CDC and REX, I don't think the problem has to do with what speakers or electronics are made for rock. I believe many rock bands produce music that is either too poorly recorded to be listened to on good systems or the music that is produced is too loud or complex to spund good at a concert, recording studio , or a good system. For instance, I like quite a few Everclear cuts but, I won't buy cd's because it is recorded/ produced or whatever in such a manner that it sounds compressed on any good system. I don't think that you can make a speaker that will cause Everclear to sound good. Then again, I have an AC/DC CD that sounds great and vibrant on my Vandersteens. These speakers are so nuetral they are not biased towards any music except that which is poorly produced or the electronics are poor. Just my .02.
By the way, I am in my early 50's and listen to nothing but classic rock, alternative, punk, and soft rock. No classical or jazz crosses my electronics and my speakers sound wonderful as long as the recording is good.
Eagleman |
Perhaps a point that is being missed in the exchange between Cdc and Rex is that nobody really knows what "real" rock sounds like because it is an entirely invented phenomenon; different for each performer, each band, each session, each performance. There is no "real" electronic keyboard or bass guitar sound in the same sense that one can discern the "real" sound of a violin or a piano. Thus, what one must, by definition, seek in a system designed to play rock is what one finds personally appealing rather than what one finds acoustically "correct." When I listen to a recording of a Bosendorfer Halb-Konzertflugel, I can, if my ears are properly trained, determine the extent to which the reproduction sounds like the real thing. On my current system, I can get reasonably close; on Albert's probably a lot closer. But no one can say that any particular recording of the Thirteen Screamin' Wombats sounds like the 'bats really are because how they really are depends on who is twiddling which knob at which moment. That's not to say that rock is bad music or that high end equipment is wasted on rock afficionadi, only that they may be expected to apply different listening criteria than those of us with a taste for acoustic instruments.
Have fun anyway!
Will |
I'm gonna stick my neck out and state that I think the main motivation behind the pursuit of audio perfection comes down to one thing -- to re-create for a listener through sound alone the same emotional, visceral, participatory experience one has at live performance.
Before there was sound reproduction, if you were rich enough, you had the performers come to you. The audience for that concert was sometimes only one person. (Just like it is for many audiophiles!)
I know (along with photographic hobbyists) we've been accused of being equipment freaks, but you only have to read the volumes of reviews of recordings of every kind to conclude that most of us spend a lot of time LISTENING!
A favorite moment in audio occurred for me when a few of us were listening to a new recording of a very familiar piano concerto on a to-die-for system. It was such an engaging experience that at the final crescendo, everyone broke into spontaneously applause! I rest my case.
Neil |
That is a awesome question.Sometimes people just have not heard how good it can get.i sell coffe,and its a educational process,they will freak out,when its 8 a pound.But they dont know any better.What would quality be if everybody ,everytime bought nothing but quality,all the time,well broke for sure ,I guess all im trying to say people really have no idea at all what they are missing.Back to coffe again they wont pay 8 for a pound of coffee but will drink a cap every day for 2 or 3 and not blink a eye ,and if you can boil water at home you will make a better cup of coffee there every time.Its the same with stereo the bargains on good sound are unbelievable and they are everywhere.hey we are a stubborn species. |
Start with a more basic question - why don't more people love music? It's certainly true, in my experience, that I find a lot more people willing to carry on a conversation about music than audio gear, and I'm sure there is a majority of people, perhaps even a vast majority, who value music to a point that if you tried to take it away from them, they'd yell.
Now, put those people in front of audio enthusiasts and watch what happens. Like somebody with a nagging spouse, any love they start out with gets chipped away at rather than reinforced - "Rap isn't music", "There hasn't been any good music made since I was 18", "Melody is more important than rhythm", "mp3's sound crappy". And on and on. Maybe it's just me, but I'm into music and high-end audio, but exposing myself to others of the audio mindset, these are the messages that just keep being emphasized. It's basically all detriment, no reinforcement.
