Done with Audio Rant

[Audiosouse]

I'm done with this hobby.

I can no longer stand the disinformation and falsehoods that define the audio industry. Hard core audiophiles must be the dumbest and snootiest people on the planet or have more money than brains, which is often true of the wealthy. Paying what amounts to a small mortgage on obsolete technology like tube amps; listening to speakers with mysterious X compounds using OEM drivers and Mercedes paint finishes from a turntable source component more expensive than my first car; wired with the same twisted pair 6N copper that powers my lamp but with a fancy jacket costing thousands. I'm too wise, scientific and sensible to enjoy this hobby any longer.

It's sad that Audioholics is the only publication appealing to those whose lives are based in fact, not fiction. Kudos to the pioneers at Audioholics for dispelling cable myths. Audiophiles have no one to blame but themselves for being so dumb and allowing the proliferation of an entire industry based on disinformation and pretenses. I'm not sure I want to continue with a hobby full of idiots who'll buy any expensive esoteric product without proof it actually works. I've wasted countless hours reading opined dribble with no proof based on any known science. I'm getting frustrated. Maybe it's my old age, I'll be 30 this year after all.

It's been a pleasure to dialogue with people posessingreal knowledge and common sense like the Audioholics staff, Rip Van Woofer, Jason Coleman and djoxygen to name a few. There's just not enough print to keep me interested. I previously enjoyed web sites like SoundStage, but had an argument with one of thier editors who thought the $44,900 Wilson MAXX 2s were a "bargain" and "value" compared to their other hundred thousand dollar offerings.

I'm in total disbelief that there are people who believe a pair of speakers costing 1.5 times the average annual wage in the United States are considered a "value" or "bargain" in any context! This, plus the morons who own and operate hifi shops has pushed me over the edge. I'm a highly educated profession enjoying more luxury goods than normal and find it insulting to most (almost all?) of us who don't enjoy trust funds.

The Wilson MAXX 2 article was backed up by absolutely no measurements. Supposedly the speakers were too big to test properly and a comparison too daunting to undertake. Surprise, surprise. When someone finally has the balls to compare the worlds finest speakers at the NRC and determine who's best and what the best really costs, I'll come back. Since that will never happen...so long.

It must be great to be dumb and rich...maybe I'm just jealous...of the rich part anyway.

 

[Unregistered]

While everything you have said is true to a large extent, why would you let that turn you away from something that you otherwise enjoy?

You should use your own knowledge to get the best bang for the buck for your own needs. Who cares if other morons spend obscene amounts of money on products with little or no real benefit and unfounded claims? Just make fun of them (in a nice way...) or talk about it with others who share your knowledge and interests.

While I am growing to like Audioholics and just may register, I would not say Audioholics is the ONLY site that offers truthful, rigorous, and scientific evaluations of a/v gear. I also like Secrets and the AVS Forum.

 

[djoxygen]

I agree...

... with unregistered.

We should all be aware of the nonsense (as you obviously are), so we don't fall victim to it, but the presence of the nonsense shouldn't keep us from enjoying the best of what the arts of film and music have to offer, and support the honest manufacturers who truly want to aid us in that pursuit.

Personally, I think it's criminal that anyone would spend $30K or more on just one piece of audio gear. (I hope those people are writing enormous checks to their local charities to salvage their souls.) That similar performance can be had for 10% to 15% of the price makes such extravagance that much more aggravating.

I believe it is our duty to dispel the myths and reveal the snake oil for what it isn't. Audio and video nirvana shouldn't require a second mortgage, and those of us who know need to stick around and educate those who don't.

Since you've seen the "wizard" behind the curtain, it is your obligation to remain in the lobby and help us whisper in the ears of those on their way in.

 

[cornelius]

I also agree with a lot of what you've said. BUT, I will never excuse myself from this "hobby" because of a love for, and need for music and film in my life. I listen to music, not my rig. I find other opinions and spending patterns amusing - At audioholics we're just some of the few who get it.

