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what is it in audio that you dislike most?


Hello everyone,

The positives in the audio hobby are extensive. incredible preserntations. sound which reaches out and grabs you physically and emotionally. it can be both soothing and exciting simultaneously.

despite its innate attraction, from time to time there is something related to the audio past time that can be absolutely irritating, disparaging, or is just plain offputting.

Now and then there is soemthing in the presentation, or at a dealership/seller you simply can not abide.

maybe it is how you were/are treated in a dealership or showroom by the salesman. Maybe its just his or her attitude that hits you wrong.

could be the system being shown is setup incorrectly.

could be too that various components are not even plugged in properly and the supposed demo is just clumsy and unprofessional.

maybe even the speakers have not been appropriately configured to the space, or the amp to speaker matching is off, reversed, or out of phase.

worse still, various items are not run in well.

Perhaps all is great at the showroom or show but in the sonic depiction there is no bass, or not enough, or it is merely a one note affair.

could be its a bright shrill, top end.

as well, maybbe you hate to find the demonstration dry or without detail and without depth.

what is the thing in or about audio dealers, demos, or listening that you find unacceptable, irritating, or that you simply will not put up with for long, or at all?

Examples
1 A sterile or analytical presentations. highly detailed yet uninvolving.
2 A bright strident top end.
3 ill defined imaging
4 Poor lower range representation.
5 A dealers condescending attitude " if they don't sell it, it is not worth owning."
6 Dealers that say, Why in the world would you want tubes and all that distortion they bring to the table?
7 Dealers that say Yes, we are an authorized seller of XYZ but we don't inventory any of their products, but we can order them for you.
8 no dealerships near by.
9 snake oil
10 price
etc....

I'm sure you've run across something about the sound or the transaction experience which you have found
makes you walk away, or want to turn it off.

what is it IYO?

thanks
blindjim
denverfred's avatar
denverfred
252 posts
 
Harshness 
Any source
Human or device
rackon
301 posts
 
Audio store salesmen assuming my husband is the audiophile when we shop together as a couple.

Speakers with tipped up treble and/or narrow sweet spots.

Compressed recordings.
blindjim OP
3,092 posts
 

@Rackon>

Audio store salesmen assuming my husband is the audiophile when we shop together as a couple.


Speakers with tipped up treble and/or narrow sweet spots.


blindjim>

Ouch! 

Salesmanship today in many cases is a lost art and respect as well seems to have disappeared. I do get it. Sorry.


On that ‘head in a vice’ and tipped up treble bit, the limited sweet spot is an unacceptable proposition though a treble issue can come from numerous respects.


Setup is key and attending to electrical concerns in showrooms is not always done exceptionally well. I’ve heard far more than one demo instance where the top end was just bright or etched as the result of the PLC they were using or if no PLC was in play. Speakers not well run in, recorded material,  etc even the wires in use can either contribute or be culprits.


But I get it. The speakers sweet spot and the top end MUST be amenable to the listening experience or I’ve no consideration for it/them.


Never understood why someone would buy speakers whose presentation was properly delivered to one square foot of space, more or less.

. 


For me, its a dry, clinical, sterile lifeless presentation even if all else is being rendered appropriately.


Music is best served wet. Or at least moist. Never dry, brittle, or crumbly or stale.


jonnie22
42 posts
 
High price, low science. Always a problem, though it seems to be slowing down. More science, lower prices -R2R DACs, signal wire, waveguide/horn speakers, subwoofers, etc.

Reviewers that do it wrong. Use a speaker with (1) amp, a room too small for speaker, magazines/webzines that don’t seek a second opinion.

Reviewers who listen to pop and rock music. Good for teenagers, but I’d like to know what a speaker sounds like with grand piano, string quartet or jazz ensemble. In other words, real instruments. With start, stop and decay.

Reviewers who don’t reveal things they didn’t like. But might later -Arthur Salvatore touched on this on his web page.

Stereophile's speaker measurements. Won't rent a semi-anechoic room, even gave up smoothing-and-averaging in a room (test in driveways), no distortion, no cavity noise in db. They probably don't push an amp too hard either when testing (it).

Nasal-sounding music choices on youtube videos. I go there to hear a product with a spectrum of sound, not to hear a cello or solo violin.

People who don’t know what’s going on. In 2019, some *still* think LP sounds better than 16/44 digital, tubes have more "bloom and decay" than solid-state, switching amps "omit the highs", horns "honk", etc. These are old problems. We have moved forward.


blindjim OP
3,092 posts
 

well, it seems you have found the problem. (s)


Although I've found when I believe the vast majority of others have issues, I gotta wonder how I'm the only one who doesn't.


IC chips were an advancement in the science of electronics. they sure did not help the SQ though. ICs did make manufacturering cheaper. 


off shore production makes things cheaper or did until recently. but that wave has yet to land on our heads/pockets fully.


it takes more than science. You can always bet on that!


Science is just a part of the equation. there is artistry in the design which when both are combined, culminates in escalating performance. 


as for data sheets and spec sheets, testing, the numbers which will always matter most are the ones I can or will throw at this or that component which I feel fits in my system, or will be a fundamental part of it. using specs only to formulate a buying decision is putting oneself on pretty thin ice.


the real test or examination of any component is the one we do with our own ears.. and or eyes.


often, I’d rather default to the size and weight of a thing in order to make a buying decision more so than to place my faith entirely on its specs, all things being more or less equal. especially with amps.


as for musical preffs reviewers use? that coin lands face up on both sides. the accounts which convey nothing to me are those writers which testify they are using some arcane, super eclectic remote unknown cut or album, sometimes only available on vinyl LP, or all their selections are classical movements you have never heard. such accounts are a sheer waste of time to try digesting.


it makes the author look like a card carrying snob who lives in a very small world.


the idea is to relate to prospective buyers, not to show you know about music no one else does. such articles miss the freakin’ point completely and are a waste of time. but arrogance & snobbery is or has been a real part of this hobby for a long while. and its just too bad that  its stench  still lingers about now and then..


I have a number of ripped tracks from alternative, Americana, Bluegrass, and Country music which have as much fidelity and polish as do my Jazz and classical tracks, but it is audio heresey it seems, for a writer to mention their use in an account of expensive audio equipment. too bad.


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