Assuming that somebody starts with a love of music before "discovering" audio, then they move into figuring out what to buy. And they get more negative feedback - "CD sound is terrible", "Why would you want gear that emphasizes aesthetics", "You have to spend X thousands to get good sound", "Why aren't you sitting still listening instead of talking or paying attention to something else".
The high-end community does nothing but denigrate somebody who is less into audio or music than they are. Spend only low 4-figures and you're buying "mid-fi". Sheesh. I doubt, seriously, that this is significantly different from other hobbies - I can imagine a thread somewhere called "Why don't more people love performance bikes?", coupled with comments about how we tell our potential biking-loving friends that you really don't need to spend more than $3K to get a decent bike.
I have taken to starting as many conversations as I can about music, and I never start a conversation about audio gear. It's amazing to me where I find people who genuinely are into music - I wouldn't even begin to believe I could guess from anything other than asking them, as the patterns are undiscernible. But I find LOTS of people who really enjoy music and want to share their thoughts, turn me onto music, be turned onto music, etc. The only time I talk about audio gear is when somebody suggests that they're thinking of buying something - I offer that I know a lot about gear, and could offer advice on getting the most for their money.
If Audio == high-end in the sense that audiophiles tend to define it, then I think the answer to the original question is because it's so niche that it will never appeal to a wide audience. If Audio means music and music playback systems, then I'd contend that tons of people love audio, they just love it for different reasons than "pure" audiophiles. |
I have read and read these threads and what a great topic, I have what I can afford and wish for more, I love anything that sounds great to me, I wish more people got it and could appreciate or even acknowledge my efforts and share what I think is a great experience, but after the ball got rolling where would it stop? and if it didnt and everyone got on this wagon, where would we go? Part of me is really glad it isnt embrassed more than it is, it is amazing when you have a friend over who discovers it or gets it when they hear the sound, I know it makes me smile, and if someone doesnt get it...when they leave I play something.......and there is my smile back! I used to hear people have hobbies and have wondered for a long time why didnt I have one, I guess I never thought of this as a hobby...it just part of my life. Well now when a job application or whatever asks for any hobbies I can finally fill in the blank! trouble is I dont know if I am an audiophile or an audiofool. I just know im gonna wrap this up and go listen to Steely Dan. |
Chadnliz, for a resume, I'd stick with "audiophile". For real life ... well, I guess we know what we are ;-) |
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Hey everybody,
In my opinion (and experience) our hobby is rather like a religion - tubes vs. chips, analog vs. digital, catholics vs. protestants. I believe whichever church you belong to - you were at some point inducted into it by some individual more enthusiastic about it than you. Whatever convinced you initially (penis envy, cathardic listening sessions/demonstrations, etc.) is/are the same thing(s) that will convince others. I suppose the reason why more people (IMHO) don't love audio is that we probably don't take it seriously enough to: dawn our short-sleeved white button-down shirts, black slacks and tyes, hop on our bicycles and ride around town door-to-door and shove it down peoples' throats. Sorry "Latter-Day Saints"...I'm just picking on you for the mental picture. I just think it's funny reading all the extremely furvent comments. The "tone" of quite a few of the posts seems to conjure images of audiophiles sinking on the Titanic, of the last few drops of water evaporating from the surface of the Earth as our Sun goes supernova. RELAX PEOPLE!!! Human nature pretty well dictates that there will ALWAYS be people not satisfied with the status quo of sound, video, cars, ashtrays, whatever - and as a result there will ALWAYS be someone who likes it just a little more than someone else or thinks that they have the "ultimate answer" or who just wants to make a buck. And on the 8th day God went down to the Earth because nobody in Heaven was aware of the latest advances in Teflon-coated speaker cables nor what effect they will have on His stereo" oh, and, Thou shalt not add, nor subtract from The Absolute Sound." ;) |
Maybe they do, but have you ever been to an audio store where people who wander in are treated nicely, and have people patiently help them put together a MUSICAL system for their budget ? Very rarely in my experience, so how can you expect people to love something they aren't informed about ?
It's audio's fault, even the term " High End " or " TAS " can be offoutting .
