You weren't kidding!

[thunderboy]

I received an "audiophile" catalog in the mail the other day and was flipping through it on the train last night.
We've had plenty of fun at the expense of "audiophiles" on this board, particularly in regards to the money they spend on items of dubious utility.
I did, however, suspect that some folks were exaggerating when they described some of these items and their prices. Well...

"Nordost Valhalla Speaker Wire, 6 foot pair."
Yours for the price of $6,400.00

Also of interest, a tube SACD player, $1,500.00 AC cables, $29,000.00 turntables, ceramic insulators to keep your cables up off the floor, $50.00 AC wall duplexes and so much more...

I thought my stereo sounded pretty good...guess not.

jt

[DeafinONEear]

tell me, if you had all the money in the world, like how tonight is lottery night and say you won it all, wouldn't you do this though? just cause you could and it would be nice to see if it was all true?
I mean, I doubt there's much difference between a $40 cable and a $10,000 cable, but I'll probably never know.
Wouldn't you like to know?

[supafuzz]

i live in manhattan and pay $4500 a month for a studio apartment that's 150 square feet and I paid $75 for a cup of espresso this morning
so $10,000 for a pair of cables is not too expensive

[eflatminor]

You stated that you thought your stereo sounded pretty good - guess not. Truth is you're probably right. When folks with 'normal' stereo set ups hear a finely tuned audiophile system in a acoustically correct listening room, the systems they listened to for years without complaint often seem completely inadequate. Not always mind you, but often. Does it take $6500 speaker wire to get great sound? Usually not but it does take an obsession with good sound, tons of tweaking, and a fair bit of money to get fantastic sound. There should be no reason to make fun of audiophiles - most of them are nothing more than fanatical music lovers with a great respect for the "original master tapes". They just hate ANY coloration of the signal as was determined to be proper by the musicians and engineers. What we record, they hold sacred. That's beats the hell out of the attitude of most music buyers I say.

[eeldip]

i do know the difference between:

1) $40 cable AND a $9,960 3 month trip to europe

2) $10,000 cable

and i know exactly what i would pick if i won the lottery.

[bedbug]

i do know the difference between:
1) $40 cable AND a $9,960 3 month trip to europe
2) $10,000 cable
and i know exactly what i would pick if i won the lottery.

Good point. I think I'd just spend as little as possible and never work again.

[DeafinONEear]

There should be no reason to make fun of audiophiles - most of them are nothing more than fanatical music lovers with a great respect for the "original master tapes". They just hate ANY coloration of the signal as was determined to be proper by the musicians and engineers.

yeah, but... well.... isn't $6,500 a bit much for cable? I would be appriciative of it if it really was worth $6,500, but a fair amount of the cable making buisiness is built on complete myth and lies and a complete misunderstanding (usually on the part of the consumer) on the actual physics and principals of electronics. The consumerist mania and the willingness to blindly follow something that is merely "deemed" great runs deep in this country.
How do you think Bush got elected? Is he worth $6,500 of copper interconnect?

And about the idea that they want to get as close to the master track as possible, that a bunch of cock and balls-- unless the studio was using $6,500 cables (this is working under the assumption that they actually do make a difference in sound, which I propose they don't) then they are NOT hearing what the engineer was, only what the tape deck heard. What about that idea?

[DUC]

$75 coffee!

I felt a tinge of shame when I had a $5.00 strawberry lemonade.

Where's the humility?

[I'm Painting Again]

Word.

People consume way too much..

[DeafinONEear]

AND,
Hi-Fi speakers typically hype the bass and the highs, whereas professional studio monitors try to get as flat as possible. Therein lies catch; that mentality doesn't work unless you are using professional audio equipment, not HiFi.

[DUC]

Consumerism is built on the premise that our lives would be that much better if we had that one thing that can fill the emptiness in our soul. But that is the myth about most things in life. I'm guilty of it when I buy into cultural trends and even guitar pedals, hoping that they'll fill the void.

[biasvoltage]

Keep in mind that while I'm no $10,000 AC cable audiophile, I can tell the difference between the 22ga stuff that they have at walmart and a decent pair of speaker cables (think more like $100).

