*grins* When I read this article I thought to myself that my friends on WBF would really enjoy it. I was right 
Munich show report by a guy who doesn't get it
- Thread starter Keith_W
- Start date
The first thing that came to my mind was an old saying:The guy's that talk about it the most are the one that never had it!
+1.
@Myles : because both Groucho and I missed what you saw, so please point it out.
@DonH : well spotted
Because it would be noxiously naive to think that this piece/writer had any pretensions of producing a balanced, much less impartial piece. Hell that sxxt don't sell crap. Take a side. Simple fact of journalism applies: the editor assigned the article to the writer and the slant he wanted taken on the piece; what he didn't do, the editor finished. Make fun of a bunch of old farts.
Riddle me this: why is it that most people report after hearing the best high-end audio systems that the sound produced is unlike anything they've ever heard or ever imagined reproduced music could sound like? I've had this reaction from ordinary Joes, musicians as well as people in the music business countless time. No, not this person. Not in the least. No there was a predetermined slant. Give me a break. Hardly good journalism.
I get the impression that a number of participants in the thread haven't read the two articles?
Read the ending of article 2 again.
Me - I'm looking into this Trosic fellow.
Read the ending of article 2 again.
Me - I'm looking into this Trosic fellow.
If we are completely honest with ourselves, how many of us truly wish to "democratise the zenith"?
Does not do it for me no, but if it does for you please show the reasoning steps in the progression from 'Where the richest nerds go to play' to the secure deduction that the writer is a closed-minded know-it-all who merely takes a dump on that which he fails to understand.
That was in the second piece. In the second piece he made it rather clear what the first one was, an appetizer of sorts. To me the title of the first one was concocted to get nothing more than attention by using the denigrating term "nerds". Heck I am a nerd at heart so I don't really care. Doesn't change anything though about the first article even if he does a 180 on the second. It would have been different if it was one piece.
Eh, us audiophiles are hyper class nerds. Those are two good articles, that point out both the non and sense of the hobby, and that end up lauding what it is capable of at its best.
Yup, "nerds 'r us" in audio, goes with the territory. I think nerd flatters me, though, I am not technical enough.
The author throttled back a lot in the second piece, and even allowed that he was enthralled with some set ups. However, he did end it with some kind of pseudo egalitarian doggerel about making the quality of the sound he heard available to the masses at lower prices.
Grey Poupon, anyone?
The author throttled back a lot in the second piece, and even allowed that he was enthralled with some set ups. However, he did end it with some kind of pseudo egalitarian doggerel about making the quality of the sound he heard available to the masses at lower prices.
Grey Poupon, anyone?
Hi
I don't get all the upheaval about the articles they are good and depict us in a Way we may not want to admit: we are a bunch of nerds with disycrtinnary income .. For the most part on the other side of 40 ... And yes often gears demos are bad and unconvincing... And the writer is not close minded ..he is trying to get it but I am not sure the industry does a good job for non-audiophiles to "get it" often I who have been an audiophile for more than 40 years , don't get it
Call it a different perspective ... Looking at us from the outside.
I don't get all the upheaval about the articles they are good and depict us in a Way we may not want to admit: we are a bunch of nerds with disycrtinnary income .. For the most part on the other side of 40 ... And yes often gears demos are bad and unconvincing... And the writer is not close minded ..he is trying to get it but I am not sure the industry does a good job for non-audiophiles to "get it" often I who have been an audiophile for more than 40 years , don't get it
Call it a different perspective ... Looking at us from the outside.
That is a fair summary Frantz but perhaps we are too much in a rush. None of us "got it" upon first exposure. Sure most of us had epiphanies of our own, mine being Beveridge Model 3s when I was 13 years old. However, it took decades before I actually decided to get serious about the hobby and to actively learn more about it. The beauty about it is there is always something new to learn (and unlearn! ). Perhaps it boils down to competing interest for the next generation. In our day we had TV, Radio, Stereo and Books. We played games with the other neighborhood kids with improvised sports equipment. We made walkie talkies with cans and string. It's a different time. For me, what happened to the 30 somethings? Was it the music of their generation? The great backlash against the music establishment of the day that was grunge, dub, rave and urban music? I see twenty somethings being interested but where are the guys who spent their formative years in the 90's? From what I see as an industry participant, thee is this gap. Would this author have lumped everybody as old nerds if there was a continuity in generations? I think not.
). Perhaps it boils down to competing interest for the next generation. In our day we had TV, Radio, Stereo and Books. We played games with the other neighborhood kids with improvised sports equipment. We made walkie talkies with cans and string. It's a different time. For me, what happened to the 30 somethings? Was it the music of their generation? The great backlash against the music establishment of the day that was grunge, dub, rave and urban music? I see twenty somethings being interested but where are the guys who spent their formative years in the 90's? From what I see as an industry participant, thee is this gap. Would this author have lumped everybody as old nerds if there was a continuity in generations? I think not.