Also, tube technology is not obsolete. Until one has heard a nice tube rig with time coherent speakers, listeners are just too inexperienced to say otherwise. This makes me think that some readers here have never heard a REALLY great system - and I don't mean megabuck gear. If you want obsolete, check out most of the goofy bells and whistles on the receivers that are being sold today.

Audiosouse, don't throw in the towel, you know enough to know how to beat this system. Just keep an open mind (use measurements AND your ears) and soon you'll have a rig that sounds better than anything, at any price. Yes, a lot, no, most high-end equipment is grossly overpriced and technologically standing still, but not all. So give some of the high end freaks some slack. There are some designers out there who really are passionate about sound and working hard to achieve great results. Soon, you'll be the happy recipient.

 

[cornelius]

One more observation I'd like to add: any frustration one feels after perusing this site looks like a contagious disease to me. One person stands up and states their view. Others blindly chime in and we end in a negative frenzy of confusion.

Now, I sincerely appreciate the level of measurement here and attempt to pursue the ultimate truth, but I still feel it's not all that truthful. I honestly feel that one has to combine measurements and actual listening. At the end of a long day are you going to turn on your stereo, or just sit down at a table and read the specs on your equipment and imagine how it will sound? It's kind of like describing how food will taste. It has to be experienced.

Now granted, I did wait for some time for the 2nd cable shootout to aid in my decision process. It took a long time for the results (for obvious reasons) so I took a chance with a purchase anyway. So yes, I do believe in what you're doing here, I just don't think it's the final word.

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

Being a measurements-tell-it-all (well, nearly all) kind of guy I wish Audioholics would do even less subjective reporting (at least on purely electronic gear except maybe for the various DSP modes) and so respectfully disagree with some of what Cornelius has to say. I cut my audiophile teeth on the old Stereo Review so that explains my orientation, I suppose. The late Julian Hirsch was god. Evidently there was already a subjectivist insurgence underway even then but, being youthfully clueless I was unaware of it.

I understand Audiosouse's frustration. I flirted with the same conclusion after "re-entering" the hobby after over 20 years of absence, and being aghast and disoriented at the rampant unscientific and self-indulgent subjectivism, and overpriced status symbols that seemed to be de rigeur if one was to enter the Holy Order of Audio, that had overtaken our nice little hobby. Worse yet, lacking a technical background I nearly fell for a lot of it! Indeed, my handle is a jokey reference to that whole experience.

But why give up a hobby you love just because it's been overrun by assholes? Better to be part of the discerning minority - the "resistance" if you will - with a well-developed BS detector and to spend your money wisely as a result. Let the status-seekers and snake oil junkies waste their money.

Besides, the appearance and success of a site like Audioholics just might be a sign that the tide is beginning to turn. So take heart! Have courage! The resistance needs you!

Plugola: in spite of their erratic publishing schedule and being pretty much a one-man operation on the part of editor/publisher/curmudgeon-in-chief Peter Aczel (with the attendant possibilities of prejudice and blind spots) there is one print audio mag that strives to fearlessly tell the truth: The Audio Critic. I've posted contact info for them on my Webpage (see my sig below) and a couple of sample articles (thus violating their copyright, I admit)*. Besides being a fan I have no official relationship with them. Costs $24 for a four-issue (no matter how long between issues!) subscription. It's worth it. You can learn more in the Letters to the Editor section of one issue than in a year's worth of Stereophool.

--

*I'd like to think Mr. Aczel has seen it and forgiven me!

 

[dsa220]

So Rip, anybody who actually listens to a piece of audio gear that does not meet your criteria of what that is is an asshole?!?!?! Does that mean if you were to come to my home to enjoy a movie and then listen to some music, that you would leave because I own a turntable and still use it on a daily basis, or would it be the fact that I own a 2-channel tube pre-amplifier? Would you then get up and leave because you have been offended to listen to such equipment that is not worthy of your [holy] presence? Give me a break!; and your a moderator on this site?!?!?!?

This site should change it's moniker to PURSUING THE TRUTH IN AUDIO AND VIDEO (ONLY IF IT IS ON A SILVER DISC AND MULTI-CHANNEL CRAP - NO ONE ELSE IS TOLERATED!)