More exposure to music in the schools, and parents taking children to live music events seems like a " natural " solution. |
A.J.,
I hope I didn't offend you. My point was just that after reading about the first 20 or so responses (randomly throughout this thread) it seemed to me that people were less concerned about "why more people don't love audio" and more worried about "how soon will my beloved hi-fi hobby come to it's bitter end." |
Bipolars tend to get lost and carried away in the music. Upgrade on a whim for a fleeting perception of hearing something better. Hi end audio would not be the same without them. |
Hi fi is not branded in a way that gives identity, Hi fi tends to reflect ones personality than something to aspire to - that is unless you shop at from some pretentious git.
A car/ house/ clothes/ watch buy you an image - Hi Fi doesn't, unless it reflects a generation in a generic way - ie 80's walkman, 00's IPod. They were not about quality but the status is of cool convenience.
People appreciate Hi Fi who really like and listen to music, there is some 'bling' to it, but only amongst those into it.
Take pride in the fact that your ears and tastes dictate this aspect of your life, and don;t follow the crowd.
Lohan |
With cell phones, music and intercom in all retail stores now, high noise level in many work enviroments, traffic, trains, jets,planes, and boom box car stereos, etc...maybe people just want to rest their ears when they get home. |
Few people have ever developed a musical sense of sound, especially that of acoustic instruments and their subtleties. I suspect this is because the pop music with which we are inundated in public places and on most radio stations was essentially made for harsh Sony and Alpine car systems w/ thumpin' bass, or for computer speakers, or even for phones and MP3 players. It was conceived of from its very beginning as a sequence of thumps, saccharine riffs, insipid squeaking, anything but a rich and complex mix of tones. If that's what people want to listen to, I certainly don't begrudge them that... but to such people, the refinements of AR and Vandersteen are understandably irrelevant. |
We live in a visual world....listening to music requires an attention committment most will not make...many have not been raised to play instruments or love music. |
""Audiophile" recording techniques work best on acoustic music, so it's unlikely that many "audiophile" recordings of hard rock, hip hop, R&B, or rap will be produced. These are the kinds of music that appeal to the largest segment of the public today"
wanderingbob Jul-19-02 Audioreview.com
This was posted back when Audioreview was the best audio site on the internet IMO.
It all starts at the source and if no audiophile recordings exist, why spend big $$$ on an audiophile system. EG if you listen to crap recordings, why get a high resolution system which will only uncover more of the recording crap?
Bad recordings sound worse on a hi-res system than a low res system. |
Maybe they're watching "us" (audiophiles) and think "we're" crazy! |
people do love audio. It is just that peoples definition of what real audio is has changed. When I was a younger fella if you owned a Pioneer reciever with a Dual turntable and a set of J.B.L speakers you were big time. If you sit most people down in front of a $3.000.00 system and put on their favorite tunes they will say that it sounds fantastic, and you know what it probally does sound just fine. Does some lonely audio geek gushing over the improved sound staging that he is getting with his new interconnects that he paid for with all the money that he saved by never dating, sound on his 1950 era mono recording of some classical stuff that he does not even like really represent someone who is really into music. |
My 2p
High end is far from inexpensive (I can't see many disagreeing).
This is not something which is immediately demonstrable to our peers and therefore lacks value (bling) unless I let you into my fortress (house).
Since our other high value items atract more attention, I think this will remain in obscurity. Music will always remain accessible and mainsteam (great!), the quality always (very) personal, the value of our gear *always* insulated from the outside world and because of the price tag and the difficulty / passion / animocity (sp?) about personal preference, a very minority issue.
If high quality sounds were eminating from cars bouncing to the latest tunez, then firstly it would be fab for the technologists, but those who hang out here would hate it because we have probably chosen to be a monirity, because it suits us - for whatever reason. You choose!
