No real worries.
Instead of talking about truffle oil as a metaphor maybe I should have used gin.
Instead of talking about truffle oil as a metaphor maybe I should have used gin.
Personal vs. Market Values
Take truffle oil. Or truffles. The mushrooms, not the confection.
Honestly I can’t taste it. I’ve ordered all sorts of dishes with "truffle oil" which commanded a premium and if there is any difference at all in the taste I could not tell you even after being told about it.
The point of this is that truffle oil holds no personal value to me. I’m not trading in it or running a restaurant or buying it in bulk. If I did that I’d feel and be willing to spend quite differently than I do now.
The point to this and how this matters in audio is that you should be true to your own ears. Use friends, reviews (cough) and other sources as guides. You may also evaluate a brand based on re-sale value. That’s reasonable as the resale could have a material impact on you in the future.
But if you can’t hear a difference or prefer a speaker/cable/amp no one else does then serve only yourself and your loved ones. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the market value of a particular product has value for you or that it is a display of relative merit. It may not. Our hobby is filled with charlatans selling invisible clothes.
Those who say they can't taste the truffle oil or see invisible clothes spend less and are far happier I think.
Happy listening,
E
Honestly I can’t taste it. I’ve ordered all sorts of dishes with "truffle oil" which commanded a premium and if there is any difference at all in the taste I could not tell you even after being told about it.
The point of this is that truffle oil holds no personal value to me. I’m not trading in it or running a restaurant or buying it in bulk. If I did that I’d feel and be willing to spend quite differently than I do now.
The point to this and how this matters in audio is that you should be true to your own ears. Use friends, reviews (cough) and other sources as guides. You may also evaluate a brand based on re-sale value. That’s reasonable as the resale could have a material impact on you in the future.
But if you can’t hear a difference or prefer a speaker/cable/amp no one else does then serve only yourself and your loved ones. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the market value of a particular product has value for you or that it is a display of relative merit. It may not. Our hobby is filled with charlatans selling invisible clothes.
Those who say they can't taste the truffle oil or see invisible clothes spend less and are far happier I think.
Happy listening,
E
Showing 11 responses by erik_squires
Kind of accidentally, I'm reading the book "iconoclast" and in the middle of discussions about how the stock market works and how iconoclasts make money by going against group / market values. Anyone who wants a deep dive into this should take a look: https://amzn.to/2RFkihJ |
@john123 There are a lot of pronouns in your first paragraph. Could you be a little more specific, and what exactly does this mean: The psychological terrain of reacting to the unconscious forces made conscious & acted on by attempting to sell at prices rationalized as fair market value dominates it more assertively but is really equally present in both instances. and this: The time, effort & energy money represents being squandered due to self-propelling neurosis of pretending to get it back by being stubborn in getting a too specific, arbitrary number - is too often (by no means always) a constant wonder. I'm afraid right now this reads like a song to me, where anyone can interpret them in a variety of ways the author may not have intended. Best, E |
Truffle oil...not to be confused with snake oil. Well, sometimes they can be exactly the same thing ... https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/national/truffle-oil-fake-no-truffles-priceonomics |
Most “truffle oil” is crap. Made from inferior species, left over remnants, or from a perfumeries laboratory. There are clear analogies between this and the audio industry. :) The difference between a great technology executed well and a great technology executed poorly is everywhere. E |
I cannot tell the difference between things that have truffle oil and don’t. Obviously, if a recipe calls for oil for browning, that’s something different. But cook it with extra virgin olive oil or truffle oil and I could not tell. At best I might like the olive oil better. :) My point is, sometimes there is a difference for you and sometimes there is not. If you cannot hear a difference, don’t pay for it. :) Also, my own personal goals are different. I’m not out to spend as much as I can. I’m out to spend as little as I can for the same value. So for me, finding a $20-$40 bottle of wine that brings me as much pleasure as a $300 bottle of wine is a win. When it comes to whiskey, finding one I'll drink, at all, is hard. Whatever my whiskey drinking friends are fascinated by I usually can't drink them at all. So sure, some fancy Japanese whiskey may be worth $100 on the market, but for me, it is worth $0. Best, E |