The Horror


After getting  back home from “The Show” in Costa Mesa, California this past weekend, I walked over to my stereo system and turned it on. And silently wept. I had held out a feint hope that my cross-over modified 1.7i Maggies and mighty Parasound A21+, fed from a Prima Luna 300 tube preamplifier could somehow manage a slight shimmer of resemblance to the robust setups I witnessed at the SHOW. Not—- on— your —-life. Not even close. I slumped into my over-stuffed couch and stared long and hard at the thing I created: an anemic concoction of false hopes and wishful thinking. The horror, the truth: entry into serious audiophile listening begins with purchase of speakers that cost the price of the car I had to finance for 4 years, closely followed with the added expense of beefy sophisticated electronics and wiring, not a gaggle of cheap wanna-be plastic and tweeks. I so wanted to belong, but that’s turned out to be just a fever dream I’ve got to wake up from. Maybe one day, if ever I have the nerve to rob a bank, find Jimmy Hoffa, or survive a head-on collision from a sleepy Amazon driver, I might make it. Maybe. Feel free to play the violin with two fingers.

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@ghasley I would 1st like to apologize to you if you felt my words to tvad were cruel, mean, demeaning, whatever. My statement "One problem I see constantly is listeners having the wrong gear for their rooms or their tastes", was not taken well by tvad. He removed his posts, but I can tell you, he was quite defensive about my comment and felt it was directed towards him, on a very personal level. He spoke about impedance matching and other things and said his system would please everyone. I looked at his system and saw a very nice layout. Lovely is the term I used. However, he jumped all over me, calling BS on everything I say and post and I stand behind every word I said. He took offense again, when I stated that his system was likely very matched and brought him much enjoyment, but I would have selected some different components for my pleasure, and this did not sit well with him. I wish he did not remove his posts so everyone could have read them, but I understand why he deleted them. One comment I have stayed true to with every post I make, is this. "Since we are all individuals, each of us enjoy aspects and characteristics of listening that are different from one another and this is ok". I do not believe every system accurately portrays a listening experience to satisfy everyone. Let’s take Tvad’s room (again lovely). If I was designing it "for me", I would have "my particular pair" of Lascalas in there, with a pair of RSL 12S subwoofers flanking them, and a beefy solid state class a power amp (s) that would optimally control the 15s in the doghouses, to my liking... and let her rip. He defended each and every piece of gear he owned, and I simply stated to him, his speakers nor his amps would "do it for me". He went berserk, and before you know it, he removed his posts. He was nasty, childish, and felt I insulted him. I am not someone who insults, but I will defend myself when attacked. He accused me of all sorts of things, and called me all sorts of things, but I remained polite, composed and professional. If you missed tvad’s commentary, you would understand. Anyway, I wish everyone happy listening, as music is a language we shall all enjoy as we see fit. I feel tvad had a bad day, and I understand more than many, the emotional side to our hobby. I wish him, as I do with everyone, my best. Always, MrD.

He spoke about impedance matching and other things and said his system would please everyone.

I did not say my system would please everyone. I wrote my system played all music genres equally well, which was the crux of my comment addressing the idea of systems built to play specific music tastes.

I deleted my posts and was at the door ready to leave permanently, but I cannot, and I will not allow misquotes to stand.

Perhaps there’s a language barrier causing misunderstanding. I will chalk it up to that.

...and called me all sorts of things.

Called you all sorts of things? No. Not once was there any name calling.

This place has gone nuts.

This is my last post. 'Bye. 

 

@tvad  since I was very sad about attacks against me in this thread, when I came back after a nearly 2 days break, I was again sad to read your personal attacks on @mrdecibel. You may not have literally called him names, but you implied he was ignorant and full of sh%t and a liar (he could not have ever heard your components). If someone wrote those about me, I would have felt deeply insulted. I don't know you nor the other party, I have no reason to upset you. Just for the sake of fairness, this seems a bizarro world now, everything is upside down. 

Thanks for the sentiment everyone, I just miss when we could all kindly agree to disagree. Apologies to the OP as its his thread. Peace to all involved.

I know a couple shops local to me that know how to set up a system from $1000 to $25,000 and have me awe struck by the quality of sound. When yoy go to these shows pay attention to the set up, placement, toe in, treatments, distance from boundaries, listening seat etc. Often as not we can get really close to what we have just by taking the time to understand room and speaker interaction. 

 

As much as I can appreciate what you're going thru, I don't think it's that bad.