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because most people dont understand good music and sound, most people just like to listen to "NOISE" not good music that takes you to heaven. Quite frankly, most/some people are cheap with it comes to audio |
People do: mark my words, the iPod will eventually be that which grows the high end business again. |
The Ipod is headed in the wrong direction. High end audio will flourish again when labor unions return to power and pot is legalized, or when hell freezes over, whichever comes first. |
I think there are several reasons why high end audio is such a limited market. First of all the general public has no idea it exists. The greatest product in the world will not sell if no one is aware of it in the first place. Secondly, people need to be moved emotionally by a system if they are going to shell out extra dollars for a high end rig. Friends of mine thought I should have my head examined for the amount of money I've spent on my system until they came over and experienced an evening of music. When the lights went out and the music started they were awestruck because for the first time an audio system delivered the emotion of music. Every audiophile out there knows exactly what I mean. Another reason is the fact that people tend to be more visual than audio. This is why a family will likely spend several thousand dollars on a new HDTV and next to nothing on audio. Hopefully some day more people will have experienced what hi end is all about! |
I agree with Kentb...and must ask if audiophiles are doing our part to educate our friends, or are we just turning up our noses to their systems? I also agree with Michael Fremer (in his PS AUDIO "Coal to Coltrane" a brief history of power - dvd interview) when he said (to paraphrase him) that his 2nd favorite part of listening to music was bringing "non-audio friends" down to listen to music on his rig. His friends had questions/comments like "Why is it I've never heard about this (hi-fi stuff) before?"...and... "The music doesn't even sound like it's coming from the speakers!"...Has everyone seen this dvd?...it's FREE! GO GET IT!!! We must do our part to make people aware of our passion...if we did this I suspect highend stereo would quickly enter the mainstream! A whole lot of people want this sound, they just don't know it yet! |
Wishful thinking. Most people don't get it and don't care to. That epiphany you imagine that opens everyone's eyes forever to the wonderfulness of high end audio is fanciful at best.
Over the course of thirty years I demonstrated high end audio to thousands of people. Most were already infected before they came to the store but the rest were immune.
I have a very high resolution extremely musical system at home and I show it off frequently. Many of those who have heard my system are musicians and/or music instructors. They never fail to be impressed but they never consider owning anything like this themselves. No amount of instruction or cajiling on my part can awaken a glimmer of ambition.
These people love music. It is their life. They do it all day every day and quite a bit at night too. They all have some sort of sound system but they don't care about quality at all. Just something that works; that's all they desire.
My relatives have responded the same way in recent years. There was a time when nearly everyone wanted stereo but only a small percentage of us took it any further. My own kids have decent systems hooked up to their computers. Both have NAD preamps and NHT Pro M-OO speakers with S-OO subs. Still they listen to headphones most of the time, occassionally using my rig.
Times have changed and audio as we know it is pretty much doomed. Fashions and priorities are moving away from our thing and our numbers are suffering from attrition. |
I've been thinking a lot about what Macrojack said. I don't know about the rest of you but going to a hi-fi shop, as an enthusiastic consumer, has almost always been a BIG disappointment to me. Picture this: you're excitement built, you walk in to you're local shop, you look around for a couple of minutes and a crusty old salesman strolls over to say "hello, how can I (or we) help you today?" I don't know about the rest of you but I always find myself WANTING TO SAY something like: "Well, for starters, you could take a shower...and maybe shave...or just wear some clothes that are less than 10 - 15 years old." But what I DO SAY is something like: "Oh, hello, my name's Bruce, I've been having a problem with this (insert equipment piece here) piece of gear and wanted to stop in to check out a (insert well-researched equipment piece here.) "Well, 1st of all (in a condescending tone, the salesman replies,) you don't want a (insert well-researched equipment piece here), you want this (insert non-researched equipment piece here.) "Okay, why not?" I reply. The salesperson replies, "Here, have a seat (on this dirty ol' sofa or chair,) let me go find a (particular & likely unfamiliar - to me at least) cd." So, for 2 - 3 minutes I'm stuck there waiting for them to return with some music I (most likely) care nothing for, while I could be exploring the gear in that room. They come back muttering something to themselves like "where on earth did that damn disc go?" "Okay, listen to this..." the salesman demands. Hmm, smooth jazz, GREAT, my favorite (not.) The salesman disappears again for 5 minutes and comes back to ask "so...?" "Well, to be honest (cause it's the best policy ;), it sounds like there's a speaker wired out of phase." "No, the salesman replies, I checked 'em (the speakers' phase) MYSELF, last week." "Okay, thanks for the demo, but I've got to get going." "Alright, says the salesman, 'here's my card, let me know if I can help you." Where do you think THAT card is going? Arghh!...very frustrating, but VERY TYPICAL! With sales people as enthusiastic and knowledgeable as him - it's no wonder more people don't care about (and aren't willing to make any space and time for) audio! A passion for the high end audio hobby is just like any other hobby; it's the net result of "seeds" correctly planted & properly maintained in the minds of newcomers by fellow passionate hobbyists. Imao audio is less like a disease (or "infection") & more like a religion. Thus, it's the responsibility of the "church (of hi-fi") to convert & help newcomers establish a meaningful relationship with the hi-fi gods. If we don't do it - who will?
