Does my acoustic ideology make me an outcast?

01-03-13: Mapman, When I first got started in audio - I made a lot of money making apples sound like oranges.

A lot can be said for talent, and yes, you can polish a turd. In fact, it was my ability to make audio magic with audio crap, that made me very well known as the guy to go to for the impossible.

One time I entered an automotive SQ competition on a dare...... using only parts available at Radio Shack. And you know what? I ended up winning 1st place. I wish you could have seen the faces in the crowd that day when - after winning - I stood up and informed them of what I had done! (They made me rip my car apart to prove it.)

While competing in a different car and setup for SPL I managed to piss off people left and right, one guy even threw his keys at me! He was so upset that he had lost to me and literally spent 10 times what I had.

There was a time when knowledge was worth more than gold, to bad he had more gold than knowledge.

I guess what I'm getting at is that money isn't necessarily the cure all for quality audio, that takes talent and knowledge.

I'm sorry for the ego in my answers but I'm afraid that it comes with the territory. And I truly believe there are untold hoards of people that are much more talented than I am. Hence my interest in Audiogon. But hey I'm just calling it as I see it.

Andrew
Synesthesia Studios

Can't put a price on good old fashioned know-how.......

On of the best sounds I heard at a recent audio show were a pair of small DIY full range open baffle speakers. The DIY guys provided a schematic. About $500 or less of parts. A real eye opener! Sounded great with Green Day or classical!

REcent proof to me that a little know-how can go a long way

I suggest you look into high-efficiency, SET setups. Compared to those, most big rigs are sluggish and often bloated

You are def good at patting your own back I'll give you that.

01-03-13: Mapman, Finally someone who gets it! What people should be paying for is skill not brand names, and maybe, just maybe, that can make "Made in the U.S.A." great again.

01-04-13: Antigrunge, I've heard a few setups that acted as you said "less sluggish" but felt like I was listening to part or even most of the answer. I can't quite place my finger on it but I felt like something was missing. This could just be that my idea of what is good differs from others. But still something I would play with in my sound room, if given the chance.

01-05-13: Ejlif, I apologize for constantly answering questions with stories of my past experiences, as I do realize it makes me sound quite egotistical. However if you can read past that, I hope you'll see the content of my discussions are driven by my quest for knowledge, not fame. After all, I come from a large Military family and (unfortunately) ego's and talent are sometimes reinforced and even encouraged. I believe the thinking is that if you're good at something you should be more than confident about it.

P.S. -Re: Bose..... where do I start? Well first off I don't believe that every "older" Audiophile owns a set of 901's. I was only using the Bose name as I expect most of you to know it - as a joke. I believe that anything of unquestionable quality and pedigree, can't be sold in large quantities, with out losing it's appeal.

Andrew
Synesthesia Studios