Emotional rollercoaster
cd318, If we ignore speakers. do those British magazines ever do group tests of other higher-end equipment? I have never paid attention to that stratification and, until you mentioned that nobody compares directly, have never noticed this difference between British and U.S.A. based magazines. I do not think that those from U.S.A. do group tests of anything ever. Interesting how they have different approaches. |
The moment that you do group tests, it becomes comparative, and one ends up a winner, another the loser, and the others in between. U.S. mags would never contemplate this as they'd immediately lose all kinds of advertising revenue, plus many manufacturers would stop sending them freebie examples (long-term loaners) to review. Of course, given the access of the most of the population in the U.S. to easy audition of multiple competitive components--which is close to zero if you don't live in NY, Chicago or LA--then precisely this kind of review would be the most helpful and a genuine service that a magazine could provide. |
I suppose most all of us on this here forum have had our moment at the edge of the Rubicon. It’s about what you want to hear, not what you spend. You spend what you can to hear what you want to hear. All the rest is the details. Last weekend at a friend’s house we all had a grand time listening to a plastic receiver and CD player and pair of pressboard speakers on my friend’s patio. Someone said how good it sounded. They said that because it sounded better than they thought it should, given the obvious quality of the system. In that moment, that very inexpensive and old stereo fit the bill. Perfectly. The next day at home, listening to my system, well.... I was reminded I had already crossed the Rubicon, many years ago. Happy Friday, happy listening |
*L*(sympathetic variant) @mid-fi-crisis...Your plantive post reminded me of a line in a concert vid I like.... "They know what they want, but they don't know what is what.....it just sucks.....WT*!" One can spend phenominal $ 'chasing the spirit' of experience etched into ones' mind of a event in one's past..... "It was like 'they' were Right There....in the room! I could almost hear them breathing!" Imho....like most things involving technology used to evoke experience...one can only expect varying degrees of success to do so. The equipment, the room, the media can only get one so far....beyond that.... It's like a movie, a book, the 'thing' that lets one forget that you are involved with the suspension of disbelief....acceptance of a recreation of an event, a performance, that which carved a groove into your synapses.... Music, and the performance of it, is a funny thing in its' way. It has this way of penetrating deep into ones' psyche', invoking all manner of responses. Like a odor, a word, a thought, it triggers responses you'd thought improbable or forgotten. And....it doesn't surprise me in the least that some or one can spend inordinate amounts to reprise these states...*S* And yet, be surprised that those same responses can suddenlly be invoked by something as basic as a car radio....or a desktop Bose....or an ancient receiver driving an old pair of speakers. ;) That mass betwixt your ears is a marvelous thing. And it will never cease to amaze you. ;) Perhaps a case in point...if you're up to it....*beckoning finger, curling* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEutbPu2YwI&feature=emb_rel_end @ 34:15, an 'intro' to the familiar...the woman on the left @ 34:50 certainly feels so....*G* @39:35, one is reminded of Fate....;) For Someone @ that event....it's their 'high water mark', whether you agree or Not.....and the latter doesn't mean anything to anyone but You. BTW.....FBS is only 10ish yrs. younger than yours truly. I prefer excitement in my artful noises....;) But, I'm just like that....*G* I like my rollercoasters steep..... Cheers, J |
