Popular Post tmtomh Posted January 21, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted January 21, 2018 14 hours ago, GUTB said: I’ve noticed a few trends with online discussions in regards to hi-fi: 1. The large majority of commentators don’t seem to care about better sound. The prevailing belief is that they’ve "arrived" because they have a set of Audioengines, JBLs, Rokits, etc, sitting on thier desk. 2. New people asking questions have already decided what thier budgets are (usually less than $500). 3. A complete lack of interest in the high-end. The key factor seems to be that this is a male lifestyle. As men we tend to tie up our egos with purchasing decisions. As the great majority of online commentary is from men defending thier low-quality purchasing decisions there is no pressure to move newbies into a better starting point. The odd time good advice is given, it’s easy to dismiss it and defend egos. Call it willful ignorance. A dangerous, toxic subset of the ego-driven lo-fi commentator are the militant objectivist cult members; I don’t mean the average objectivist who doesn’t believe in cables or expensive amps, I’m talking about people who think high resolution audio is pure snakeoil. People who say that you can EQ a HD6XX into a Utopia. I have two thoughts in response to your post: If you're right about the male-ego aspect, then any rational and good-faith appraisal needs to admit that the same male egos are tied up in the converse too: men defending the value proposition of their very high-dollar purchasing decisions. And you've got to include yourself in the latter camp there, since you're one of the most prominent voices here on behalf of that phenomenon - in fact, witness this thread itself, which you've started in order to beat the same drum that many of your other threads are beating. That said, I do agree that there is unhelpful absolutism on both sides. For example, the notion that high-end audio is just the same basic components inside more expensive boxes is IMHO silly. And yet I do think it's true that a good deal of high-end audio is as expensive as it is for economic/scale reasons, not just quality of design or quality of components reasons. And certain very high-dollar products (like super high-end digital cables) almost certainly have far higher profit margins than commodity cables, meaning that even if the components are higher quality and/or the final produce is more rigorously QA tested, there's still extra profit built in via the high price. P.S. I would be happy to include myself in point #1 too, except that I actually don't feel a need to defend my purchasing decisions. I know my setup could sound better if replaced some or all components with much more expensive stuff, and I have no problem admitting that. ButI also know that my system has reached a quality level where it consistently allows me to enjoy music and does not make me feel fatigued, frustrated, or like I'm missing out. So if my disposable income increases I will certainly be open to upgrading. In this respect I agree with @PeterSt that you only really look where your budget allows you to. kumakuma and christopher3393 1 1 Link to comment
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