Stereophile Article - Holt telling it like it is.

Amem, Jaybo. The carrot is too far away now to entice us as it once did. In the early 80s I had modified Hafler DH 200 amps which set me back some $400 plus each. Naturally I dreamed of the several thousand dollar Levinson or Threshhold or Rowland amps and could imagine somehow owning them. Today's youngster is using an Ipod and keeping a vast store of music on his (or her)computer, never even thinking about multi-thousand dollar component audio systems. The cost of assembling something better than their computer and Ipod is well beyond imagining, especially since they are living in a bedroom in their parents' house.
We have ever more manufacturers vying for a piece of an ever diminishing pie. It's sort of a metaphor for our world of depleting assets and burgeoning population. Everything has a breaking point.

My solution to the spiraling cost of high-end gear and the hijacking of our hobby by the lunatics and nouveau riche is to rediscover the joys of playing the sax. There is simply no comparison between the timbre and freshness of my alto with its reproduction on my audio system. Afer listening to music for an hour or so on the stereo, I simply cannot wait to get down to the basement to play some more.

And the more time I put into my playing, the less time I feel like sitting in front of my stereo. Does this mean that I have lost touch with the neurosis that makes so many audiophiles easy marks for manufacturers and reviewers? I hope so.

Randy

JGH's column was breath of fresh air! Whether one agrees or not is secondary to finally hear some good old-fashioned bitchin'! Can anyone remember when HP used to rip into letter-writers back in the day? Prior to then the most kicks I ever got from a letters column was from Penthouse!;) HP should try to find his lost pair of stones!!

I know what speakers he uses already but I lost track of the other pieces after he left Stereophile.

Why don't you start with sharing what the speakers are?