Great post!
A couple of personal anecdotes:
My youngest son once brought a friend down to my music room to show him the blue mercury rectifier tubes and exclaimed "I told you my Dad brought hazardous materials into our house to make his stereo sound better!"
A few weeks ago my wife came down to the music room while I was doing a cartridge set up with the various screwdrivers, alignment protractor, digital scale, magnification loupe, etc. She may still be laughing. Talk about "getting your nerd on"!
If you can't step back and laugh a bit at the absurdity of our hobby, I think you've lost your perspective and sense of humor.
I think one of the problems is that those of us who grew up in the 60's, 70's, and even 80's didn't have instant communication at our beck and call, and thereby had more time to devote to the enjoyment of music. We listened, we discussed, we went to audio dealers and shows and also didn't have the disadvantage of having to split our entertainment budget into a multitude of devices. Computers, the internet, cellphones, etc. have changed the way we communicate, and not necessarily for the better...at least not for those in the audio industry. Even music fans today (note I said music, not audio) hurl their cookies when they see what it takes to get into the game. And while they may appreciate the quality of the gear and the sound it reproduces, the entry level is too high. They walk as a result.
Hi
Shring an interesting encounter wih the collective about music appreciation et al ...
There is a Public Library where I live in FL ... met a kid ... medium toughie
.. Hood , carrying a skating board .. pants belt so low he can barely walk but moving in a strange .. ecstatic .. swooning way ... The kid face is flushed .. Ok, thought I the kid is on drugs. I am trying to stay at a respectable distance ... Kids meet another toughie .. Same look , same pants ... even more tough-looking ... Neighborhood is good so I am not totally scared but am uncomfortable some ... they meet each other this is the dialog :
"Duuude! That is some good sh$8t the teacher, Mrs (didn't get the name) had us listening .. "Damn !! F@$ck!! Listen to this !!" .. He takes off one of his earset and give it to the other toughie ...
Toughie-looking #2 "Yeah.. I mean sh$8t!!! This a bad mfck#r piece ..."
And now for the closer from both "toughies" high-Fiving and fist bumping : " That MOZART dude is Baaaaad ...."
Me:!!!!
Took me a while to pick up my jaw off the floor
.. Ask them what they were listening to and it was Mozart Jupiter Symphony .. Then the conversation went on with one of the toughie saying: "Yeah this is good but this is street sh&4t compared to the No 5 and No 9 Symphonies from the deaf dude ...Beethoven"Music is universal, its appreciation is a matter of proper exposure, introduction, educationn .. Its proper reproduction can also be appreciated and this,also, could be universal (See Sean Olive works on the matter) ... , The High End Audio Industry is not doing a good job on that part...forgetting that kids routinely buy $300 accessories ... a portable gig in that price range would open many doors and create a new generation of music lovers and audiophiles ... High End Audio has entrenched itself in a different world, one of increasingly expensive items , ignoring this new generation ..We'll see how far this will get them .. Audioquest and Meridian seem to have seen the light ...err digits
Kids meet another toughie .. Same look , same pants ... even more tough-looking ... Neighborhood is good so I am not totally scared but am uncomfortable some ... they meet each other this is the dialog :
"Duuude! That is some good sh$8t the teacher, Mrs (didn't get the name) had us listening .. "Damn !! F@$ck!! Listen to this !!" .. He takes off one of his earset and give it to the other toughie ...
Toughie-looking #2 "Yeah.. I mean sh$8t!!! This a bad mfck#r piece ..."
And now for the closer from both "toughies" high-Fiving and fist bumping : " That MOZART dude is Baaaaad ...."
Me:!!!!
Took me a while to pick up my jaw off the floor
...The High End Audio Industry is not doing a good job on that part...forgetting that kids routinely buy $300 accessories ... a portable gig in that price range would open many doors and create a new generation of music lovers and audiophiles ...
Great story!
I also enjoyed the article. If you don't think it's a bit silly that a bunch of middle aged guys with discretionary income spend time arguing online about expensive cables and record clamps...Oh wait a minute, I just described myself
Jazdoc,
I have to say I did not enjoy the article - perhaps I missed the brilliant part as I did not manage to read it fully.
I agree with Myles and think he said it all in his post #8. But my main post of is for for stating I do not find it is a bit silly that a bunch of middle aged guys with discretionary income spend time arguing online about expensive cables and record clamps ... IMHO only if you do not learn anything from other posts about these matters and do not enjoy entertaining audio debates you can find it a bit silly.
Here's another interesting perspective - has music really become that boring that this writer has ditched her whole CD collection and now only listens to streams on her laptop?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/04/music-died-cds-listen-laptop
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/04/music-died-cds-listen-laptop
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