Brand Loyalty: Can one be too loyal?
- Thread starter PeterA
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I am clearly not an audiophile as I hardly ever change equipment. I buy what I perceive as great value and sound and enjoy my system. I hear tons of other stuff and frankly, don’t like what I hear all that much, especially stuff that is all the rage, at least for awhile. Sure, my system could do this or that a little better but I find tweaking speaker placement and the room itself to give far greater improvement than swapping out gear. Of course, YMMV.
But there’s ALWAYS something BETTER.
Is better ALWAYS something PREFERABLE?
The two are not necessarily coincident.
Is better ALWAYS something PREFERABLE?
The two are not necessarily coincident.
The brand of a product serves as a proxy for level of product satisfaction which can be expected by the buyer. This is very useful for products purchase decisions in which all the pertinent information about a given product's performance and quality are not esily ascertainable. This condition can be true for very small purchase decisions, such as which dishwashing liquid to purchase, to very large ones, such as which make of automobile to purchase. Audio equipment may at first seem easy to evaluate simply by listening, but such pre-purchase evaluation is often not possible or not practical. Ideally, an audio components is evaluated in your own home, within your existing system. Likewise, wouldn't it be great if we could take home and live with an automobile for a couple of weeks before making a purchase decision? That is not practical for a number of reasons, most of which affect the seller.
This, of course, leads directly to the age old audio debate about the degree of usefulness of objective product specifications in predicting subjective listening satisfaction. Published Specifications should serve as a reliable proxy for/predictor of subjective listening satisfaction, but I don't yet find that to be dependably true. So, for many buyers, brand serves as a more reliable proxy/predictor of subjective satisfaction than does published specifications. Brand may not always lead a buyer to the most satisfying possible purchase decision, but it can serve to remove much of the risk of making an disappointing purchase decision.
This, of course, leads directly to the age old audio debate about the degree of usefulness of objective product specifications in predicting subjective listening satisfaction. Published Specifications should serve as a reliable proxy for/predictor of subjective listening satisfaction, but I don't yet find that to be dependably true. So, for many buyers, brand serves as a more reliable proxy/predictor of subjective satisfaction than does published specifications. Brand may not always lead a buyer to the most satisfying possible purchase decision, but it can serve to remove much of the risk of making an disappointing purchase decision.
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95% of the Harley-Davidsons built since 1960 are still on the road today.....
That's because the other 5% actually made it HOME!!
You may drop your gear for something that you perceive to be better, but that new gear may be worse in some other aspects that you later discover were important to you, and thus is ultimately unsatisfying.
That is why it is so important to know what your priorities are. If you don't, you will always be on a merry-go-round, spending more and more money -- and you may discover that, after all those gear changes, ultimately you end up basically at the same place you started from.
Before you start your journey, you need to have clear goals in mind, and not wave in the wind all the time when you hear in another system something that yours lacks. Then you just chase for that particular improvement while neglecting aspects that had been essential to your previous satisfaction. And the endless search continues.
Several issues at play here:
First, how settled is one into his taste and how confident is the guy of his choices. Some guys I have met can tell if they like or hate something in 2-3 minutes (tone, dynamics, analytical sound may be spotted almost instantaneously). But if a guy is constantly hopping from a Magico / Spectral to Wilson / BAT to Avantgarde / Air Tight SET sound, the guy is either trying to find the sound he likes Or confused about his taste and is lost wandering around. If one is enjoying himself in this state, there is not a problem. But if one is constanly frustrated, wasting a lot of money, etc., obviously it’s a problem
Second, is a guy a sharpener or a leveler? There is a good Stereophile article on this written by a reviewer and a psychology professor. Is the guy happy with good enough or will the guy seek out the best. As an example, most guys think Pass Labs XA series is great. But they have never sought out to hear Symphonic Line Kraft, which KILLS it.
