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The Hub: In Defense of Audiophilia

This piece was written for the wonderful tech website Gizmodo, whose readers tend to be highly skeptical of all things pertaining to the high end. Consequently, some of the points made may be familiar to our more-seasoned Audiogoners. We hope that you will enjoy it anyway, and hope it will prompt some productive discussions regarding the world of the high end, and how it is viewed by "regular" people.

Now, for your reading pleasure, "In Defense of Audiophilia", reprinted thanks to the kindness of the fine folks at Gizmodo:

It rarely occurs to me to defend my interest in recreating the sound of live music. I do it because I love to listen to beautiful sound. Is wanting great audio crazy?

A series of events—and evangelists—led me from a casual like of the pop songs I heard on my tiny transistor radio to an obsessive immersion in music.

Growing up in the early '60's, I heard the Hi-Fis of my parents and many of their friends. The turning point for me was an uncle's set-up with huge Altec Laguna corner-horns and an Ampex reel-to-reel tape deck; I can still remember my astonishment at the lifelike presentation of Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall seemingly right there in front of me. I quickly learned that music I didn't like could be captivating when played back on a "big Hi-Fi".

Since that time I've worked in all areas of the audio industry and I still look for that same overwhelming sense of involvement with whatever music or sound-system I encounter. Many of the recordings I hear today are flat, compressed and uninvolving, but wonders still await in those old recordings made in the single-mic/vacuum tube era.

Even such often-heard chestnuts as the Flamingos' "I Only Have Eyes for You" provide moments of joy and discovery when heard over a high-resolution sound system. The music is not just a song but an event, a recreation of a particular time and place, with a sense of both the performers and the original recording venue. The effects can be addictive.

How is it that Hi-Fi—or High End Audio—once the domain of doctors and attorneys, celebrated in magazines like Playboy and Esquire, essential element of bachelor-pads and dorm rooms alike, has come to be viewed as the realm of obsessives, a perverse diversion that requires defensiveness on the part of the "victim" of this illness?

When was the last time you heard someone defend the purchase of a large flat-screen television, or a home theater system?

Everyone understands the desire to create a greater sense of immersion in films and sports-events; why is it hard to understand the desire for the same sensation with music alone?

For over 20 years I've attended the mammoth, trade-only Consumer Electronics Show. During that time, I've seen dozens of demonstrations of the current state of the art in video technology; first with standard CRT monitors, then projection, HDTV, plasma, LED, LCD, and most recently, 3-D technologies. Not once have I heard a fellow show-attendee say, "I'm not sure I'll be able to see the difference. I think my old Zenith is good enough."

Those demos have been effective in conveying the improvements made in picture detail, depth and color rendition; each year's progress has been immediately obvious to all those present. Once you're acclimated to the increased level of involvement brought about by improvements in video technology, going back to a 19" black and white portable becomes unthinkable.

Conversely, a refrain I've heard repeatedly during my 40-year involvement in audio has been, "I don't think I could hear the difference with that really expensive stuff. I think my console/ jambox/iPod is good enough."

For some reason, serious music-lovers and casual listeners alike are often convinced that whatever sound systems they've heard, well, that's as good as it gets. Not only are they unaware that higher-quality sound systems are available and could greatly enhance their listening experience, it seems they are unable to even conceive of better sound-quality.

It's as though having driven a creaking Volkswagen Beetle, they're unable to even process the concept of a VW Golf, much less a Bugatti Veyron. For those few who are aware of the world of High End Audio, expense in audio equipment is equated with loudness and Shaquille O'Neal-sized speakers, not with improvements in intelligibility, detail, frequency range or the listener's emotional connection to the music. And let's not even consider such abstruse ideas as "soundstaging", "depth of image" or the like.

It is a problem the audio industry has brought upon itself. Rather than emphasizing how High End Audio can bring more enjoyment and involvement into the lives of music lovers, we have demonstrated systems with spectacular boom-and-blast film soundtracks at sound pressure levels close to those of a 747 in final approach. In my mind such bruising demos date back to the arrival of "Sensurround" systems in theaters in the '70's (think THX with plaster-cracking bass), and certainly the arrival of sub-woofers in home theater systems made for a more sound-effects-oriented sales pitch.

Today, we live in a world in which we are constantly bombarded by music, and thanks to the iPod, we can provide a soundtrack to our own lives. We are perhaps more aware of and attuned to music than at any time in history. But that does not mean we sit and actually listen to music, following a vocal part throughout a choral piece, or picking out Paul McCartney's jazzy bass-lines in an old Beatles track. Music is just there, as background noise.

