Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.
03-20-01
Wow and for the same price as a gnu beemer ? where do you sh ... Detlof
03-20-01
I shop at autogon, where else? ;~) the buell is my one con ... Sedond
03-21-01
Thanks doug, you make me feel all nostalgic. the last time i ... Detlof
03-23-01
The question should be why do we love audio? it's clear tha ... Limabean683
04-05-01
We share the "perfectionist" mindset and aren't ev ... Wehamilton
04-05-01
A splendid analysis, wehamilton. how come you know me so wel ... Detlof
04-05-01
Limabean, my hat's off to you and your shipmates. installin ... Wehamilton
04-06-01
Wehamilton, i was (self)diagnosed, but that did not help eit ... Detlof
04-07-01
Wehamilton, thanks for the miles davis dedication. his &quo ... Limabean683
04-11-01
For @ least the following reasons: 1. very few people know h ... Tciborow
04-16-01
Much of the above thread emphasizes a people are lazy-stupid ... Docwarnock
04-17-01
Although basically i would agree with you, that since the be ... Detlof
04-17-01
I don't think the emphasis is so much on people being lazy o ... Kthomas
04-17-01
Kthomas, following on yr thread, audio is not (yet) a lifest ... Gregm
04-18-01: Wehamilton
Home theatre better matches the "zeitgeist" of the times than high end audio. Previous posters have hit on a lot of the factors defining the current situation, let me put it a different way. For a number of years, going back at least to the mid-90's, society has been in a highly experiential phase. It has even been called the "Experience Economy" in business circles.
With this mindset, everything has to be "extreme" to even get noticed. Realtiy isn't good enough, it needs to be pumped up. From sports to movies to recreational activities it has to be more exagerated, more impactful and more staged than ever before just to get to leave an impression. You can't watch TV w/o loud intrusive sound effects inserted for no reason (You Are the Weakest Link or the NFL on Fox for example). Exagerated visual effects in movies have replaced plot lines and artistic cinematography. Even martial arts films (the original extreme genre) has had trouble being extreme enough. Now you have to fly as you beat the crap out of your opponent, or lacking flight capabilities, just add more blood. Best Picture, Gladiator & Titanic, you see where I'm going with this.
In the music world, you can't have a rock band with just four or five musicians anymore- now they need to be fronted by 8 choreographed dancers putting on a stage show that sometimes also claim to be the "singers." These muscial "acts" have replaced bands. In this environment, nobody even notices Jerry Springer anymore. You could call it the WWF'ing of America. Looked at cynically, you could say it's technology playing to the lowest common denominator across a wide range of activities. Another view might be we've been on a bit of a technology bender with lower prices bringing these gooodies into the realm of the average man.
In this period of exageration the home theatre "experience" with it's countless channels and audio processing and manipulation is giving people more of what they want. They don't want reality- the holy grail that has been fueling the audiophile quest for the last 40 years, they want to be dazzled with an enhanced, or pumped up version of reality. And they can be dazzled for a farily small amount of money (for those that aren't too discerning) or they can invest $50K in a home theatre for those that need to brag "mine is bigger than yours."
What is missing from all this is the appreciation ofthe art of music and the purity of it's reproduction that we audiophiles value. While critically listening to music is certainly experiential, it seems an almost quaint activity in a world that wants to be blown away by sensory overload.
No my friends, we are not living in a era that values or even understands subtlety or nuance of the type that makes art and it's reproduction an audiophile's passion. And until the pendulum starts swinging back the other way, don't be surprised if the totally awesome, extreme and radical audio video experience keeps the purist relegated to second class status.
Dude, did you hear that someone's comin' out with a 20 foot big screen with 10 channel make you puke and your ears bleed fully surround sound gut rumbling digisynthesizerprocessor? Awesome......
Wehamilton (Threads | Answers | This Thread)
04-18-01
Wow wehamilton, excellent! i wished, i would have been able ... Detlof
04-18-01
Wehamilton, your reference to people not wanting reality and ... Gregm
04-18-01
Wehamilton, interesting post and your analysis of our popula ... Docwarnock
04-18-01
I suspect that there is more innovation in a/v gear because ... Tubegroover
04-18-01
Isn't the basic question how the hi-end defines itself, at l ... Kthomas
04-18-01
There's no question the electronics industry is always looki ... Wehamilton
04-18-01
Uh-oh, i see a chicken versus the egg argument starting. no ... Docwarnock
04-18-01
There's no question the electronics industry is always looki ... Wehamilton
04-19-01
Docwarnock, i agree - ht as a phenomena exists because of th ... Kthomas
04-19-01
Those of us interested in high-end do say "whoa!!!! coo ... Metaphysics
04-19-01
I was going to say 1 in a 1000 but thought it might sound ov ... Kthomas
04-19-01
I have to disagree on your last statement. almost nobody th ... Metaphysics
04-19-01
Kthomas sez: "ht as a phenomena exists because of the ... Sedond
04-19-01
Meta, the reason that people don't ask where they can get on ... Docwarnock
04-19-01
People used to being hyper-stimulated don't like to sit in f ... Wehamilton
04-20-01
There is one notable exception to the rule that audio gear i ... Neubilder
04-20-01
I agree that most music out there is pure pap with no worthw ... Neubilder
04-22-01
I think that most people are not experienced listeners.whate ... Johnny7
04-23-01
I feel that there are a lot of people who can afford excelle ... Audio_unlimited
04-23-01
Hi audio-unlimited. ah, if only what ewe are saying were tr ... Sedond
07-05-01
Because too many audiophiles listen to their equipment not t ... Nrchy
07-07-01
They do; they just can't afford it. Mdorsam
07-23-01
There is the category of a rich guys that come to audio deal ... Marakanetz
07-23-01
Clearly there must be many in this category - during a recen ... Kthomas
07-31-01
I think the ultra high end does market itself pretty well an ... Don_t
09-02-01
Because they just don't realize just how good it is!!! lack ... Zane
09-05-01
Because you don't need anything better than a ghetto blaster ... tidemah@
09-15-01
I'm a recent convert to the high end. i think my conversion ... Ponzio
09-18-01
We're guilty of projection. most of us are into gear as a m ... Whknopp0713
10-03-01
Because most people don't have the time to listen. from tho ... Pbb
01-23-02
I have a couple of friends who make absolute nuisances of th ... Bishopwill
01-23-02
My personal feeling is.....there are not to many people love ... Twinaudiovideo
01-24-02
Because the more revealing the hardware the less enjoyable t ... Joekras
01-24-02
Joekras, got to love'ya. short, to the point. the undoing ... Pbb
01-24-02
Will, you hit the nail on the head. audiophiles should do l ... Lngbruno
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