Over the course of my 15+ years in the Forums, I have been called an "audio snob" a few times. Perhaps it was my attitude with the equipment being discussed, but I really am not sure. Which brings me to discuss my most recent purchase, a Schiit Lokius 6 band EQ. I ordered it last Friday afternoon (9-15-23) and received it on the following Monday! When I ordered it, the shipping time was 1-3 days and I received it in only 3 days.
My office system is 50% McIntosh, perhaps that is where audio snob came from, although Mac is no better or worse than other comparatively priced equipment. I am running the new JBL L100 Classic on their dedicated stands and supplement the bass with a single SVS PB2000 Pro sub. The room is extremely difficult, being on the second floor of my house and it is a big room. It has 3 dormers and slanted ceilings and the height of the ceiling is 18 feet. I have wall hangings on the slanted wall behind my speakers and various other wall hangings and some GIK room tuning treatments.
I was using a Bellari 4 band EQ in this system prior to my new purchase. First off, the Lokius is very nice, well built, high level of fit and finish for its price. It is dead quiet, and the controls are set up so you can’t screw up the sound too much. A few twists of the knobs here and there, and I am very happy. This was all in all, a very pleasant experience dealing with Schiit Audio. While I have no plans to make any further purchases, one never knows. I hope this puts the Audio snob to rest.
I have read many of your posts and never thought you came off like that. Everyone here loves audio , I know I do. I have no problem spending money on what to me has been great gear. My kids are gone, bills are low , and sometimes I will sacrifice in other areas to procure a great piece.
You usually hear good things about Schiit, seems like excellent bang for the buck.
I also love great values. I am throttling back as my system is pretty good right now but I needed a sub that wouldn't break the bank for TV and movies. My main speakers don't really need a sub but sometimes it's great to have. I am sure that Earthquake gets very little respect but I just picked up their MiniMe 12" sub and It's quite good. Actually amazing for the $640 price.
No you are not. I have found your posts to be very down to earth and not condescending like some. Granted I have not been around long but find your contributions to be very positive.
I put 17 straws inside the porthole at the back of my box speakers...😁
I glued a cardboard paper roll around the twitter to increase focus ...😁
I put bricks on top for damping and under them with cork and minerals to iso0late them and with "golden plate" (shungite+copper) all around them ... I put some golden plates on the connectors with quartz...😁
I put wood panels beside each speakers on my desk to decouple each speakers and decrease some level of crosstalks...I listen near field...😁
I use a low cost dac synergetical a NOS one , with these low cost active speakers with 4 inches driver with official 85 hertz of specs now going 50 hertz thanks to the straw bundle... 😊
Call me an audio snob....Or crazy....
Or not....
I am happy as hell....
No upgrade needed...
Cost: peanuts...
My post is right if this thread is not about Schiit product only but about audio snobs... If not , if it is about schiit only i will delete my post on demand by the OP...
I'm not gonna lie, I like great audio components. But I am humble in knowing there are many systems out there that are better, more expensive, etc...
Putting a piece of Schiit in a McIntosh system is OK as long as it sounds good !! Anyone who's been around knows that Jason Stoddard and Mike Moffat are innovators with serious resumes in HiFi going back 30 Years.... I would buy their Schiit
Just bought a Loki Max and it's amazing. Ordered some "chicken head" knobs so I can more easily see changes from my sitting position. Some "snobs" don't like chicken head knobs...and I say, "what's not to like?"
I must be missing the point, here. I have a Schiit EQ, too. It seems like a useful thing. Not sure how it bears on the use of the word "snob." As I understand it, that comes down to how I treat people and how I frame discussions about pluses and minuses. It doesn’t depend on whether I buy a particular piece of gear, including an EQ.
I sold a lot of much more expensive gear and have a lot of Schitt gear in my office system. As I look at the rack I see the following:
Aegir amp (for headphones)
Yggi+ Less is More DAC (for 2-channel preamp, headphone preamp, Jotenheim R amp)
Jotenhiem R (not used much)
Mjolnir 3 preamp
That is a lot of Schitt.
I sold $22k of gear (DAC and a headphone amp) and replaced with the above gear. The Schitt DAC is better than the DAC I sold and the headphone amp I sold was just a bit better than the much cheaper Mjolnir + Aegir).
I also have the Schitt Sys but that was only good on a low-fi tuner.
"If you call someone a snob, you disapprove of them because they behave as if they are superior to other people because of their intelligence or taste."