Actual listening is an oddly Zen activity, a combination of awareness and anticipation. It is anything but passive; immersive listening is active and involving. It can be as overwhelming and emotional an experience as a great novel or movie.

Does audiophilia require a defense? Perhaps; there are any number of anti-social dweebs obsessed with the size of their speakers, just as there are any number of middle-aged-crazies seeking validation with that new red Porsche.

The act of listening, becoming involved with music, requires no defense! It doesn't require megabucks or Stonehenge in the living room to become more aware of and involved in music; good quality sound systems start around a grand, and vintage used gear can often be had for almost nothing.

Affordable Starter Audio Gear
The best place to see what's available in both new and vintage audio gear is Audiogon. Founded in 1998, the 'gon, as it's known to its ardent users, is the world's most heavily trafficked audio website, and a place where you might see everything from iPod docks to plasma loudspeakers (no, not plasma TVs). As Director of Marketing for the site I'm clearly biased, but more than 250,000 registered members visit the site regularly; many would say "obsessively".

A number of new products offer incredible bang for the buck. Seth Krinsky'sVirtue Audio offers the tiny ONE.2 amplifier for $349; while small enough to fit under a computer monitor, the ONE.2 has 30 watts per channel of superb quality sound, and is routinely demonstrated at shows powering those huge megabuck speakers we all make fun of. Next to the speakers, the ONE.2 looks like a Chihuahua hangin' with a Great Dane.

Peachtree Audio offers two game-changing products in the Nova and the iDecco. The $1199 Nova is an 80 watts/channel integrated amp with a cool vacuum tune preamp, and includes an excellent DAC (digital to analog converter) so that computer and iPod sources can be used with the big boy system. The $999 iDecco offers fewer inputs, 40 watts/channel, but has a built-in iPod dock. Both have headphone amps, and are beautiful and beautifully made.

Distributor Roy Hall is a grumpy Scotsman with a talent for finding great-sounding bargains. His Music Hall Audio offers the Australian-made AktiMate speakers with built-in amplifiers and iPod docks. The work of legendary audio designer Mike Creek, the AktiMate Mini is $699/pair, with 40-watt amps; the $1099 Maxis have bigger cabinets for more bass, and also include a Reciva internet radio. Music Hall also offers a line of quality turntables at reasonable prices.

In the audio world, former eastern bloc nations are the new China; dozens of great-sounding, well-made audio products from eastern Europe are appearing on the market. Dayens, from Serbia, offers the $500 Ampino integrated amp and $400 Tizo speakers, both of which sound as good as many products four times their price. Distributor Arte Forma Audio seems to have no working website; call them at (404) 840-6052.

Perhaps the biggest change the iPod has made in the audio world is that it's made people used to wearing headphones (or at least earbuds). If you want to bypass speakers altogether, there are dozens of choices in good headphone amps and headphones. A newcomer to the headphone amp world is Schiit (!); industry veterans Mike Moffat and Jason Stoddard offer killer American-made amps for $249-$349. Couple them with phones from Grado, Sennheiser, Beyer, Audio-Technica or Denon, and you might never leave home again!

The world may be getting more expensive every day, but the audio world has never offered as many bargains as it does right now. Try them!
audiogon_bill
don_c55
1,025 posts
 
I think the main problem is the fact that the music listened to by today's young audience is so poorly recorded, that it sounds much better on ear buds and iPods, than it does on a good quality High End system.

Today's younger audience simply does not like classic rock, jazz, or classical music.
ferrari
617 posts
 
Perhaps Simon Yorke here has hit the nail on the head.

When Henry T Ford conceived the idea of mass-production, he envisaged a world of plenty, of unlimited resources, wealth, and boundless opportunity to create profit. In time, however, we have witnessed mass-production stimulate mass-consumption to the point where our lives have become dictated to by a world of epic commercialism that has overrun all other meaning.

In our centrally-heated homes we are insulated from the cold, the light, the wind, the rain and much of the feeling of being “alive”. We have become creatures of an unreal, robotic world, denying our true nature, and it seems to be bringing us little other than anguish and confusion. Our modern factories consume resources at one end and produce an endless stream of products at the other – each new product remorselessly designed to allure us with its advertised essentiality – thus perpetuating the whole destructive system. And though we know that this syndrome cannot be sustained we seem largely unable, or unwilling, to face reality and search for a more realistic, satisfying and responsible means of existence.

