Audio & the Emperor’s new clothes.


I have been into audio since the early 70s and once considered myself an "audiophile" - but no longer. At one time being an audiophile meant that you loved music and had a fascination for the gear that reproduced it. But it seems that to be an "audiophile" today means that you are a very specialized acquisitionist; one who pursues yuppie arrogance items of the audio kind and one who - in some cases - simply pursues the Emperor’s new clothes. I still enjoy my music and I do enjoy the equipment and I do have a good ear. I can easily hear the difference between cold equipment and equipment that's been warmed up. I hear differences between cables and - to a lesser extent - interconnects. I have no pretensions of being unique in this ability but I DO hear these kinds of things. I DO know what live music sounds like, having been to many concerts; jazz, rock, classical and opera. I have never heard any audio system, at any price, in any showroom - and I have been to some great ones - that reproduces the so-called "absolute sound" of live music. Listening to live music and listening to reproduced music are entirely different experiences, each having a very unique appeal. I enjoy reproduced music (via a good system) just as much as I enjoy live. But I refuse to be deluded into believing that they sound the same. I know what I hear and am confident enough in my hearing to know what I don't hear, as well, regardless of what the self-proclaimed gurus of high end audio tell me that I ought to hear. What I do NOT hear is that one amplifier or preamplifier "blows another away" in terms of sound quality. There was a time that I did hear significant difference in equipment but I do not hear them any more. And my ears are just fine, thank you. I do not abuse them. The change has come in the audio marketplace. In the early days of solid state, sound quality was regularly sacrificed on the altar of "specsmanship" via abuses of current limiting and negative feedback circuitry, among other things. Only a few manufacturers back then were employing beefy power supplies and direct coupling and other design concepts that are now well known and employed by a large majority of manufacturers. During the 70s, anyone with a decent ear could hear big differences between the average stuff and something really special like the Levinson or Bryston equipment. In the 70s there WERE some big differences in the sound of one component versus another. But even then the differences were not necessarily related to price. I still have my little Advent 300 Receiver. I bought it used when it was about a year old, as part of a package deal ($150.00 for an Advent 300 & Large Advents Speaker pair). Hooked it up and never even THOUGHT of listening to my Pioneer receiver again. Sold the Pioneer for double what the Advent stuff cost and got myself a NICE Thorens 'Table. That Advent based system, of course, is now semi-retired and provides intermitant motivation to lift heavy things in my medium sized exercise room. Does it match the sound quality of my main system? Of course not - my main system employs more recent and more sophisticated engineering than was available in the '70s and has cost me over 10 times what that Advent based system was worth. Sounding better than a sweet sounding little '70s system is what my main system "gets paid for". But does the main system sound 10 times better? You have got to be kidding! It is more articulate, more open, more dynamic and has a sense of presence that the 70s system does not. But either system is sufficiently enjoyable to draw me into the music. And that is what audio is about. Do differences in the sound of various electronics still exist? Of course they do. But I am thinking that the differences have more to do with personal taste than with sound quality. And I suspect that some of the high end amplification equipment is deliberately "voiced" to a particular taste, in the same way speakers are "voiced". But the bottom line - in my opinion - is that the huge differences in sound quality just aren't there anymore. The point of severely diminished returns in terms of sound quality is reached long before you are into the high end stuff. So why all the talk about exquisite differences in high end sound quality?
classicaudio
Thanks for the post Classic, I would say I've tracked your story fairly closely and had the same opinions. I did take the "next step" a couple years ago from the $3000+- system to the 10x more. Piece by pice I began upgrading and with each step was amazed at what the next level could do. Was it 10 times better? No, of course no, but with the final piece set into the system it's easily three or four times better. It truely amazes me every time I go back and listen to music I know well. The "listening" experience is so much more satisfying than befor. Don't misunderstand, I loved my old system and my 18 year old son now has it comlpete and intact so I can hear them side by side. Three to four times is a hell of a jump, and for me, who only loves his stereo for the music, not the equipment, I WOULD NEVER GO BACK!!
Great post!! I have to agree with the above that you dont get the same bang for the buck when you spend more money. Is it worth it? It is to me. I drive a shit box and have to hang all my clothes in the closet because I dont own a bureau yet I have a $65,000 system. All my money goes to feeding my frenzied addiction of high end audio. I know that I am obsesive and my priorities are in complete disarray but when I sit in the haven of the sweet spot I experience orgasmic bliss. I have sat in that chair for as long as twenty hours. Getting up only for essentials like another beer. I have learned that if you work hard you can have any one great thing in life. Be it a Porshe, nice house, or a system that would please the gods. I consider myself lucky to recognize this and acheive so much in a hooby that makes me truy happy.
Another thought. It is innapropriate to relate "how many times" a more expensive piece of equipment costs with "how much better" it sounds. There may be an absolute measure of perfection with regards to sound, i.e. live music. But the gradations towards that ultimate, probably unreachable goal, are purely subjective. Whether something sounds better than something else, is less subjective than "how much better" it sounds. But it is still subjective --hence all the debates of vinyl vs. CDs, tubes vs. SS, etc. So how much nearer to live sound does a $100K system get you than a $10K system ? Perhaps "a lot" nearer if looked at from the standpoint of the $10K system. But looking at it from the standpoint of the live sound, neither of them sounds that close. To use an example: I would submit that the $10K system gets you 20% of the way to perfection, and the $100K equipment gets you 40% of the way. So a 10x investment over the $10K system (1000% increase in expenditure) gets you only a 100% improvement in sound, but only a 20% absolute step(40%-20%) towards perfection. And as you spend more, these marginal sound improvements will get smaller. Of course, these numbers are subjective, based on my own asessment of sonic imnprovements. We audiophiles are prepared to spend increasingly large amouts of our disposable income for only marginal, as well as highly subjective, improvements in sound reproduction.
Joe_I think your subjective baseline numbers are little too low, although I agree with what you are saying. In my subjective view, a good 10K system can get you 60% to the reference and the 100K will get you 85%. You spend 50 K more and get closer to 90 %.The last 10 % is not possible at any cost. Yet!
Sometimes they buy something that does not help & is not better & convince themselves it is better. Still can talk about how much money is in it. It is a hobby so there is continual looking for improvement whether real or imaginary. Classicaudio Not sure I am an audiophile either, said to have Golden ears, can hear difference if any. Am more into cars, have had killer stereos for Rock for many years. Not that expensive to do, esp. if one does not care how much space it takes, did have to tweak it. Ehider Know what you meant by the Ferrari comment. Performance is what matters to me. Bought a Corvette when could not afford a Ferrari, later could have paid cash for a Ferrari, but did not since the Corvette I had was better from a performance standpoint.