[Audio_Empire]

In article ,
"Gary Eickmeier" wrote:

Your tale wouldn't be all that surprising if the others
haven't had any
listener training. They probably don't work in the industry as
you do,
probably have never compared a compressed to the original
file, have no idea
what to look for. Or is it listen for.

IOW, they either can't or won't hear.

And yes, that does make their pronunciations about cables and
amplifiers all
the more silly.


No argument, there.

Of course there are many reasons why people become "audio enthusiasts"
Some get hooked by the sound that is possible from a home rig, some are
just in love with the music, and some just like the equipment and there
is a subset of the latter: Those who love the "bling" and bragging rights
of owning eye-wateringly expensive gear (many of the audio rags fall into
catering to this group). It used to be that it was said that a modest
investment would bring one to within 85% of the stat-of-the-art. Buy
an AR Turntable ($69), a Pickering Cartridge ($11), a Dynaco Stereo-70
Power amp ($105, $70 as a kit), a PAS-2 Preamp (~$70 - less as a kit),
a Dynaco FM3 tuner ($50) and a pair of AR3AX speakers ($240) and for
around $500, you were "in" the high -end.

Each C-note expended above that level, would inch one, in half-steps
toward the ultimate available at the time. Cost is no object would get one
to about 98% of that goal. Today, that only applies to speakers. and not
linearly, even then! With electronic audio equipment there is literally
no correlation between expenditure and results. Take two power amps of
the same power. One is plain-jane and costs several hundred
dollars and sounds good because it's well-designed. The other
has an inch-and-half thick machined front panel and endcaps and costs
many thousands of dollars. They might perform so closely to one another
that DB listening tests will reveal no sonic differences. On the other
hand, it is possible for just the opposite to be true, and for the more
expensive unit to actually outperform a lower cost, but similar device.

P.S. Anyone contemplating the purchase of a power amp, are doing
themselves and their pocket books a big disservice if they don't explore
the music reinforcement amps from the likes of Behringer, Peavy,
and Crown. You'd be surprised how much power, audio performance and
indestructible reliability that can be had for so little money.

Audio_Empire