 

[Rob Babcock]

You can leave the online community without leaving the hobby, Audiosouse. I can certainly understand your frustration; even this very thread is getting contentious, and its purpose was to say you're frustrated with the hobby!

Try this- grab a brew, dig up five CDs (or LPs, tapes or Edison Wax Cylinders so as not to piss off or exclude anyone! ), then turn of the computer & just listen for an evening. Let the tension work itself out. Reconnect with the music. Maybe eventually you'll want to rejoin the online community. Or maybe you'll end up an offline audiophile and just the peace that brings.

 

[dsa220]

I apologize to anyone who may take offense at my previous post, but I stand by what I said.

Audiosouse, Rob Babcock is correct as are others, why leave a hobby, when after all, it is just a hobby!!! I could care less what people with tons of money spend it on, so long as they don't buy my house and then evict me. People are going to have different opinions as to what constitutes a good audio system. Take them for what they are, opinions. If you believe that the numbers tell you everything you need to know about anything , so be it. Where I take offense is on those who have certain beliefs that differ with others and then choose to use deragatory descriptions for those individuals.

With that said, Let's close this thread as there is nothing here that can be used to furthur the enjoyment of this hobby.

 

[Dan]

I must agree with Rob here. What is really more important, the hardware or the software? In the past, it has been my experience that musical taste was relatively inversely related the the cost of one's stereo. The people who had the best systems liked disco or lame noodling John Tesh-like jazz. The guy with the best taste I've ever known had a collction of over 50,000 records and three crummy radioshack stereos scattered through his house.

Now that I am a little older and richer,I admit there are exceptions. I guess I would count myself as I have a modestly high end sytem now. Of course I think my taste is nothing short of wonderful. But as I told my brother once, even if I had a budget of $100,000 I would still spend $20,000 or so on gear and $80,000 on music.

So I say, live and let live. If someone likes their exotic overpriced stuff that doesn't sound good they haven't hurt me any. The purpose of this site in my opinion is to educate others about the nonesense gear being proliferated out there in as unbiased a fashion as possible. It should also educate about the formats available. I think AH does a great job at both of these.

I also think that good music is very hard to find these days. I wish this site would be a place to exchange information about recordings that are worth buying these days. AH is OK but it doesn't seem to a the main thrust of the site.

So in short IT'S THE MUSIC NOT THE GEAR THAT REALLY COUNTS.

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

So Rip, anybody who actually listens to a piece of audio gear that does not meet your crteria of what that is is an asshole?!?!?!

That was intemperate of me. Apologies to all who were offended. A term that avoided ad hominem connotations would have sufficed.

But again I say: moderators are volunteers and have as much right to state half-baked opinions as anyone else!

And yes, we got a wee bit hot under the collar here. Let's go listen to some music.

 

[Audioholics]

Now, I sincerely appreciate the level of measurement here and attempt to pursue the ultimate truth, but I still feel it's not all that truthful. I honestly feel that one has to combine measurements and actual listening. At the end of a long day are you going to turn on your stereo, or just sit down at a table and read the specs on your equipment and imagine how it will sound? It's kind of like describing how food will taste. It has to be experienced.

Now granted, I did wait for some time for the 2nd cable shootout to aid in my decision process. It took a long time for the results (for obvious reasons) so I took a chance with a purchase anyway. So yes, I do believe in what you're doing here, I just don't think it's the final word.

The cable article you speak of is only measurements - on purpose. We haven't completed the analysis portion of the article yet. In addition, our intended goal was not to compare the sound of the cables - everyone else already does that.

dsa220: As for "This site should change it's moniker to PURSUING THE TRUTH IN AUDIO AND VIDEO (ONLY IF IT IS ON A SILVER DISC AND MULTI-CHANNEL CRAP - NO ONE ELSE IS TOLERATED!)" - Please don't think that we feel that way as well. We'll give our rogue mod the customary 39 lashes and set him loose again to post another day...