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Is this the end of HEA?

http://www.cepro.com/article/is_this_the_end_of_high_performance_audio_at_ces

This last year has made my ears perk up. Honestly I didn't even know the article above had been written until now. What I did know was listeners have been in touch with me about the future of HEA and their future as advanced listeners. It's been nice to see folks getting in touch with me and even nicer that they are doing so because they wish to settle into their final system sound. To say things in their words "it's been an expensive ride" and most of these folks aren't sure they've gotten a fair shake always from the hobby. Many feel they have bank rolled a part of a hobby that hasn't always delivered the goods. Basically instead of telling listeners that this is a variable hobby the "experts" pushed a very expensive game of component Plug & Play onto the discrete audio generation. I remember those days of guilt buying where a dollar amount was used as a representative for quality, when it meant no such thing. I knew first hand this was not the case as designers scrambled to make up-sell products that sounded less musical than the original products that put their name in audio fame. I also could see the HEA decline happening but still was giving the benefit of the doubt to those saying HEA was just fine and growing. Mom and pop stores for the most part have vanished in the US with the exception of a few creative thinkers. New expensive products are being adored but I don't see many actually buying them. Now I've got my eye on T.H.E. Show (Richard's show) and wondering if it's happening or not. Richard and I have talked many times about what will happen to HEA in the US if T.H.E. Show and CES cease doing their thing in Vegas. I wonder what Richard RIP is thinking now sitting in the clouds.

I am very excited to see the next few years come about even though I know some are still buying into the old paradigm that the HEA is the cutting edge with only a volume control to adjust and a fork lift included with every purchase. Going to the CES web, I have my answer for Vegas. Going to T.H.E. Show website I'm still in question. If these two are no more, in terms of HEA, who's next?

Michael Green

128x128michaelgreenaudio

Showing 5 responses by bdp24

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 
Harry Pearson introduced the term "High End" to audiophiles. J. Gordon Holt preferred the term high performance; that's nothing new. Also not new is the concept of moderately priced-high value hi-fi. I know we live in an era of simplistic bumper-sticker slogans, but come on, man.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 

Great posts @dramatictenor and @inna.

"bumper sticker slogan". The operative word was obviously slogan, not bumper sticker. The misrepresentation of that phrase is yet another example of that very bumper sticker mentality.

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 
Speaking of low mass, that’s really important in the drivers in loudspeakers. If low mass is a design criteria and objective (rather than a marketing slogan), electrostatics have far less than dynamics (cones), so why not design, build, and sell them? Roger Modjeski of Music Reference does just that, even offering a direct-drive tube amp to mate with them, which provides the second MG commandment of simplicity. Now THERE is some walking it like you talk it, putting your money where your mouth is.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 

Real good points @mustbethemusic. Very few people these days just sit and listen to music, as a destination activity. Many people just like a particular song by any given entertainer (as opposed to artist ;-), and are not necessarily interested in the album that song is on.

I have spent much of the leisure time in my life listening intently to music, as I believe have many others here. For us, a good system is a worthwhile investment, as it provides deeper immersion into music. For those to whom music is not as important, a good system is not necessary.

There ARE young people really into music---I saw a bunch of them looking through the LP racks at Music Millennium in Portland yesterday. I found a new/unopened copy of Lucinda Williams' 2011 album Blessed, the limited edition deluxe version, sale priced at $19.99. The CD floor was almost deserted!

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 

I got to know quite well the manager of the Classical department at my local Tower Records. He had a very negative opinion of what he referred to as audiofools---those who care more about the sonic quality of a recording than its’ artistic content. My argument that the former could be a limiting factor in the listeners’ ability to perceive the latter was met with a blank stare.

That manager was a big fan of Leonard Bernstein, which was in a way perfect; Bernstein’s recordings are high in artistic content, somewhat low in sound quality. I hate when that happens; a lot of my favorite Pop (non-Classical) music and artists were also recorded in mediocre or worse sound quality. I'm too much of an audiophile to not care, too much of a music lover to let that stop me from listening to it and them.

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