...great for headphones..... ;)
The Snob Appeal Premium
I have learned that speakers are a typical victim of "Designer Label Syndrome". Supposedly an $8 billion a year market (hard to believe) speakers are fairly simple beasts with little substantive improvements over the last 50 years. Ever since Paul Klipsch ( a character in his own right) read the Bell Labs 1934 papers and revolutionized speaker technology there have been few similar revolutionary improvements to the speaker. So- if you are an enterprising manufacturer of speakers (which are relatively cheap to build) how do you extract more and more money from the consumer ? Answer: Synthetic demand driven by cachet' ! Like a pair of Louis Vuitton sneakers @ $650 a pair vs. New Balance runners @ 60/pr. It's snobby bragging rights stuff I'm describing here- perceived vs. actual value in a product.
Here's an anecdotal example:
I recently set out to build a high end mid-fi system (ARC preamp, power amp, Dac 9) for a large room "main house" (not a listening room) system. The goal was big, full, rich sound in a room full of furniture, chow dogs, kids and untreatable other things like 20 foot ceilings, multiple openings such as a balcony to the upstairs bedrooms, etc. Basically an audiophile's nightmare.
I auditioned a number of speakers- Perlistens supported by JL Fathom subs, B&W Signatures, Bryston Model Ts, Vienna Acoustics Mahlers and Bethovens. IMO all of these are somewhat similar towers (except the Perlistens). The price point was not as important as the sound- given the limitations of the application.
In the shopping for new or used I found a number of odd prices. The most unusual finding was a brand new set of Model Ts here in Audiogon advertised for $4K with a 20 year factory warranty. The dealer had one slide around of his hand truck and it put white paint smears on a corner of the Boston Cherry cabinet. Hmmm- 4 grand vs. 12 grand for a small fixable cosmetic flaw? I bought them. They sound fantastic. Some elbow grease and a furniture marker pen made the flaw vanish.
I asked the dealer (Paul Kraft in Easton PA- great guy BTW) why the Audiogon Blue Book for a Model T was so low. His answer was "snob appeal". Apparently there is a big bragging rights premium paid for having the UFO looking B&W Signatures vs what the snobs call the Bryston Model Ts "Axioms in a fancy suit". I later learned that there are some prominent reviewers who refuse to listen to A/B speaker comparisons behind a silk curtain unless they know what brand is being scrutinized. To me that means "payola".
Do the Model Ts sound better to me than the Mahlers, Bethovens, B&Ws? No. But they don't sound worse either (in my application). Do the above sound $8,000-$14,000 better than the Brystons in the listening rooms of the dealers? IMO NO WAY. To be fair price/value does color my perception much like a bottle of $40 Rumbauer Zin tastes better to me than $200 Silver Oak expense account wine.
I'm guessing this post will anger brand snobs and garner snarky comments because their taste in sound is different than mine. Although this missive is really about personal perceptions of value v. sound I found my education on pricing fascinating and I feel great about finding amazing value in the brand new Model T's that needed 30 minutes of TLC to be at home in my family room.
Moral of the story: Try em before you buy em, and look for value. It's fun and rewarding with no buyers remorse.
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My answer will be complex because you are right and wrong at the same times.. Yes we own our own ears inner filters each different from other person , our heads dimensions and ears distance and geometry differ too... Our personal listening and hearing history differ too.. Then we had each one of us our biases ... You are right on this ... ( it is the reason why, ultimately small room acoustic COULD BE tailored made for ONE pair of ears and is very different in acoustic application from great Hall acoustic, as headphone measured for Smyth realizer or for the Choueri Filters must be very specifically tailored made experience for one specific pair of ears ) But where you are not completely right here, it is by the omission of acoustic and psycho-acoustic laws or principles which are the same for everyone.. The only way to learn which is timbre , apart for recognizing a good timbre subjectively by memory and training , is learning how to control the acoustic factors modifying it... it is the same for all other aspects, as dynamics, transients, imaging differentiation , soundstage varying dimensions , holographic volume of sound source , immersiveness etc each of these factors cannot be understood if we do not learn, not only how to recognize them, but how to modify them... How can we experience immersiveness, the most important factor with Timbre, which is a very specific acoustic factors defined by ratios of timing, and distance , and ratios of reflective/diffusive/absorbing surfaces, and relative to the pressure zones specific dynamic in the room , and balance ratios between sound sources and the listener position , etc ? It is the reason why it is acoustic and psycho-acoustic which is at the center of audio experience FIRST , not the gear electrical performance as Objectivist claims erroneously or apparent sound performance and qualities and their price tags as subjectivist claims erroneously ... Snobism is based on two factors : ignorance of what is really important and exclusion of those who dont recognize the arbitrary factors constituting snobism as a selected club where some sheep thinking around a secondary factor is elevated to idol status...Objectivist and subjectivism may become snobism clubs based on different orientation which can be meaningful when relativized but whose meaning is erased in quarrelling meaninglessness.. Then acoustician cannot be snobs nor could we think they are only because they know better than objectivists or subjectivists.. The right answer in audio is this one : use your ears to verify information and to train them but base your journey on experiments more than just purchases of consumers good ...
«I snob myself a lot »--Groucho Marx 🤓
«Sound are subjective qualitative experience of sound sources and informative one about localization and time and they are not reducible to be mere waves or illusions»--Anonymus acoustician
«I see better eyes closed when playing»--Harpo Marx🧐
«Sounds are like animals in a room , i track them »--Indian drum player
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I’ve always been aware that my gear is humble compared to many systems here. As far as I’m concerned I don’t care if anyone thinks my audio indulgences are ridiculous. They are not in comparison to many friends hobbies. Their hobbies are way more expensive…. Boats , ski trips , trips in general. I like to travel but I have no problem spending what a trip would cost on a really good component or speakers. It’s tangible and will give me many years of enjoyment |
My system is as humble as your own ... Dont feel shame the relation between musical nirvana and sound perfection is not linear nor directly related... My "virtual room" motto is : Top Hi-fi audiophile experience for the not wealthy... I am dead serious about it... 😊 By the way only ignorant people will claim that their audio system is superior to anyone else because of price especially if their audio system as most system are in living room with few if any acoustical embeddings controls.. There is evident exception , go see mikelavigne virtual system...His room acoustic is the main factor for me...I know that his system is TOP... But many other flashy one dont touch it... And my modest system is not too far behind those that dont touch it anyway... 😊
The other reason is hearing is so complex and synergetical windows of coupled components so complex and variable too especially if we add the various embeddings situation and devices around them , that bragging about the design superiority of amplifier over another less costly one but relatively good one is preposterous presented as for everyone the ONLY solution...
“ With over a million essential moving parts, the
And the minimal S. Q. satisfaction threshold is relatively easy to grab, modulo embeddings control with basic knowledge and relatively good basic components at low price, especially TOP vintage of the past...
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