In this world of mass-manufactured items, all aspiration towards excellence in craftsmanship has been discarded in favour of the predictability of the robot; the desire for quality has given way to the demands of quantity and price, and the quest for profit has consumed almost everything in its wake. It is an evolutionary process that is destroying not only our physical world, but our spiritual wealth also. The emphasis upon science as the sole driving force of our modern society has led to the wholesale abandonment of concern for the nourishment of the inner or spiritual self. The accumulated wisdom of preceding generations has been arrogantly discarded in favour of a blind pursual of an ‘instant science’ which leaves us without beliefs, feelings or understanding.

I have great admiration for the high principles of our forefathers; for their undoubting vision and respect for preceding cultures; for their great cathedrals and works of art, and for their perfectionist attitude. One needs only to examine closely the everyday products of our modern society to conclude that the technological ground we have gained since their time has been largely at the expense of the human satisfaction they seem to have enjoyed. So many of our modern products are unfulfilling in terms of design, manufacture and ownership: they meet daily needs in a perfunctory, businesslike manner, but fail to stimulate our inner sense of beauty, feeling and understanding. In short, they fail to satisfy our true humanity, and accordingly cost us dearly.

Our world is abrim with ordinary products meeting ordinary needs: this is mediocrity, and in my view mediocrity is our greatest sin for it belittles us and our achievements, and discredits our intelligence and greater wisdom. It is my desire to produce only the very best that I am capable of; I aspire towards excellence, for it is my belief that only through such an approach can true meaning be found. And surely it is the search for meaningful experience that is the very essence of humankind. Of course in business it is necessary to make a profit, but there must, for me, be something greater than a simple financial goal: a desire to create art that steps beyond the daily reality of our lives, that reaches into and stimulates our inner selves. An art which has respect for the music and culture it serves and which seeks, genuinely, to enhance the lives of others.

Building musical instruments (for that is how I consider my work) is an important and serious business. I do not view these creations as mere products: they embody a philosophy which is important to me. I therefore continue to strive toward the design and construction of real musical instruments, better able to help people experience their emotional selves more honestly, and to encourage a deeper and more rewarding relationship with the wonder and passion of our musical inheritance. For within this musical history is contained all the hope, pain, joy, wonder, desperation and inspiration of our species. Perhaps more succinctly than all other forms of human expression, it is music which most honestly reflects our true humanity.

The purpose of “Simon Yorke Designs” is thus to offer a meaningful alternative to the vain, destructive and often nihilistic rationale of the modern “fast-moving-consumer-goods”-led society: to mingle philosophy with craftsmanship, art with engineering, and present the refreshingly simple ways of Zen, as best I can, in reverential sculpted form. It is my hope that through this work I can be of some value to our world.

Simon Yorke, (August 1992)

My observation that we as a people be it audio or something else have adopted an attitude of "close enough for government work" We have become accustome to accepting something less, as to be the new standard, for the sake of expediency. And there are loads of manufacturers both in this industry and in other industry that have subscribed to this philosophy. If we as audiophiles do not demand more of the industry as well as the music industry in itself, then we will remain on little more than life support.

Titans such as Nelson Pass, Prof. Keith Johnson and others are like me not getting any younger. I do not see on the horizon the truly gifted minds coming forth and pushing the envelope of technology, such as we had at the birth of high end in the early to mid seventies. I do know that these people have to exists somewhere, they always do. Perhaps in the future they will come forth in the years to come. Just a thought.
decibelcat
30 posts
 
"... in addition musical appreciation in the school may not do a very good job and may not focus on the value of generating "good" sound."

What music appreciation classes in the schools? Arts and music were the first things to go when school boards started cutting their budgets. A shame, especially when you consider the following:

A student hits one ball in three during his high school baseball games. Big league scouts come to see him play, offer him professional contracts and he gets to date popular girls on the weekends.
Another student catches half of the balls thrown to him during his high school football games. College coaches visit with his parents, offer him scholarships and he gets to date pretty cheerleaders on the weekends.
A third student plays in the high school band and misses one note in a hundred. His band leader chastises him in front of his band mates and the nerdy girls will not even consider dating him.

So, which teaches discipline and teamwork more - sports or music?
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
hi ferrari:

what you have delineated is greshams lwas applied to audio, as well as make other points.

while i subscribe to the aforementioned principle , i don't think it fully explains the apucity of audiophiles, as a percentage of the popoulations, or as a percentage of those who listen to music of all ages.

rather, i reiterate that the experience of listening to music is sufficiently satisfying to most people without achieving a level of sound quality required by audiophiles.

it is a matter of priorities and sound quality may be less important than some other endeavor.

there have been two articles in stereophiles written by markus sauer, years ago. one of them showed, on a statistical basis, that the satisfaction accruing from listening to music was independent of sound quality.
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