Link to great article by Professor Robert Deutsch and Stereophile reviewer:
https://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/are_you_a_sharpener_or_a_leveler/index.html
In my experience, most guys seek out a popular brand, but when I hear their systems, they usually suck, despite all the setting up, tweaking with cables and vibration gooters, and sweating over it by the owners for years and years…
First, how settled is one into his taste and how confident is the guy of his choices. Some guys I have met can tell if they like or hate something in 2-3 minutes (tone, dynamics, analytical sound may be spotted almost instantaneously). But if a guy is constantly hopping from a Magico / Spectral to Wilson / BAT to Avantgarde / Air Tight SET sound, the guy is either trying to find the sound he likes Or confused about his taste and is lost wandering around. If one is enjoying himself in this state, there is not a problem. But if one is constanly frustrated, wasting a lot of money, etc., obviously it’s a problem
Second, is a guy a sharpener or a leveler? There is a good Stereophile article on this written by a reviewer and a psychology professor. Is the guy happy with good enough or will the guy seek out the best. As an example, most guys think Pass Labs XA series is great. But they have never sought out to hear Symphonic Line Kraft, which KILLS it.
Link to great article by Professor Robert Deutsch and Stereophile reviewer:
https://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/are_you_a_sharpener_or_a_leveler/index.html
In my experience, most guys seek out a popular brand, but when I hear their systems, they usually suck, despite all the setting up, tweaking with cables and vibration gooters, and sweating over it by the owners for years and years…
95% of the Harley-Davidsons built since 1960 are still on the road today.....
That's because the other 5% actually made it HOME!!
There is so much nice made stuff to try out , most made by designers who all think they are the last word in sound authenticity/neutrality.
Give them a shot and judge how far they have succeeded.
My view is that I know what I like. I have heard enough gear in my system and at dealers and at shows to have a pretty good idea on brands. I'm a slow, analytical customer. After visiting dozens of hifi shows, i settled on the Wilson Alexia 2s which I felt had sounded the most consistently good when paired with a wide variety of electronics from ARC to Pass to Constellation to Nagra to VTL. Also, I went on a factory tour last Fall and that built my comfort level with the company and the build quality of the speakers. I probably should do the same with Audio Research since I like their products so much.
I will continue to visit friend's homes, dealers, and shows to hear and see what is new out there. There are so many brands, it is really hard to know everything even as a journalist that covers a good bit of it and sees it.
To me, the system foundation and synergy matters a great deal. At shows, you hear so many terrible or mediocre systems that suffer from poor electronics to speaker combinations. And even when you get that right, if the foundation of cables, grounding & power conditioning are mediocre then you are not hearing 100% of what it is capable of.
The "separates" nature of the hobby allows for countless experimentation with new gear in your own home and I think is the best way to evaluate new brands.
I'm fairly brand loyal to ARC and Wilson for now, but I always have my ear open to next experiences.
I will continue to visit friend's homes, dealers, and shows to hear and see what is new out there. There are so many brands, it is really hard to know everything even as a journalist that covers a good bit of it and sees it.
To me, the system foundation and synergy matters a great deal. At shows, you hear so many terrible or mediocre systems that suffer from poor electronics to speaker combinations. And even when you get that right, if the foundation of cables, grounding & power conditioning are mediocre then you are not hearing 100% of what it is capable of.
The "separates" nature of the hobby allows for countless experimentation with new gear in your own home and I think is the best way to evaluate new brands.
I'm fairly brand loyal to ARC and Wilson for now, but I always have my ear open to next experiences.
Yes, I give them a shot in other people's systems, and often enjoy them. But why should I make my own system an expensive laboratory? That's just dumb.
Absolutely. If I hear a room you or Stirling have set up then my ears are happy.
I don't think it's dumb if you are trying out new gear and have a decent return or tryout process from the dealer. You are hearing the quality of sound from the pairing/synergy with existing gear.
If you are saying, don't spend the money by "gambling" on new gear that you may or may not like then I agree with you.
But there may be an upgrade path where you get better and better gear as your income grows and you want to reacher higher levels of performance.
I'm loyal to my enjoyment of the music. It is inevitable that some brands will appeal to me more than others, and inevitable that it will change over time, too.
+1 on the loyalty to enjoying the music. I guess if people don't change over time then their gear selection will also not change much as long as they keep enjoying the music.
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