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The Insane World of High End Audio! Is it All a Scam?

This 15 minutes of youtube video by "cheapaudioman" say a lot and hide a lot...

He review low cost products ...

His analysis of audiophiles world here seems fair to me...

But nowhere in all his videos and in this one  he mention "acoustics" as the basis of audio hobby, the anker of any system  and gear piece  evaluation and satisfaction...

He  always talk about the gear... Probably acoustics for him as for most is only acoustics panels purchase...

My point is not that the audio world of audiophile is a scam with scammers...

Not at all.

It is ignorance  of what is acoustics basics that makes people victim of their own decisions  and a potential prey for honest or dishonest sellers..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeqbFYaJisQ

128x128mahgister
mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
13,261 posts
 

Very good posts... Thanks Bolong and gdaddy1

 

But you miss or forget the "dog which did not barked" in the audio conditioning market...wink

deep_333
1,693 posts
 

I have some gear at different price categories. 

Without A/B-ing such items in the same room, you wouldn't be able to tell what exactly you paid for or not.

The cheapman youtube guy probably doesn't have any point of reference or clue, except catering to his subscribers, i.e., other angry cheapaudiomen who got hyper-capitalism's short end of the stick. 

There's also a lot of junk sold at astronomical prices... that just looks good. Many expensiveaudiomen pay for such looks.

jwei
172 posts
 

When I first started out in this hobby, I was sure all cables sounded alike and cable marketing was all a scam.  As my ears got better, I could hear the difference and realized it was important to me, so I bought into pricey cables.

And I have never heard two pairs of speakers sound the same -- there's always a difference.

My impression is that cheapaudioman 1) cannot tell the difference in sound at the high end which is convenient because 2) he doesn't have enough money.

He notes the diminishing returns with higher price.  At some price level, he can't tell the difference (or the difference is too small for him to care).  But there are others who hear the difference and do care about it.  When listeners can tell the difference between $60k speakers vs $10k and have the funds, the value proposition makes sense.  That's the market niche.

So with sour grapes, he labels the high end a scam.  May his ears never become educated to appreciate the finer differences in those diminishing returns.

mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
13,261 posts
 

It seems most people dont get my point about this video and "the dog who did not bark"......

 

For example the essential is not perceiving a difference in sound in "the same room", anybody can do this at least most...

Acoustics is the art of pairing a specific speakers to a specific room transformed and settle for this specific speakers... Doing that we must use listening skills in relation with specfic acoustics concepts and experiments

This is why gear price has nothing to do with acoustic optimization. And this is why audio is a deceptive hobby because of acoustics ignorance...

 

Instead of hating cheapaudioman and accusing him to be on the wrong end of the stick of capitalism it is better to think...

 

The gear price has no relation with the minimal acoustical satisfaction threshold. The gear price and design is linked only to our budget not to acoustics science...Once it is chosen we are free to optimize any gear system...

Any system at any price may sound relatively good when optimized in relation with his specific potential for sure..

My pleasure comes from acoustic balance and knowledge not for being on the upper end of the capitalist end of the stick...it is as pitiful as crying because we are on the lowest end of the capitalist stick...

Acoustics rules audio not money nor snobbery....

Buy more books than gear pieces...

 

 

For theoretical Acoustics i recommend  "sounds source" of Akpen J. Essien

For practical physical acoustics : Floyd Toole book...

For articles about theoretical acoustics and applied one,  Edgar Choueiri is the third genius...

 

kerrybh
220 posts
 

I thought Randy's video was ridiculous and the comments worse. He's just playing to his crowd, stoking resentment, cynically trolling for clicks. If someone wants to buy a $60k or $600k set of speakers its their business, not mine or yours. And how the hell would he know what motivates a particular buyer of audio equipment? And why would anyone be bothered if someone wants to spend their money to get a 5% increase in performance? 

The many comments ridiculing those who choose to spend their money for higher end products reek of jealousy in the same way that those who ridicule buyers of inexpensive products reek of arrogance. I'll never own a million dollar system, but I don't resent the few who do. I also don't delude myself into thinking that I'm so smart that I've assembled a system for a fraction of the cost that is "just as good," because I know that will not be the case unless they have chosen very poorly.

We all have a budget that we are willing and able to spend on audio equipment. Its enough for me to take care of my budget-yours is none of my business. Its an absurd video.

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