But some of it makes sense (even if not to the extremes taken by the audiophiles). For instance, vibration control. I've got my turntable set up on a piece of wood that is set on an underinflated 10" inner tube, and I have a Sorbothane turntable mat. Doing both of those really tightened up the sound of my turntable. Now, the audiophile catalog is full of little brass cones that you can put your amplifier on to "increase soundstage depth". I think this is bogus.

But it might not be so bogus for things like a multitrack tape deck. Does it make sense, and maybe the big boys with their Studers do this, to have the machine on a very stable base, like an isolated part of the floor, so vibrations from the instruments and from the control room monitors don't affect head/tape contact and stablility? Jeez, I track drums right next to my machine! I need a granite slab to put the mixer on and some 2 foot tall insulators from the 40Kv pole outside for my mic cables or I'll never make a record worth a damn!


I guess this is how audiophilia keeps perpetuating itself, by instilling fear and self doubt..kind of like the cosmetics catalogs my girlfriend gets and all of a sudden she can't go outside without the new 'shimmer gloss' or whatever.

[NewAndImprov]

There should be no reason to make fun of audiophiles - most of them are nothing more than fanatical music lovers with a great respect for the "original master tapes". They just hate ANY coloration of the signal as was determined to be proper by the musicians and engineers. What we record, they hold sacred. That's beats the hell out of the attitude of most music buyers I say.

Having worked at a used record store for far too much of my adult life, I've pretty much come to seriously dislike audiophiles. On the surface, what eflat has to say is true, but to be honest, the audiohile guys I've known (and it really does seem to be a strictly guy realm) seem to be absolutely missing the point about music. You won't hear them talk about the passion, intensity, the STINK of the music, it's all about how many bits it's recorded in, etc.

Couple fave audiophile anecdotes:

One day, I'm working at the store and playing a jazz CD I'd just finished mastering over the house system. I do this a lot, it's one of my reference systems. A local audiophile guy comes in and after listening a bit, says "This sounds great, what is it?" I tell him. He asks how it was recorded, I tell him, tracked on Blackface ADAT, mixed to DAT, mastered through Waves plugs in PEAK. all at 16 bit. He, looking shocked, says "You're not recording in 24 bit?!" and proceeds to berate me for not being "professional" and haw bad this recording must be. Funny, he though it sounded good before he knew all that.

A friend of mine gets to record a jazz artist for an "audiophile" label. They book time at one of the best studios in the NW. The label insists they record on 20 bit ADAT, becuase of its "higher" resolution, even though there is a beautiful, well-maintained, amazing sounding 2" right there. Yeah, the ADAT sounded better, right.

[eflatminor]

Deafin1ear
You're correct about audiophiles wanting to hear what the tape deck heard. If fact, a better way to think of it is that audiophiles want to take whatever sounds made it to the vinyl (or cd) and not change a thing from there. Again, their idea is to add no color to the signal.

Is $6500 a bit much for cable? Hell yes it is. So is $325,000 for a car but that's what the new Rolls Royce costs and they will sell some of those. It that car's cost based on a myth of value? Maybe. Crazy what some people will pay but nonetheless, they do. Rich people anyway.

With regard to Hifi speakers be hyped, I respectfully suggest you haven't heard the right speakers in the right room. I agree that most "hifi" speakers suck but then so do most "pro" speakers. Anyone got NS10s - worst shit speakers on the planet, IMO.

At the end of the day, most audiophiles just enjoy trying to get the best out of the systems they can afford and they love music. Nothing wrong with that.

Lastly, Bush got elected because his daddy's supreme court saw to it that the opinion of the majority of the people didn't mean shit.

[markpar]

At the end of the day, most audiophiles just enjoy trying to get the best out of the systems they can afford and they love music. Nothing wrong with that.

Agree. I've experienced two kinds of "audiophiles" in my life. The first group, which I like, are the ones who just want to listen to good music on a good system and love the music for what it is. More power to 'em.

The second group, which I very much dislike, are the ones who derive some sense of self-worth and superiority by having the "best" system.

Spend $6.5k on a speaker wire if you want, and if I ask, you can tell me why it's so good, but don't make me feel inferior for not having one.

-mark