Is high-end audio dying, if not dead already???


Without sounding like the mad prophet of the airwaves, I think high-end audio is in its death throes. I would like to hear other opinions on this issue, but I think it is time to raise the question and also some hell as to what is happening to the high end audio and audio in general.

Here's why: Most of the major audio publications spend a great deal of time on romancing the "absolute" fidelity of computer audio and music that is digitally processed. On the other hand, you have critics, reviewers, celebrating the comeback of vinyl, analog, and turntables. The mantra goes: "it really does sound better, like real music", so chuck out your CD player, and buy a $5000 analog rig, and have fun again cleaning, preserving (a medium) searching record huts worldwide for pristine vinyl gems. Maybe, there are some shellac gems out there also

It seems the CD format has "OUTLIVED" its usefulness in the pursuit of the absolute sound because its technology and soft ware has never convincingly improved. It is like the BB King tune "the thrill is gone" or saying kids let's just change the channel for something more exciting and new.

High-end audio seems to now ( as the old joke goes)require a degree in engineering or rocket science to understand the circuitous (bad pun) route to audio nirvana. Equipment has gotten more expensive over the last 15 years, under the pretext that the electronic functions have increased and become more complicated. Take a look at the back of a 5 channel receiver or amp, or home theater receiver, a digital processor, etc. and you will see the future of audio. It might be easier to hook up a heart and lung machine.

Ironically, as high end audio and audio in general evolves, the music industry delivers more shit to the public's ears, Geez, I never knew that in order to really enjoy Shakira, JZ, Pharell, and the rest of the talentless trash discovered and pushed by American Idol, The Voice,and the popular Mega media, would require hearing it in absolute sound.
sunnyjim
"What makes you think that people will buy $1000 $5000 power cords just because you make them?"

Any elixer needs packaging, claims of a special recipe that creates the miraculous, and a good hawker. True, I'm being cynical and simplistic, but if I was in the game, I'd choose cables and do something to make them sound different, like very high capacitance. Then the game would be to sway a fairly small number of people that Different + Packaging + Elevated Price = Better, and that the listener was enlightened in their discernment. Ka-ching .

Does it happen? I think so because this is an area where a desire to believe, an ephemeral 'better,' and greed can intersect.
Any body remember the old days when magazines did not accept advertising from equipment manufacturers and they went out of their way to give the consumer the benefit of their experience and expertise in order guide them into the hobby with an eye toward keeping the end user between the ditches on almost every conceivable technical and practical matter? My how things have changed, of course. But, if you think about it, that may really not be all that surprising, I suppose. There was a much more finite number of makers in those days, for one...and a limited number of mags. But, I think more than just the increasing pressure to accept advertising as the number of makers began to steadily grow, was perhaps the underlying technical complexity of the hobby -the nature of the beast - (that could only be counted on to grow) that began to make it clear to industry editors that there might not be any real way to continue to truthfully fulfill that promise since, there was for them I suspect, increasingly the argument that not every piece of gear could be counted on to sound the same in every system. Sure, they could go out on a limb and state categorically what they felt the sonic positives and pitfalls were, but could they say that assessment would always hold true?...for every system?...in every country? Of course, we've seen that previous standard conveniently slip into the practice now of just mentioning the sonic positives and glossing over, or not mentioning at all, the sonic negatives (heh, heh). And we've seen the number of those technical and practical issues mushroom since those days.

These days the number of internet publishers is all but uncountable and there is still far more gear out there than ever gets reviewed. From the publishers there is an inexhaustible supply of information, but not so much understanding, experience or crucial explanation. Add to that, that most contemporary makers apparently must walk the line between giving potential buyers the gist of how they can claim their products work, but without letting the cat out of the bag for their competition and, for prospective buyers looking to gain reliable insight, this is just about a perfect mess. About the only place you can try to find info based on actual experience is in the forums...and even then it takes time for having to proceed cautiously. I've even heard of makers that confide that they will have to raise the expected price of their new, "breakthrough" product in order for it to be "taken seriously" in the market. For all of this there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. But, overall, maybe the question isn't whether high-end audio is dead, but whether or not it is now a victim of its own hype.

Also, I don't think there is any shortage of stoopid-rich people (I'm NOT saying stoopid, rich people!!) and makers can try to sell to hobbyists or to professionals who will not really have the time or inclination to do anything else but go through a dealer (or both groups, of course...hopefully...). But, I don't think high-end audio is dead by any stretch, not yet anyway. About the only thing I see dying is mp3, and it's about time. It's slated to be replaced by hi-rez portables which with any luck will eventually become affordable enough for most of the music-buying public to feel good enough about to ditch mp3 for good. Maybe then we can look toward a reversal of the current industry insanity of recording music to sound good through cheap-as-$#*! earbuds.

But, I agree with the post that Almarg pointed out above in regards to the fact that you can spend more money and get better sound quality and you can spend less money and get better sound quality. I think as long as you can continue to say that there is a ray of hope. But, these days maybe the high-end is trying to kick its own @$$.
A lot of the high-end is about ego. I can afford it and you can't. Similar to someone spending 300k on a Ferrari when you can buy a new corvette for 80k and it will keep up with the ferrari and possible be quicker.
At a certain point it's about what you like. But I would never compare a corvette to a ferrari.
The high end is good for helping determine what is and is not possible at any cost and using that to establish a reference sound.

Once you know what that is , then I find that there are practical ways for most to achieve it in most cases with a little investment in time and knowledge as much as in buying stuff.

In many cases, with the kinds of rooms most people have to deal with, there is a tendancy to always go bigger becasue that is perceived as needed or better. Sometimes, smaller works best. It should always cost less to do good sound on a smaller scale than on a larger one. I think that is always true in all cases. SO its useful to keep in mind that bigger is not always better, even though on paper it may always appear to be.