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Audiophiles & music-have you got it wrong?

This thread is partly inspired by comments on "would you refer this to all the interested parties" but also by general comments made on a regular basis.

Of course each person to their own, I do not advocate my views are the definitive ones and I do consider myself a music fan who takes an interest in high end equipment rather than being an out and out audiophile.
However despite some reservations about certain audiophile beliefs I don't come on these forums and say burn in it doesn't exist,interconnects are a rip off and exhibit little more than fine tuning etc.etc.
Why?
Because I don't feel I've explored these issues fully nor do I really wish to therefore my comments would be largely uninformed even if they are accurate from my point of view.
And yet some audiophiles seem to make constant negative remarks about the price and quality of music currently available-are they right?

First up the price of music-this is not to say greed doesn't exist within the record companies but are CD's really that expensive when we compare them to how much we spend on our equipment?
My collection is now worth close to double what my equipment is.
Am I nuts or do I have things in perspective?
I consider I am probably at the extreme end of things with regards buying music but aren't some of you at the other end of the extreme?

Is it the quality of the recordings that's an issue?
Ok-I can't say sometimes that recorings don't disappoint or indeed the fact that older CD's can be badly mastered.
However is it possible that some have attuned their ear to a level of perfection that only exists in a limited number of recordings?
Nothing wrong with that but should our hobby be about matching that ideal or should it be more like how I see/hear things-getting the best audio reproduction possible but accepting that recording will always be flawed or indeed subjective?
Is Robert Johnson any less powerful despite the primative nature of the recordings?

Finally there's no new good music.
I read that endlessly here on Audiogon.
And I ask one question-how do you know that?
Do you read about new music?
Have you the interest to search it out the way you tweak or try to perfect your system?
Do you know what's been remastered recently?

There is plenty of new music that is good but even ignoring the new stuff,there is an endless supply of music already existing that you've probably never heard.
Do you try to expand your tastes?
Does it even interest you to try?

If your relationship with this hobby is about the equipment then fine,that is as valid as any music lovers quest however please refrain from these glib criticisms if you haven't taken the time to make sure you know what you are talking about.

ben_campbell
ben_campbell OP
1,169 posts
 
Patrick-thanks for the kind words.

By remasters I do mean worthwhile releases-like several last year that took CD replay to new levels.

Amongst these were Beatles and Dylan and of course at last On The Beach by Neil Young in all it's ragged HDCD glory.

Sure some companies suck the life out of classics but what I'm referring to is knowledge.
I've seen many many posts on Audiogon that refer to the poor quality,usually early generation CD releases by major artists.
The simple fact is that these have been surpassed but audiophiles remain ignorant for whatever reasons.
I've seen posts on Queen,Peter Gabriel,Blue Oyster Cult,Joni Mitchell,Yes,The Police even something like One by the Beatles got lost to some people.

Information is a two way street-in some fashion you get out what you put in-if you search in the wrong places you'll find dross.

Yes these points have been made for decades which if you think about it just means we've got old because even the golden era of popular music wasn't rated by the oldies then!
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
The amount of music one can find on the WWW is so vast that it sometimes seems to be out numbered only by the stars in the sky and the bugs on the earth. My problem isn't finding recordings, it's affording the multitude that I find.

Equipment, I enjoy the heck out of it and have somehow been blessed with the ability to put a great sounding system together at all the price levels I have owned. All this great luck with components has opened up a huge can of worms in the software department limited only by the flavor of my day and never by the equipment.

I will admit to a short stay in the AUDIOPHILE camp a few years back..spent about two years there playing with and staring at all my stuff with this neurotic look in my eye, not a fun time for music listening in the old sogood household. I don't know for sure..but we may all go through this as part of the learning curve with components at one time or another in our lives. One only has to read through the daily forum to see what a confused bunch we can be.

Dave
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
The main issue for me these days (and something that was briefly alluded to above) is that, as some of us grow older, the amount of perceived actual time diminishes. Yet music will always require real time to enjoy. Devices may be faster and machines may produce more in shorter time frames, and we will all be expected to accomplish more in less time, but nothing can change this when it comes to listening for enjoyment.

For that reason I have been exploring the vinyl back- catalogs of artists from the 60s and 70s, and even jazz from the 40s that I wasn't familiar with previously. The hardware acquisition syndrome is now gone and it is all about the music now, when I can find the time to listen.
pragmatist
336 posts
 
Remeber when you were a teenager? As a matter of natural selection,you rebeled against your parents,so you would leave the nest while,at the same time,being expected to conform to their expectations about whom you dated,what school you would attend,and so forth.

You mirrored your rebellion against both facets mentioned above. You rebelled against their conformity by dressing and acting the same way others your age did.

It might have been long hair,tie dyed t shirts,and a marijuana habit. It might have been dressing and talking as you believed an urban ganster talked.(Remember that Tupoc and P Diddy are middle class suburban kids.) If you were female,it was dressing in a way that pissed off your mother.

Your music was designed to annoy and piss off your parents. It was loud with sexual and drug references.

What is aimed at these adolescent consumers was and is more entertainment than music. I suspect that Brittany Spears knows she can't sing and that she is actully a geisha act(in a larger sense.)

So of course,those of us who have outgrown it think it sucks and is overpriced.

There are so many good jazz and classical players out there,it's tough to keep track of them. There are places to find their recorded output at reasonable prices. One place to look is the Naxos label.

Pro Musica.
newbee
4,768 posts
 
Good posts by music loving audiophiles.

I alway thought that music (I'm performance orientated, not recorded sound orientated) was all that really counted and that I'd love it as well on a boom box. Well, I got my wish, so to speak...............

I work on the computer in a room accross the hall from my system in which everything is tubed - on 16 hours a day! Got frugal and bought one of these generic mini systems for my desk figuring I'd save the cost in the 1st year on tubes alone. By now you've guessed - I'd rather hear my music from the main system accross the hall than on the mini system on my desk..........

But (here is the big however) I'd still rather hear the music over the desk system than not at all - my imagination can still fill in the blanks. I couldn't imagine life with out it. I'd guess that I am an audiophile after all but I'd still rather talk about, and listen to, music than equipment, or work for that matter.
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