The future of "high end" audio
On Saturday, November 30, 2013 5:22:52 AM UTC-8, KH wrote:
On 11/28/2013 8:27 AM, ScottW wrote:
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On Wednesday, November 27, 2013 6:35:32 PM UTC-8, Audio_Empire wrote:
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On Wednesday, November 27, 2013 9:51:01 AM UTC-8, ScottW wrote:
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On Monday, November 25, 2013 4:38:37 PM UTC-8, Audio_Empire wrote:
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But we part company when you start comparing iPod and iPod-like devi=
ces and ear-buds favorably with a good stereo system.
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I think you're kind of missing the bigger picture here.
he wasn't addressing any "big picture" he was addressing the assertion that=
current portable audio systems have bridged the gap between high end audio=
.. Something you seem to agree has not actually happened.
An iPod and=20
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earphones are a much better "stereo system" than *I* grew up with. It=20
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was an easily understandable desire, in our formative days, to want a=20
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better 'standard' stereo system than we actually had. The difference=20
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between "typical" and "good" stereo systems was simply enormous. At=20
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least in my neighborhood.
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snip
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Maybe such a playback is satisfying to you, but I know many audiophi=
les including myself, that
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would not find these portable devices anything more than a convenie=
nt way to carry their music with them when they need to do so.
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I don't understand your point here. If you don't find these 'portable=20
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devices' satisfying - at the time and place you use them - then why use=
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them, convenient or not? They are not, to me, *as* satisfying as my home=
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system is, but they are orders of magnitude more satisfying than the=20
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dreck I grew up listening to.
Since Audio Empire has made it clear that he doesn't use them it is kind of=
odd to ask him why he uses them.=20
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There is another area where earphones (any of them) are less capable, =
and that's comfort.
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Have to agree there.
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snip
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As Scott said, it is the golden age of hi-fi. It's just not the era o=
f big $$ hi-fi. Convincing young
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people they need to spend big $$ on audio gear is going to take an ad=
campaign equal to the one the
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gov't is waging to convince them to buy overpriced health insurance.
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But that's the thing; I don't think you will ever convince millenials=20
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that they *need* high dollar audio gear. The iPod level gear they've=20
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grown up with is not *so* far away from "good stereo" that they are=20
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blown away (as I was, and you likely were) when they first hear one.=20
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They are also used to a different musical environment, the convenience,=
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the streaming, etc., that simply wasn't a part of "our" equation.
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In their world, they have to give up a lot to get that improvement in=20
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sound. And most pop recordings don't allow for a huge difference in=20
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quality either. So what's the "hook"? I don't see one, not for the=20
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young folks I know.
There is no hook. It is as it has always been. Audiophiles are the exceptio=
n not the rule. But one has to know high end audio even exists to actually =
get into it. That has always been the issue for that market. There are no m=
ore or less potential audiophiles amongst today's youth than in the past. B=
ut there are some.
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But the average joe has NEVER been into hi-fi.
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No...the average younger joe has grownup with hi-fi to the point they t=
ake it for granted. Big $$ systems aren't going to give them any appreciab=
le value.
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When I was a teen and just getting into the hobby, I knew only one guy=
, a tech-rep friend of my dads who was into Hi-Fi and had a decent system.
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I knew a number of people who loved music, including my high-school mu=
sic teacher. They all had, what we called in those days, "brown-goods" hi-f=
is and stereos.
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These were consoles or luggage finished portables that had flea-Watt, =
single-ended amplifiers, tiny output transformers and cheap, stamped-basket=
speakers with
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one-ounce magnets. They sounded terrible, but that's what most people =
bought.
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Very true. But that's the point...they sounded *terrible*! That was=20
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*our* baseline for comparison. We all knew they sounded like crap, but=
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that's what we had.
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The only difference between today and then, is those same types of peo=
ple now buy iPods instead of brown-goods.
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Yes, but iPods don't sound like crap, or needn't anyway, and that's the=
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big difference. The Apple earbuds do, but that's another issue. You=20
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may not like earbuds, and I don't use them except when traveling, but=20
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the quality is simply orders of magnitude better than the "brown-goods"=
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junk I grew up with.
But it still aint high end audio.=20
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Are you seriously going to try to equate the sound from an ipod to a cl=
assic console with BSR/ceramic cart groove grinder?
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You forgot about the penny taped to the headshell...
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We had a Magnavox Mediterranean console big enough to bury a Hippo in.=20
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Five bucks worth of electronics and the BSR etch-a-sketch. Boy could=20
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that thing rattle. Gimme earbuds any day.
Not sure I see your point here? Are you suggesting that today's consumers a=
re not interested in current high end audio because earbuds sound better th=
an consoles from the 60's?
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It's really hard to argue with such a fallacy.
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Reality is people every where are listening to great sounding audio and=
the gap between the absolute best and consumer grade "brown-goods" ipods h=
as shrunk to near nothing.
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Well I certainly don't think you can go that far.=20
And that was the point of contention that Audio Empire made.=20
There's still a huge=20
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difference IMO. BUT, and it's a Huge BUT, for a Millenial that=20
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improvement also requires a significant sacrifice in lifestyle - over=20
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and above money - that we never experienced. It was ALL upside for us=20
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as long as we had the cash.
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Completely agreed. And that is the difference between the audiophile who pu=
rsues high end audio and the average Joe that Audio Empire is talking about
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