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Has hi fi become too specialized

Let me start by saying that my system consists of Two Tandberg 3009A monoblocks(180 watts per side) one Tandberg 3018A preamp, one Tandberg 3001A tuner, a Rega PL25 with Benz Ace MC, a Sony ES 777 SCD, Boston Acoustics A400 speakers, and a couple of Richard Gray 400S power conditioners. All hooked up with Nordost Red Dawn interconnects, Red Dawn speaker cables, and Moray James power cords. I realize that while my system is not the last word in current hi fi, it will also not humiliate itself under a variety of music and conditions. The other day I dropped by my very nice local hi fi dealer to see what was new. I ended up listening to an assortment of Thiel speakers among others. The listening was done under typical audio room (Excellent) conditions, much better than the conditions in my office!! Even under those perfect listening conditions it became apparent that this was a system that would humiliate itself under a wide variety of music(Mozart, Patricia Barber, Louis Armstrong, Tom Petty.... you get the idea!) While this super expensive and set up perfectly system had moments of greatness with some music, it fell flat on it's face with other types of (Less serious) music. My point is most of the older hi fi systems I've listened to do make all types of music an enjoyable experience. The latest hi fi equipment while no doubt advanced is also alot more narrow focused. While listening to all kinds of current " Super Equipment" I have found the same problem. As I get older I find myself exploring types of music that I thought I never would(African, experimental, new wave, electronic, etc..)I like to think my horizons are expanding! When I first bought my gear I did so because classical sounded great on it. Imagine how good I feel about my investment now because it has the ability to make anything I feed it sound good. Back at the dealer when we listened to Tom Petty through the Thiels my ears were bleeding from the stark, harsh, revealing, naked sound of the Thiels. I feel current hi fi is too specialized, what say you.
nocaster
plato
1,543 posts
 
Nocaster, it's not that Hi Fi has become too specialized. It's just that many folks would rather believe that 90 percent of their recordings sound awful rather than admit that their expensive new audio gear could be at fault.

I've owned a wide variety of audio gear in the past 30+ years and the bulk of my recordings sound quite musical and detailed on my systems. But these results take a bit of work and tweaking and proper component synergy... It requires much less effort and energy to simply believe that your gear is so great that it makes all your recordings sound like drek (except those very few "really great recordings").
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,578 posts
 
I tend to agree with Plato. I have owned component systems for 30+ years as well and CD only source systems for the last 10 years and I always thought that most of my music collection sounded pretty good and my systems had pretty good components. My systems have sounded very musical and enjoyable with a wide range of music, which has not been my experience with so much of the truly expensive equipment that I see and hear today. And you are not alone in your assessment. There was a thread here last week where all one member wanted was a pair of "Big Stupid Warm Speakers."

I am not quite sure how high end audio got going on this path over the last dozen or so years (Wall Street $; HT systems) ... but I do more head shaking at an Audio Show than wishing I owned most of the audio gear. There is no reason to change your systems, especially if you are happy with them. If you were a reader of most audio magazines 30 years ago (like High Fidelity or Stereo Review) and suggested that speakers that only sounded their best with certain types of music or other major limiting factors were SOTA, you would have been laughed at. Compare that to a typical speaker review that you might see today in Stereophile, et al.

Regards, Rich
prpixel
826 posts
 
How many hours were on the system in the dealers showroom. From working with a few local dealers, most systems in showrooms only get turned on for demos. One or two systems might get used on a regular basis for background music in the showroom or for watching movies when it's slow.

Also, don't assume just because it's a system in a dealers showroom that it's setup properly. Most of the time, speakers just get plopped down in the "standard" position with a little toe in and don't get tweaked at all. Also, just because they are a dealer, doesn't mean the have a critical ear or take the time to work on system synergy.
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