Music Today

[news]

The CBS Sunday Morning show today had a segment on the state of the music
business today. They start it out with a visit to a high end store in New
York where the first image you see is a turntable that has a foot tall
cylinder for a platter. Next comes their CD player that is composed of 5
boxes on a spiked stand. Stick with me - they show the listening room with a
pair of what appear to be Shahinian obelisks, pardon if I am wrong, don't
keep up with all that. Then the interviewer asks the "expert" how much a CD
player like that might run - "Oh about 100,000." And the whole system? "A
quarter of a million."

They explain that it's necessary, of course, if you want the best sound, but
then go on to show all of the sources for streaming audio that you can have
for free and put on your i-Phone and listen anywhere, anytime. The royalties
on a tune might be 6/10 of a cent, but there are more plays, and it IS MP3
after all, so what do you want? (my comments).

This is what the recording industry is up against now.

Gary Eickmeier

[Oregonian Haruspex]

On 2014-01-26 19:24:58 +0000, news said:

> The CBS Sunday Morning show today had a segment on the state of the music
> business today. They start it out with a visit to a high end store in New
> York where the first image you see is a turntable that has a foot tall
> cylinder for a platter. Next comes their CD player that is composed of 5
> boxes on a spiked stand. Stick with me - they show the listening room with a
> pair of what appear to be Shahinian obelisks, pardon if I am wrong, don't
> keep up with all that. Then the interviewer asks the "expert" how much a CD
> player like that might run - "Oh about 100,000." And the whole system? "A
> quarter of a million."
>
> They explain that it's necessary, of course, if you want the best sound, but
> then go on to show all of the sources for streaming audio that you can have
> for free and put on your i-Phone and listen anywhere, anytime. The royalties
> on a tune might be 6/10 of a cent, but there are more plays, and it IS MP3
> after all, so what do you want? (my comments).
>
> This is what the recording industry is up against now.
>
> Gary Eickmeier

The recording industry was always about churning out the lowest quality
noise on the cheapest media possible. There are so few exceptions that
they could all be named in a breath.

Oh the poor music listener, never knowing the pleasure of hearing their
pablum on Class A tube amps!

[news]

"Oregonian Haruspex" > wrote in message
...
> On 2014-01-26 19:24:58 +0000, news said:
>
>> The CBS Sunday Morning show today had a segment on the state of the music
>> business today. They start it out with a visit to a high end store in New
>> York where the first image you see is a turntable that has a foot tall
>> cylinder for a platter. Next comes their CD player that is composed of 5
>> boxes on a spiked stand. Stick with me - they show the listening room
>> with a
>> pair of what appear to be Shahinian obelisks, pardon if I am wrong, don't
>> keep up with all that. Then the interviewer asks the "expert" how much a
>> CD
>> player like that might run - "Oh about 100,000." And the whole system?
>> "A
>> quarter of a million."
>>
>> They explain that it's necessary, of course, if you want the best sound,
>> but
>> then go on to show all of the sources for streaming audio that you can
>> have
>> for free and put on your i-Phone and listen anywhere, anytime. The
>> royalties
>> on a tune might be 6/10 of a cent, but there are more plays, and it IS
>> MP3
>> after all, so what do you want? (my comments).
>>
>> This is what the recording industry is up against now.
>>
>> Gary Eickmeier
>
> The recording industry was always about churning out the lowest quality
> noise on the cheapest media possible. There are so few exceptions that
> they could all be named in a breath.
>
> Oh the poor music listener, never knowing the pleasure of hearing their
> pablum on Class A tube amps!

Oh the poor music lover being told that it is necessary to spend a quarter
of a million to get good sound. What does that do to our cause? That plus
making us look like crazies.

Gary Eickmeier

[Scott[_6_]]

On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 6:33:47 AM UTC-8, news wrote:
> "Oregonian Haruspex" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > On 2014-01-26 19:24:58 +0000, news said:
>
> >
>
> >> The CBS Sunday Morning show today had a segment on the state of the music
>
> >> business today. They start it out with a visit to a high end store in New
>
> >> York where the first image you see is a turntable that has a foot tall
>
> >> cylinder for a platter. Next comes their CD player that is composed of 5
>
> >> boxes on a spiked stand. Stick with me - they show the listening room
>
> >> with a
>
> >> pair of what appear to be Shahinian obelisks, pardon if I am wrong, don't
>
> >> keep up with all that. Then the interviewer asks the "expert" how much a
>
> >> CD
>
> >> player like that might run - "Oh about 100,000." And the whole system?
>
> >> "A
>
> >> quarter of a million."
>
> >>
>
> >> They explain that it's necessary, of course, if you want the best sound,
>
> >> but
>
> >> then go on to show all of the sources for streaming audio that you can
>
> >> have
>
> >> for free and put on your i-Phone and listen anywhere, anytime. The
>
> >> royalties
>
> >> on a tune might be 6/10 of a cent, but there are more plays, and it IS
>
> >> MP3
>
> >> after all, so what do you want? (my comments).
>
> >>
>
> >> This is what the recording industry is up against now.
>
> >>
>
> >> Gary Eickmeier
>
> >
>
> > The recording industry was always about churning out the lowest quality
>
> > noise on the cheapest media possible. There are so few exceptions that
>
> > they could all be named in a breath.
>
> >
>
> > Oh the poor music listener, never knowing the pleasure of hearing their
>
> > pablum on Class A tube amps!
>
>
>
> Oh the poor music lover being told that it is necessary to spend a quarter
>
> of a million to get good sound. What does that do to our cause? That plus
>
> making us look like crazies.
>
>
>
> Gary Eickmeier

What poor music lover has been told "it is necessary to spend a quarter of a million to get good sound?" And what poor music lover has taken anyone's word for it and went out and bought such a system without doing any further homework on the subject?

