Simon --
I absolutely agree with you. I know that this may sound arrogant, but most guys in our hobby have never heard a truly resolving balanced audio reproduction system. Where are they going to do so? Not at an audio show, as the electric delivery is garbage and show condition room acoustics are terrible at best. Not at a dealer's showroom, ditto for electric and acoustics (unless the room has dedicated and distributed power and nothing else is in the room other than the system itself and a seat with no other electronics or speakers in the room - a combination that I have never experienced at a dealer anywhere). Not at most guy's homes either.
It is unfortunate that most audiophiles do not have a dedicated properly treated listening room with proper electrical distribution. Just the amount of real estate that is necessary to do this and the annual property taxes on that real estate make doing so prohibitive for most, let alone the additional construction cost of designing and building a proper listening room.
It is also unfortunate that most guys are chasing the "preamp of the month" as a salvation to audio nirvana, rather than treating their system (after all the magazines are about selling new product - the audio manufacturers are their major source of revenue through their advertising), its placement, loudspeaker size relative to the room, having the right type of amplifier to drive those loudspeakers with impedance matched components, vibration control (Marigo mat is part of that vibration control) and electric distribution to holistically achieve the desired sonic result. AND... you have to know the sonic result that you desire before you even start to assemble that system! What type of music do you enjoy? What volume levels? As reviewer Jonathan Valin describes...is one a "Fidelity to the master tape" listener, and "Absolute sound" listener, or a "Beauty of sound" listener. I know that I have achieved the "Fidelity to master tape" sound as the goal that I had set for my main system. I simply want to hear what was recorded, how it was recorded, and where it was recorded. I want to hear that recording "warts 'n all".
I only wish that I could have assembled a system like I enjoy for $100K. That doesn't even cover the real estate, design, and construction cost of my listening room. So when a product comes along that is priced no more than a meal with my wife at a fine restaurant, a product that elevates the enjoyment and immersion of my passion, music, to an unheard of level of refinement, I had to share my discovery with others. If they can't hear the difference, or worse, are too skeptical to try it, and judge the result for themselves, that is their loss. It is also a shame. It is unfortunate that there are so many music lovers and audio hobbyists that will never be able to hear what is capable in the art of sound reproduction.
I absolutely agree with you. I know that this may sound arrogant, but most guys in our hobby have never heard a truly resolving balanced audio reproduction system. Where are they going to do so? Not at an audio show, as the electric delivery is garbage and show condition room acoustics are terrible at best. Not at a dealer's showroom, ditto for electric and acoustics (unless the room has dedicated and distributed power and nothing else is in the room other than the system itself and a seat with no other electronics or speakers in the room - a combination that I have never experienced at a dealer anywhere). Not at most guy's homes either.
It is unfortunate that most audiophiles do not have a dedicated properly treated listening room with proper electrical distribution. Just the amount of real estate that is necessary to do this and the annual property taxes on that real estate make doing so prohibitive for most, let alone the additional construction cost of designing and building a proper listening room.
It is also unfortunate that most guys are chasing the "preamp of the month" as a salvation to audio nirvana, rather than treating their system (after all the magazines are about selling new product - the audio manufacturers are their major source of revenue through their advertising), its placement, loudspeaker size relative to the room, having the right type of amplifier to drive those loudspeakers with impedance matched components, vibration control (Marigo mat is part of that vibration control) and electric distribution to holistically achieve the desired sonic result. AND... you have to know the sonic result that you desire before you even start to assemble that system! What type of music do you enjoy? What volume levels? As reviewer Jonathan Valin describes...is one a "Fidelity to the master tape" listener, and "Absolute sound" listener, or a "Beauty of sound" listener. I know that I have achieved the "Fidelity to master tape" sound as the goal that I had set for my main system. I simply want to hear what was recorded, how it was recorded, and where it was recorded. I want to hear that recording "warts 'n all".
I only wish that I could have assembled a system like I enjoy for $100K. That doesn't even cover the real estate, design, and construction cost of my listening room. So when a product comes along that is priced no more than a meal with my wife at a fine restaurant, a product that elevates the enjoyment and immersion of my passion, music, to an unheard of level of refinement, I had to share my discovery with others. If they can't hear the difference, or worse, are too skeptical to try it, and judge the result for themselves, that is their loss. It is also a shame. It is unfortunate that there are so many music lovers and audio hobbyists that will never be able to hear what is capable in the art of sound reproduction.