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Audiophile Fakery

I recently became aware of a trend in the auto world and I'm wondering if there is an audiophile analogy.

The sound of a revving engine says something primal to those who know and appreciate such sounds. The rumble of a V-8, the whine of an in-line four, that 12 cylinder growl and of course, the Harley heavy metal thunder. The newer, smaller and more efficient engines simply don't make these sounds and the auto makers have found a way around what they perceive as a problem. They simply fake the sound and run it through the car's audio system. Sometimes the engine sound is digitally synthesized and other times it's actual engine noise run through mechanical or DSP processors and then amplified. The list of manufacturers that engage in this sort of fakery includes BMW, Ford, Lexus, Volkswagen and Lotus.

I don't know if there are any high end audio equivalents of this practice, but could there be?

How about a preamp with half a dozen tubes prominently displayed, but when you examine the signal path the tubes are all bypassed. Or maybe a loudspeaker with a ribbon supertweeter that's not connected. A 160 lb. mono power amp with 120 lbs. of lead shot concealed under the circuit board. If these products existed would they be fakes or are the manufacturers just giving the people what they want, or at least what they think they want?
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tom32
33 posts
 

At one company I worked at the marketing department did a study of consumer preferences to things like color, style, etc. One of the things they tested for was weight. They found by putting an iron slug at the bottom of the box, people judged it to be "higher quality".

We thought that was funny, but the company never acted on that marketing info. The thing to be careful of is that if you plan on having your company continue to exist for a long time, don't be caught doing cheap and sleazy things for short term gains.

I designed an Sony interface for one company, and after I did the higher end 8 channel product, they came out with two product versions from it. The lower end product was the same electronics, but the other four channels were not wired to the panel. It was half price. I don't think anybody got cheater by that. It was a marketing decision, and they decided they need to cover the high and low end, and it was cheaper to do it with only one production board.

I've designed a lot of stuff, and never have I been asked to do anything that I thought was shady in the electrical design. Shady stuff normally comes from the marketing department, it's their job, not mine.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,427 posts
 
"The thing to be careful of is that if you plan on having your company continue to exist for a long time, don't be caught doing cheap and sleazy things for short term gains.
"

Amen brother.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,427 posts
 
..except if you are Bill Belichick of course.

Sorry couldn't resist that one....
jond's avatar
jond
5,903 posts
 
How about the very simple, and I guess generally accepted, frequency contouring of speakers? An upper midrange bump for more "detail" same thing in the upper bass for more "bass", etc.
brauser
526 posts
 
Well, it helps to have all these magazines/reviewers inspecting and judging the merits of a wide range of products. I think the biggest deception, however, comes in how components are bundled together by audio/video stores who have sales reps with far more opinions than facts about what their selling. An example, is the recommendation of amplifier power. Higher wattage amps typically cost a lot more than lower power amps from the same manufacturer. But bigger is better, right? Wrong, if the ohm rating and efficiency of the speakers are not considered, not to mention the volume of the listening space, and the listener's music preferences. I believe quality should always trump quantity in a limited resources scenario. Rarely will you find a sales person willing or able to take the time necessary to work through these types of variables. As such, many consumers wind up spending a lot of money without getting the maximum 'bang-for-the-buck'. No one likes to go over to a friend's house and hear a system obviously outperforming at a third the cost. But...it happens all the time. I guess that's why AudioGon does so well!
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