2. misc-audio
  3. 137017-12450

Blocking the propaganda

I have a friend who lives in the boondocks who is without question the foremost expert in this Country on a certain vintage turntable. I will leave the particulars out so as to avoid making him the focus of this discussion or letting someone else figure out who I am talking about. He said something to me recently that I always knew on a certain level but have not seen "transparently" until his comment. His statement is this; "audio magazines including Stereophile are useful for birdcages and if you run out of toilet paper and nothing else". This was in the context of discussing Mike Fremer's preference for 9" arms. I have concluded that he is absolutely correct, but only for those who have the guts to really dive into audio with open eyes and willing to expend the effort to focus all of their attention and for lack of a better word, devotion, to figuring out the truth for themselves. This person I speak of has unquestionably done that. He has engineered his own products that make his turntable of choice as good as it can get. He thinks outside the box. Convention or "accepted thought" mean nothing to him. The analogy that comes to mind is wine. I know of many who will not buy a wine unless some critic has given it a 90 or above. When someone points out how silly it is to rely on published numbers from someone they don't know, they claim that they rely on experts and numerical ratings because they lack the patience, time and resources to taste wine options for themselves. What it boils down to is intellectual laziness. I intend to filter out 100% of what I read in magazines and even audio boards as absolutely unreliable. I have no doubt that I will fall short, but it is a lofty goal nonetheless. We all ought to forge our own trail(s) with sweat and effort and open minds and avoid laziness. Apologies to those who don't appreciate sermons. 
128x128fsonicsmith
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
2psyop
One cannot really argue with the fascinating hobby of audio or how many people will spend ridiculous amounts of money on fancy boxes of wires that make musical noise. We all like what we like. To me, what is more curious and telling is what it reveals in people. Some who are arrogant, some who are instigators, others who are intelligent and reasonable and many who are helpful. Many are just stubborn salesman who want to push a brand they like. The hobby is fun, the people in it do not often know what they reveal about themselves.

Gosh, that’s fascinating.
n80
2,116 posts
 
Glupson, it gets just as crazy if not more so in the automotive world. There are so many more intangibles than the simple physics would suggest. The fancier and pricier the cars the worse it gets. Any given machine that performs too well and too effortlessly is presumed to have lost some sort of spiritual essence..... for example. 

The car car world is fortunate to have race tracks though. That is where all the hype goes away. That is where a moderately experienced driver like me blows the doors off a 911 Turbo driven by a new or cautious driver in my pedestrian Nissan 350z while a gifted driver in a Miata on slicks passes us both and we are all made to look motionless by a Ferrari Challenge 458 that arrived in fancy 18 wheeler. The stopwatch does not lie. 

And trust me, the amateur photography world is nearly as bad as the audiophile world. And you can have a $30,000 Phase One body with a $10,000 lens and take bad pictures all day. There also seems to be quite a niche in photography for people who love the gear...and make no mistake, some of it is exquisite to behold...who rarely take pictures. They will tell you your $2000 Nikon is junk and they have the engineering knowledge to tell you why. And yet some of them do not have the talent to produce an actual work of art. Rather, they tend to produce what Ansel Adams called a sharp photo of a fuzzy concept. 

To to bring this around to the OP’s point, the manufacturers and the retailers prey on these aspects of all of these hobbies. And why wouldn’t they? For them there is nothing worse than someone deciding that what they already have is all they really want and need. 
whart's avatar
whart
3,041 posts
 
@n80- I agree that there is as much snark in the car world on the Internet, but because most of the fora are marque specific, it filters out a lot of people who would go on Rennlist (or whatever) and trash Porsches in favor of something else.
Most of the performance of cars is down to the driver in my estimation. (Obviously, we aren’t talking about top speed runs, but those are of little interest to me).
I know there is a huge aftermarket for tweaks and performance improvements, but as you’ve said, they’re measurable for the most part- increased HP, torque, whatever. (I participated in one of those some years ago by agreeing to pay for a fancy exhaust system if it won the test, with the understanding that the manufacturer would refund me if not; it didn’t and I got my money back without a problem).
The best car analogy I can draw is that despite performance figures, "better technology" and overall better performance, safety and convenience,  there is something so immediate about driving a light, old, well balanced car- road feel and not being cosseted in an environment of comfort that removes you from the driving experience.
New bling, whether hi-fi or cars, doesn’t really get my attention or interest. I quit reading the car mags quite a while ago too, and am well out of it when it comes to that world now. (I did get to have one of my cars reviewed by R&T as the feature car some years ago, and that was a blast, but it really didn’t change the driving experience or the value of the car at the end of the day. It was just a fun opportunity that I got to take advantage of, during the years when I would be humiliated on the track by much better drivers).
glupson
7,842 posts
 
n80, whart,

Huh, I accidentally lucked out by never going on the track. It would have been humiliating had it not been for self-conscious acceptance of my very low limits. At least I am fine at the stoplight. Same with audio-equipment, buying better than a boombox while accepting that someone else will set up something better, and me not feeling the urge to convince the whole world my set-up beats theirs is sort of a blessing. Still, intermittently reading magazines and forums brings some new light to approaches I may never even consider undertaking. I keep my cars and audio equipment stock while learning what else may be done with them. As far as Michael Fremer's reviews go, they are a little too excited and frequently appear predictable for me to continue reading more than two, or at most three, paragraphs. They may be valuable reading for someone else and are probably worthwhile altogether, but they do ooze polarization. No wonder that readership opinions appear to be extreme opposites of the spectrum. I think his articles are a perfect example of "There is someone who will appreciate it so let it be. If you do not like it, skip it and do not get mad."
glupson
7,842 posts
 
geoffkait,

"Was glupson raised by wolves?"


No, I was not. I was raised by my parents. This is the second time you are asking about my parents. Is there any particular reason your interest in them is unexpectedly high?
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