[Peter Wieck]

On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 7:30:20 AM UTC-5, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:

>=20
> The recording industry was always about churning out the lowest quality=
=20
>=20
> noise on the cheapest media possible. There are so few exceptions that=
=20
>=20
> they could all be named in a breath.
>=20
>=20
>=20
> Oh the poor music listener, never knowing the pleasure of hearing their=
=20
>=20
> pablum on Class A tube amps!

OK - from a lurker out in left field, rendered as an opinion, and looking f=
or feedback:

a) Sound is about moving air.
b) Moving air requires energy.
c) Moving a lot of air requires a lot of energy.=20
d) Sitting mid-orchestra at a lively (and live) rendition of the Saint-Saen=
s organ symphony puts one in the middle of a great deal of moving air.=20
e) To duplicate that experience at home in a moderate sized room will requi=
re considerable amounts of energy to achieve notwithstanding speaker effici=
ency.=20
f) A good recording of the Saint-Saens organ symphony will have a 30dB peak=
-to-average variation, very likely 40dB from the most quiet to the most lou=
d few moments. So, 10x10x10 =3D 1,000. The peak wattage required from the a=
mplifier will be 1,000 x the requirement at the quietest passage - that is =
if there is to be no clipping - soft or otherwise.=20

How is this done (reasonably) using Class A tubes?

And I will be the first to admit that Class A tubes may be the absolute *id=
eal* for the likes of Gregorian Chant, with a P:A of perhaps 10dB, if even =
that. Or about any solo instrument other than an organ or concert grand pia=
no. But for fully orchestrated pieces of significant dynamic range?

Also admitting for the record that I am a monster-amp person, speaker effic=
iency be .....=20

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA=20

[Scott[_6_]]

On Wednesday, March 26, 2014 2:28:42 PM UTC-7, Peter Wieck wrote:
> On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 7:30:20 AM UTC-5, Oregonian Haruspex wrote=
:
>=20
>=20
>=20
> >=20
>=20
> > The recording industry was always about churning out the lowest quality=
=20
>=20
> >=20
>=20
> > noise on the cheapest media possible. There are so few exceptions that=
=20
>=20
> >=20
>=20
> > they could all be named in a breath.
>=20
> >=20
>=20
> >=20
>=20
> >=20
>=20
> > Oh the poor music listener, never knowing the pleasure of hearing their=
=20
>=20
> >=20
>=20
> > pablum on Class A tube amps!
>=20
>=20
>=20
> OK - from a lurker out in left field, rendered as an opinion, and looking=
for feedback:
>=20
>=20
>=20
> a) Sound is about moving air.
>=20
> b) Moving air requires energy.
>=20
> c) Moving a lot of air requires a lot of energy.=20
>=20
> d) Sitting mid-orchestra at a lively (and live) rendition of the Saint-Sa=
ens organ symphony puts one in the middle of a great deal of moving air.=20
>=20
> e) To duplicate that experience at home in a moderate sized room will req=
uire considerable amounts of energy to achieve notwithstanding speaker effi=
ciency.=20
>=20
> f) A good recording of the Saint-Saens organ symphony will have a 30dB pe=
ak-to-average variation, very likely 40dB from the most quiet to the most l=
oud few moments. So, 10x10x10 =3D 1,000. The peak wattage required from the=
amplifier will be 1,000 x the requirement at the quietest passage - that i=
s if there is to be no clipping - soft or otherwise.=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
> How is this done (reasonably) using Class A tubes?
>=20
>=20
>=20
> And I will be the first to admit that Class A tubes may be the absolute *=
ideal* for the likes of Gregorian Chant, with a P:A of perhaps 10dB, if eve=
n that. Or about any solo instrument other than an organ or concert grand p=
iano. But for fully orchestrated pieces of significant dynamic range?
>=20
>=20
>=20
> Also admitting for the record that I am a monster-amp person, speaker eff=
iciency be .....=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
> Peter Wieck
>=20
> Melrose Park, PA

You don't need to move the same amount of air that was moved in the concert=
hall. You only need to move the air next to the listener's ears. For one p=
erson or a small group of people we are not talking about that much energy.=
Class A tube amp can handle that no problem depending on the amp and the s=
peakers connected to them. It's really not a challenge to match the SPLs of=
a live classical concert for home playback even for a pure class A tube am=
p based system. I'd be more worried about playing rock music or jazz if SPL=
s were all that mattered.