-The Reverend Bruce30
Ps. Show me a kid who enjoys his (or her) parent's hobby & I'll show you 100 more who don't. |
Intelligence and sensitivity are just not that common. |
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many of the comments i have read reveal an alitist and condescending attitude. what happened to "live and let live" ? or "judge not lest ye be judged" ?
lead a horse to water. if the horse doesn't want to drink, leave the horse alone.
it is not a matter of intelligence or discernment, but rather a matter of priorities. one should not be critical of the way in which others experience recorded music.
sometimes audiophiles set an example of behavior that is offensive. let's look in the moirror before judging others. |
Some people really focus and enjoy the things they like best in life. Me personally I couldnt imagine better entertainment than music
Hunches I have that people may not invest as much audio as others would be you arent always showing it off to others eyes and it does take an effort to sit back relax and enjoy the tunes. |
I remember when I was about 12 or so and I was at a friend's house. I heard someone playing a piano so I went in search of it only to be shocked to find it was my friend's father playing a record on an audiophile system. It sounded like it was in the room with me and I was blown away.
Later on I would visit audiophile stores occasionally growing up, but everything just seemed exorbinately expensive so I kind of half forgot about it.
Many years later I got a pair of Infinity speakers that sounded great for free. I thought I really had it made. Don't get me wrong, I'm a music fanatic, more fanatical than most people I've come across. I'm even a part-time DJ. Every once in awhile I'd think about getting better equipment but I thought, what could possibly be the difference between cd players other than just features? What could possibly be the difference between amplifiers other than just power? Still, I suspected I was missing out.
Recently I started a thread on the board of a music group about how people were losing interest in sound quality, what with the popularity of ipods, mp3's, listening to music through crappy computer speakers, etc. Once I brought up the word audiophile and upgrading my equipment to higher end stuff, almost no one had anything to say.
Then I decided to start probing into the world of auidophile equipment on line. Let me tell you, I was astonished, just completely blown away. I really had no idea that it was such a huge industry, that there was equipment that was better, and better still and on into the stratosphere in both quality and expense. I really had NO idea all this existed even with my slight exposure to it in the past.
People here must know that it's a subculture that exists below the radar screen and unless you've really had a lot of direct exposure to it or suspected like me that it was there and went looking for it, chances are people don't know it exists.
I think knowing it exists, some would care and some wouldn't. Many people are infatuated to death with convenience and portability these days and as long as they can hear the music, that's alright for them. If they're really ambitious they might go to Circuit City or Best Buy and buy some of the higher end mass produced models, but chances are they have no idea how high the end goes.
Then there's the sheer cost. Even for people like me who suspected it was there, it always seemed like a radical extravagance. I mean, here I am looking to spend $1,500 or so on equipment as a newbie audiophile and that seems like an extreme extravagance and borderline irresponsible, and that's nothing close to what many spend. Then again, maybe some of those people make a whole lot more than I do at the moment or have been working at slowly upgrading for years or decades.
I always wanted my music to sound great, and I care more than most people I've come across. If I had truly known what was available, I very likely would have acted a lot sooner. |
