“Civilian” reaction to your gear?
What kind of reaction do you see/get when non-gearheads see or hear your systems?
I have gotten the full spectrum- one person called my assembly of gear obnoxious (call me obnoxious, ok, but my gear? Fighting words!). Others have been politely (and sometimes dismissively) curious; I’ve been asked if it’s as good as Bose (I usually say “close”); and some thought this level of music reproduction at home was not possible. Many have asked what does each “box” do.
For the genuinely curious I tell them “sit hear” followed by “what would you like to hear”? I play their choice (thank you Qobuz) and invariably the expression on their is quite positive.
My wife used to tell me that she preferred the sound from her Mac. However, after I recently added the Denafrips Hestia, upgraded to a $550 XLR cable, and started playing music she enjoys, she changed her mind. Now, whenever I play the right music for her, she compliments my system. I guess money does play the music well. |
First reaction was WOW, but when they asked if they can connect their phones to my system via Bluetooth to play some Apple Music songs and I explained that my system doesn’t have a Bluetooth but uses a direct Qobuz Streaming, the reaction was Meh…it took me several tries to explain how the streaming works and why its better than Bluetooth but at the end I didn’t see any understanding in their eyes. LOL. When I found and played their Apple Music songs on Qobuz the reaction was WOW again. To tell you the truth, after that I actually purchased $15 Bluetooth receiver. I keep it in the shelf just in case if another “civilian” would want to connect his phone to my system. LOL |
Usual first reaction is “a whole room for just stereo?”. Anyone who shows interest, walks away after an audition with varying degrees of appreciation but my 4 year old granddaughter loves it! A whole room for a “dance party” (several times a week). The Floor is Lava, The Wheels on The Bus and the Frozen theme never sounded better according to her! ( just have to keep her away from the exposed tubes and speaker drivers). (Oh… I forgot Baby Shark…) |
@kerrybh +1
The lack of audio stores does limit the chances that younger listeners will ever come in contact with good sound. It’s a chicken and the egg concept. The stores disappear because there are no customers, but in our day the stores would create a demand from people that just were in them. There used to be a dealer located in a mall where my wife liked to shop, so I would hang out there to be out of her hair. I was already one of the converted but I witnessed several guys who wandered in for the same reason and who were just curious, and who left after making a purchase or at least seeming to up their interest level |