There's the rare few that fit that 'round here, and generally it seems to occur during an occasional lapse of reason and/or rationale....
So, no...you're not. *S*
One's 'tone' or choice of verbiage can be misconstrued. but obtaining a particular item for whatever reason at whatever the price?
Whatever boats your float....🤷♂️👍😎 Happiness shouldn't be measured by the response of others...and there seems to be an awful lot of Schitt around...;)
(..but I absolutely refuse to give up my multiple EQs'....I'll be a 'snot' 'bout that...*L*)
I can’t afford to be a snob 😄 I’m just particular about how I want my system to sound, and have a profound respect and admiration for great gear, and little love for overhyped, overpriced gear that falls short. It’s all about the sound (or lack thereof)...however you need to get there.
The snob accusation is usually born of envy which is pride manifest. Ignore them.
As far as audio gear is concerned unless you are uber rich- the 1/100th of 1%ers you probably don't have $100K speakers with $10,000 cables hooked to three $35,000 amps fed by a $70,000 front end all interconnected by $20k of custom XLRs. in a $250K listening room. The rest of us have to research, shop, budget, plan, search, buy used, etc and slowly build our dream system while making a mistake or 3 along the way,
BTW, I know a few billionaires. The kind that made their own money and the kind who inherited it. Most are very interesting, and down to earth. It's the poser wannabe jerkoffs that act snobby because they think that's the way rich people act. They can't be fixed so ignore them.
I have never considered you an audio snob. I’ve always enjoyed your input and have agreed with you on many occasions. I’m also a Mac fan but have other components as well. Like many on this forum, I really enjoy this hobby and have since I was young. We’re all in this club together, so I hope you enjoy your Schiit!
Audio snobbery is not uncommon on blogs like these, however I do not pay enough attention to it with the so many different handles on here to be able to make such judgment. I do like the McIntosh reference to it though. Do people go with it for sound or the multitude of blue lights? One can always guess.
On a side note, I also recently acquired a Schiit Loki, but the Max because of the remote. I don't use it that often but really enjoy it on poorly recorded material as needed. An absolute must if interested in the better sound to your ears for every record. And Schitt alone would get you off the snob category lol.
If you are an audiophile you are a snob. You believe and act as if you know more about music reproduction (and music) then the average mid-fi/pop music consumer. Many times it's true, but not always. Now within audiophiles circles there are also levels of snobbery. So what! In and of itself snobbery is not all bad. If you are very knowledgeable on a subject you sometimes have to say or demonstrate that knowledge. Some people know how to do that without being a jerk.
Here I am. Attending a Christmas music special at a local church, sitting there comfortably on padded pew. Its a pretty big production with special lighting and decor, and a stage full of talented musicians. WIthin 30 seconds, I am in agony, with an uncontrollable impulse to rent some scaffording and rip out every foot of generic, commercial grade speaker wire feeding the speaker arrays, and replace it with real speaker cable. (And, maybe some interconnect upgrades?) Thin, anemic, edgy sound is not on my list of Top 10 life’s pleasures. Everyone else around me is smiling. I’m not. I put on my best poker face and hope to appear to be actively engaged in the performance for the next 90 minutes. "Just wonderful" is the comment I share with others as I’m existing the venue. I do want to add that I appreciated the effort, the talent of the musicians, the messages they conveyed, and the family time together. Just not the technical execution of the presentation,
Communication of basic information priorities will help...
Elite training acquired perceptive habits are not snobbery...
We must not treat other as if they are out of a "group", snobs do this; but we must not put all taste on the same foothold either...We must discuss values, affective,cognitive, and spiritual, and perceptive one...
There is no democracy in art and science nor in philosophy...No democracy at all here... Sorry... 😊
Nobody pick his craftman worker by blind popular vote or by and for his "average" tastes...
In audio there is a "snobbery club" based on price tag which sometimes stay silent but is pervasive and implicit through threads but "elite" knowledge begins with acoustic and basic embeddings knowledge and goes beyond...It is not related to price tag...
Elite is not synonymus with snob attitude in any field...
But for sure various personality defects exist then from some elite levels may comes many snobs... 😁
The fact that the "art of the fugue" for example had more objective content value than a pop song does not means that this a snob claims ...This is only a recognition of musical history content for consciousness.. It is an "elite" acquired fact, meaning it must be learned first and experienced and ask for a minimal knowledge out of our innate taste for any pop song ..
Once this is said i enjoy as much Papas as the Mammas than Bach,... As i enjoy as much plain rough bread eaten on the road as the most refined gourmet meal...But i can differentiate the two, one answer to a momentary affective needs the other answer to a deeper need in the spirit/soul...
