Shocks me just how MANY boutique audio manufacturers there are in this low volume, shrinking market. Especially at the very high end. Some I imagine sell just a couple units and then that's it? If that? Plus the prices have been ridiculous for a long time, and get worse (easily beating inflation) every year. The only way I can afford anything that really interests me now is used. Cable pricing is just stupid now and you can't even get solid silver wire anymore (not below new car prices).
@larryi
The biggest shock to me is finding how sound quality has regressed in many respects from where it was decades ago. For example, many of these very best sounding recordings were made long in the past. For example, originally pressings of Brubeck’s “Take Five” (1959) sound better than the vast majority of modern recordings; the same with Ellington’s “Blues in Orbit.’ Mercury and RCA recordings from the 1960’s are also astoundingly good. As for gear, many speakers and drivers from the past are better than what are made today. Show me midrange drivers better than compression drivers from Western Electric, Racon, and YL. There are fantastic amps from more than 70 years ago that are killer good (e.g. Western Electric 124 and 133).
This is a really good one. For all the massive purported progress in audio, design tools, materials, and manufacturing tech (not to mention expense) - it can still be shocking to stand up a great vintage piece (from decades ago) and realize that in many ways it's more charming, maybe even better than today's offerings! And I still get a kick out of hearing: "digital has advanced so much recently, it's now finally on par with analog!" - every single year for the last 30 years. What are we missing?
Every time I look at a driver cone moving in and out, it blows my mind that this then somehow becomes music in my brain. I am a simple human.
This is a good one too - same here.
As for specific audio experiences that blew my mind in a positive way:
- Hearing a Tannoy Dual-Concentric speaker for the 1st time
- Hearing my first Koetsu (Onyx) - it wasn't just an overpriced little rock!
- Vinyl
- R2R tape
- Large upper-line VAC tube amps
- Electrostat headphones driven by a very powerful amp
