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Is this the end of HEA?

http://www.cepro.com/article/is_this_the_end_of_high_performance_audio_at_ces

This last year has made my ears perk up. Honestly I didn't even know the article above had been written until now. What I did know was listeners have been in touch with me about the future of HEA and their future as advanced listeners. It's been nice to see folks getting in touch with me and even nicer that they are doing so because they wish to settle into their final system sound. To say things in their words "it's been an expensive ride" and most of these folks aren't sure they've gotten a fair shake always from the hobby. Many feel they have bank rolled a part of a hobby that hasn't always delivered the goods. Basically instead of telling listeners that this is a variable hobby the "experts" pushed a very expensive game of component Plug & Play onto the discrete audio generation. I remember those days of guilt buying where a dollar amount was used as a representative for quality, when it meant no such thing. I knew first hand this was not the case as designers scrambled to make up-sell products that sounded less musical than the original products that put their name in audio fame. I also could see the HEA decline happening but still was giving the benefit of the doubt to those saying HEA was just fine and growing. Mom and pop stores for the most part have vanished in the US with the exception of a few creative thinkers. New expensive products are being adored but I don't see many actually buying them. Now I've got my eye on T.H.E. Show (Richard's show) and wondering if it's happening or not. Richard and I have talked many times about what will happen to HEA in the US if T.H.E. Show and CES cease doing their thing in Vegas. I wonder what Richard RIP is thinking now sitting in the clouds.

I am very excited to see the next few years come about even though I know some are still buying into the old paradigm that the HEA is the cutting edge with only a volume control to adjust and a fork lift included with every purchase. Going to the CES web, I have my answer for Vegas. Going to T.H.E. Show website I'm still in question. If these two are no more, in terms of HEA, who's next?

Michael Green

128x128michaelgreenaudio
inna
7,296 posts
 
Right. True audiophiles have always been a rare breed, now probably even rarer. Some will remain, at least for as long as analog recordings are available, old and new. Digital will not create audiophiles.
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

Mustbethemusic, me and an audiophile friend of mine auditioned an "affordable" SS ARC preamp that was loaned to me, and we didn't get very far into the first record before we declared it a "no show". Anytime I have auditioned bottom of the line "affordable" gear with a big time name, I have experienced the same results.

HEA is expensive for the average person, there is no getting around it, and just because a piece of gear has a high end moniker, does not make it HEA.
mustbethemusic
17 posts
 
Orpheus - I understand your reference point. My point is that two buck chuck audio as in two buck chuck wine is fine for some but not necessarily for those who have developed a more refined pallet. The challenge or opportunity is can we set our own refined taste aside long enough to allow others to enjoy their version of low-high end audio? 
I believe we create false exclusivity by calling ourselves audiophiles. I'm not sure what the term really means. I was shocked when I was called an audiophile when I mentioned I listened to vinyl. I find the term misplaced and intimidating frankly. The way some of us toss around technical jargon, I forget that we are even talking about music. As I listen to Wayne Shorter - Hear No Evil, if i'm thinking about my gear versus immersing myself into the content, then I've not only gone to far over the high end audio pursuit, I've forgotten what drew me into this hobby in the first place. Maybe we need to remind ourselves that its HEA for the sake of the music, not the music for the sake of HEA. if we forget this then HEA should die, because we sucked all the life out of it. 
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

The "audiophile" designation has absolutely nothing to do with my ability to hear; I gave a friend of mine that designation because he could hear even better than me. Are you saying just because a piece of gear is ARC, or CJ, or Sota, that it's supposed to sound good?


The challenge or opportunity is can we set our own refined taste aside long enough to allow others to enjoy their version of low-high end audio?


I have absolutely no idea what you meant by that statement?


My statement meant precisely what I said; those three refined names produced "crap", but it was at a low price.


My taste has nothing to do with someone else not being able to recognize that fact, and if they didn't, I fail to understand how that would further the cause of HEA.


In regard to music, I am the OP of the thread "Jazz For Aficionados", that has been on this forum for years; my credentials in regard to music speak for themselves.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,821 posts
 

I got to know quite well the manager of the Classical department at my local Tower Records. He had a very negative opinion of what he referred to as audiofools---those who care more about the sonic quality of a recording than its’ artistic content. My argument that the former could be a limiting factor in the listeners’ ability to perceive the latter was met with a blank stare.

That manager was a big fan of Leonard Bernstein, which was in a way perfect; Bernstein’s recordings are high in artistic content, somewhat low in sound quality. I hate when that happens; a lot of my favorite Pop (non-Classical) music and artists were also recorded in mediocre or worse sound quality. I'm too much of an audiophile to not care, too much of a music lover to let that stop me from listening to it and them.

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