Hungry people are never snobs, only replete one are...😊
Radish taste are divine taste when there is nothing else to eat for us or when we cannot imagine eating anything else... I love radish by the way... As i love low cost audiophile results...
People call people names because they don’t agree with X. Cables being a prime example. But as far as you being a snob? I’ve never seen you try to rub peoples noses in stuff because your widgets are better than theirs.
If you are an audiophile you are a snob. You believe and act as if you know more about music reproduction (and music) then the average mid-fi/pop music consumer.
What if you do know more and you're not an a**hole? What if you do have a more careful and criteria-filled approach to a complex aesthetic experience? You're not a snob if you don't act like one.
And if someone doesn't know something -- and you do -- should you not act like you know more since you do know more? You can instruct people without attacking their dignity.
My doctor is not a snob, a Ph.D. in physics is not a snob, a wine connoisseur is not a snob -- unless they act like one.
Schitt makes good gear - especially for the price. I especially love their Freya+ pre. I had that hooked up to a mc-462 amp and they sounded wonderful together. Like you I was also contemplating getting the schitt tone controls for my current system.
I have owned the schiit Lokuis for a couple of years now and love it! It is dead quite and is especially helpful with that vintage vinyl that has seen a few miles. It's also an important part of getting my listening room to behave for some recordings. These old ears can use all the help they can get.
Whoever claims the Lokius is dead quiet either has other noisy gear in the chain or should seriously consider going to their local ENT for an audiogram. It is indeed dead quiet when in “bypass” mode, but is quite noisy and high in distortion otherwise. I tried one in conjunction with the Benchmark LA4 and AHB2. Once you flip the Lokius out of bypass it immediately becomes a noisy bottleneck. And before you ask, yes, the Lokius was located well away from any transformers or other sources of noise.
Maybe this qualifies me as a noise snob, so be it. Noise is the enemy of true resolution.
"Whoever claims the Lokius is dead quiet either has other noisy gear in the chain or should seriously consider going to their local ENT for an audiogram......."
Have you considered the possibility that you got a lemon?
It wasn’t a lemon. The vast majority of reasonably priced audio gear is unacceptably high in noise, even by the standards of 30 years ago. It’s simply the result of lazy engineering and/or low quality parts.
There’s no point in owning a 20 bit resolution source/DAC when there’s a bottleneck in the chain with an idle noise floor of -85dB. But most people are living with multiple components of similar noise floors. I suppose if the person in question spent their younger years attending insanely loud concerts then it probably doesn’t matter.
In the case of the Lokius, I expected some audible noise, but it was far too much in an otherwise truly “dead-quiet” system.
@helomech, had you truly read my post, you would already know I went to an ENT. Obviously, you choice read and take things out of context. The Lokius is dead quiet, both in and out of the circuit. Perhaps your problem is your Benchmark equipment.
Snob is in the attitude not the knowledge or the hobby.
I see it most here when (1) someone is telling another that their system isn't resolving enough or that it needs to be upgraded to meet their projected requirements (or worse, to win some argument), or (2) people drop names of gear simply to show they can afford something your average 'goner cannot.
They think it affords credibility when really it's the person who can't afford the 5-figure stuff and works to get their system sounding just as good that deserves the credibility.
However certain hobbies do attract some snobs.
On Schiit - I have a Gumby and although I have DACs that cost more (not a lot...don't have enough money to be a #2 type snob) I really like how it sounds and use it most. I think it's good gear for the money.
@helomech, perhaps you are just plain wrong or perhaps that Benchmark is not as good as you think and is a source of the noise. I checked out your system page, since there is nothing there, I can only surmise it is invisible?
Im sure that the founders of Schiit products have good Hi-Fi credentials. And that their products are good Hi Fi Components. However, why would you want to call your company Schiit? However you spell it its still just schiit. Why would I want to say to someone "my stereo components are Schiit"? It's just an "inside joke", so what? It's still Schiit! Were they afraid that if they named their company something more reasonable, no one would notice them? Did they have no confidence that their products would not sell if they had a "normal" name. I don't know... Im just asking.
You most definately are a snob and I can prove it. One only has to look at the expensive acquisition of that Schiit equalizer you just recently purchased! Actually I have one and it doesn't seem to impact the sound negatively but rather adds a positive effect as far as changing the tone. One reviewer online pronounces Schiit like in skit. I like that better.
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