A couple of comments and observations.
I have always thought that show exhibitors would do better to present modest systems. If a room is showing very pricey gear with unobtainium cables and lots of room treatments and isolation tweaks and whatnot, it had better sound damn good. And as many of you have remarked, it usually doesn't. So what impression does that leave the show-goer with regarding those brands? But if you are getting good sound out of a modest system, you've got my attention.
In the best case, you might get 60% - 70% of audiophiles to agree that a system sounds really good. So it's understandable that some people might be thrilled while you are puzzled.
I think my system sounds good most of the time. I've rarely heard good sound at any dealership. I've heard disappointing sound in some audiophiles' dedicated, custom-built rooms. I've listened to many systems whose owners were proud of the sound but which left me cold. Just as I'm sure that many people find my system unremarkable.
I'm not sure what the takeaway is from all of this, but it's always useful to remember that what we like in audio is very subjective and personal. Different strokes indeed.
I have always thought that show exhibitors would do better to present modest systems. If a room is showing very pricey gear with unobtainium cables and lots of room treatments and isolation tweaks and whatnot, it had better sound damn good. And as many of you have remarked, it usually doesn't. So what impression does that leave the show-goer with regarding those brands? But if you are getting good sound out of a modest system, you've got my attention.
In the best case, you might get 60% - 70% of audiophiles to agree that a system sounds really good. So it's understandable that some people might be thrilled while you are puzzled.
I think my system sounds good most of the time. I've rarely heard good sound at any dealership. I've heard disappointing sound in some audiophiles' dedicated, custom-built rooms. I've listened to many systems whose owners were proud of the sound but which left me cold. Just as I'm sure that many people find my system unremarkable.
I'm not sure what the takeaway is from all of this, but it's always useful to remember that what we like in audio is very subjective and personal. Different strokes indeed.