Movie systems cost $200K? If true they are being ROBBED by installers...a first class full range live PA with flown array speakers and piles of amps, monitors, and mixers can be bought for less than that.
I've been amused by Audio Salon pretention for many years...in NYC and elsewhere. Ever get buttonholed by a Linn salesman? "Listen to the RHYTHM"...jeeze...and now in the local Audio Salon where I live they are rarely helpful about anything, and have, of course, absolute opinions coming out of their collective bums and have very little time to discuss anything, let alone have you listen to things...so I buy things here and Ebay. |
The High End never had a clue how to market themselves to the Great Unwashed. The demise of so many "Audio Salons" proves that point and it's sad...instead of helping people see the virtue of beautiful music as self evident, they cater to the .1 of 1% of us who are compulsive hobbyists and sniff at the unsophisticated potential customer as unworthy af attention. People with no interest in audio gear per se hear my system and say, "wow...that sounds AMAZING" and I point out that it all cost me less than a decent swiss watch. Why don't the gear manufacturers buy adds in the NY Times? Because people are too stupid to get it?...although people buy a Mercedes or BMW and THAT marketing seems to make sense somehow. |
Do what I did...having been a musician for many years I volunteered to help with the sound for a monthly "folkie" concert series in a town I moved to in 1999...this lead to my designing their system and then running it for 9 years (this also lead to doing other "soundman" gigs for PAY even...still do a few), until I moved away. It covered many bases: I got my "Gear Head Geek" on with the sweet pro gear, I heard and hung out with the BEST touring singer/songwriter/pickers I could imagine, and could sit there and be "Knob Turner" dialing in what I thought sounded best while recording everything. In Stereo...like I said...do that...it was as if I was stealing beauty. |
For clarification: "Paid that dub" means one has provided financing for dialog editing in a film or audio recording. "Hundred thousand system moved" means the writer had mistakenly parked his used Bentley on the stage at the Hollywoood Bowl and hired a crane to remove it so the orchestra could perform. |
Few retail businesses have the potential "snoot factor" that "High End Audio SALONS" can have. I've spent bundles of cash in the ones who merely treat me with courtesy and professionalism and laugh at the others. That said, if the "salon" wants to charge to hear things, it's up to the public to accept it...and I bet it would be seen as a "last gasp" of an apparently elitist establishment on their way to Chapter 11. |
Dealers who would encourage limiting their customer base in ANY WAY, either with an elitist attitude or fees, I would consider insane and clearly not interested in staying in business. Having seen a lot of high end audio places die over the last several years (and employing one former owner at my own financial services company) I can suggest to these last few to open the doors wide. The fact that anybody whould feel guilty visiting a retail location when not intent on buying anything in particular should cause the sales people to panic. They should host free concerts and PAY the musicians, free manufacturer seminars, give out free munchies and baloons (well...maybe not baloons), do SOMETHING to lure people in there so they can educate the public about their groovy piles of gear and maybe SELL SOME OF IT. There are plenty of reasons for the lack of interest among most people in high end audio, the most obvious being retailers not seeming to be interested in reaching out beyond their core of "hobbyists", and that is just sad and more than a little stupid. |
Balloons. Bad spelling is part of my charm. |
I think "whoring out" a high end audio system turns the owners into "audio pimps." Sleezy back door deals would be made..."OK Bob...10 bucks and you can hear the intro to Mahler's 8th and THAT'S IT pal!" "Hey there mister...wanna come in for some Chesky 180 gram?...come on baby..the first 3 minutes are FREE!" I can see the drooling audiophiles in the alley digging into their Dockers for a crumpled 20 to slide into the greasy palm of the doorman..."Come on dude...I gotta hear the Magicos...please man...all I got at home is Adcom and Polk." Then, of course, the gear world would be littered with Wilson Sophias in tattered grill covers and shop worn woofers wandering Ebay with no shread of self respect... |
Mitch4t...Wow...that one just steamed right by ya! Sorry though. I do have trouble with the practice of any form of mirth control. However, I suppose humorous or satirical writing has NO place in an audio forum and from now on I promise to be dreary and technical and keep my satirical rants to myself. Or not. Please let me know when I cross the line...I can also loan you a ladder to help insure that in the future less things go over your head. |
Yo Mitch4t...my day job is Comedy Writer.
And I would pay $20 to watch people scurry around wiring up a 200K system I've designed for them to assemble for me. That in itself would be worth it..."little to the left there Bob...and don't forget the Magic Bricks and Mpingo discs"...listening to it would be gravy after watching a sweaty tech earn less than an oil changer at Jiffy Lube. Still, to revisit the real world for a moment, I think these high end gear sales dudes are missing a great opportunity that recently was grabbed by the guitar freaks...make it sexy. Ever see "Guitar Aficionado" magazine (pretty funny over the top nonesense)? It's pure "guitar porn" not really matched by any of the hifi mags I've seen...and the overpriced world of "guitars actual musicians can't afford" is booming. If you look at an issue of Architectural Digest, except for maybe an overstuffed "Media Room" for film and popcorn digesting, there is almost NEVER a visible "wealth level appropriate" audio rig anywhere. |
If an audio dealer wanted to check my credit before letting me listen to THINGS THEY WERE TRYING TO GET ME TO BUY, they would never again see me or my hard earned money. Is there some weird cult of salespeople worship going on here? At a fave museum of mine you can stand right in front of a Van Gogh with a swiss army knife in your pocket, and that sucker is worth more than any hifi gear (the painting, not my little knife). I don't think any damage can be done to audio gear by listening to it. Test driving a car has obvious risks. I played a friend's $200,000 guitar once (59 Les Paul Standard)...I could have dropped it I suppose, but hey, life is risks! Also, when I listen to some amazing music on my system late at night I think, "man...this sounds like a million bucks". |
The level of insulation from the Real World among the Audiophelia (that sounds like a creepy hearing fetish) always mystifies me...I don't think anybody noticed the point I made that high end retail places are awful at attracting new biz...and it is completely their fault. Could they host a jazz band or a solo guitar player maybe? No. And aren't manufacturers dying to come in and show off their stuff? Maybe not, unless they set up a system in a stark hotel room at a show...pathetic. |
There are a LOT of humans involved in my stereo...the people who designed the components and sold them (inspired me to buy their stuff) to me are represented well...they aren't in the room with me, but I've been playing for people in clubs, at concerts, and on recordings for over 40 years and trust me...a lot of those actual live people aren't there even when they're there. So there. My stereo is one of the most animate objects I have, it has soul and personality and turns electrons into art...and I'm speaking from a performing musician perspective, and as an obvious philosophical genius (obviously).
Regarding the audio retailers, as with most other semi-dead businesses, they seem to lack spark and creativity...If I put those lazy hours into any of my successful businesses (ar live performances) I would have lost a pile of money...you need to KICK ASS in the business world (and the music performance world) or you get what you deserve...failure. |
