2. tech-talk
  3. 988473582

Are Audiophiles Obsessive Nuts?

The following is from the website of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/select/0898/tube.html

Agree? Disagree? Why?

“High-end equipment is aimed at the most obsessive audiophiles, famed for worrying about small details which most people ignore or cannot even hear...

“The rise of high-end sales was influenced by the statements of subjective audio reviewers, whose nontechnical and rarely rigorous listening tests at times encouraged near-hysteria among magazine readers. A positive review in a powerful magazine such as Stereophile can trigger hundreds or even thousands of unit sales, and turn an unknown manufacturer into an instant success. A negative review can sink a small firm just as easily (and has done so)...

“Much of high-end is conducted in a gold-rush fashion, with companies advertising exotic connecting cables and acoustical treatment devices while making wild claims
about the supernatural results achieved. The result: negative comments from the professional engineering fraternity. Items have been published in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, in electronic-industry journals such as EE Times, and elsewhere that attack the methods and conclusions of the audiophiles...
plasmatronic

Showing 1 response by sqjudge

sqjudge
96 posts
 
I am obsessive / compulsive to the MAX. I hear differences in every aspect of an audio system. In an attempt to understand the reasons for the differences I went to school and got a EE degree. All the profesors dismissed me as crazy because of the questions I ask them while in school. My experiance has lead me to believe that you can not learn in school how to design state of the art audio gear but without the schooling it would be difficult to design even a mid-fi piece. I am a LONG way from understanding all the interactions between gear but I know for a fact that the reviewers are not any better at telling me what is good for me than I am. My opinion about a piece of gear does not have to be 'approved' by anyone else.

Chris
More to discover