Audio folks as bad as us...

vpwphoto · Jan 30, 2012

http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/aopens-vacuum-tube-audio-card-20021223/

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Audio_woo

Dead Link Removed

Funny.

I'm all better now.

CGW · Jan 30, 2012

vpwphoto said:
http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/aopens-vacuum-tube-audio-card-20021223/

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Audio_woo

Dead Link Removed

Funny.

I'm all better now.

Not exactly news to anyone who ever thumbed a copy of the Absolute Sound. Pound for pound, high end audio caters to way more DSM-IV disorders than photography. At least we get outside more. BTW, you should see what truly exotic cables and interconnects go for.

Jeff Kubach · Jan 30, 2012

It is interesting. Like you I feel better.

Jeff

Aristophanes · Jan 30, 2012

Kimber Kable BiFocal XL Speaker Cables
Price:
$1,810.00

Comprised of hundreds of components per pair of cables, the TriFocal-XL is formatted in a seven layer, poly-concentric geometry. This is one of the most sophisticated loudspeaker cables ever designed. Termination alone takes a full eight hours to complete a single matched pair. A production run of 250 feet (76 meters) of this cable takes over 50 hours of machine time. TriFocal-XL will allow the most intimate union possible between triwired loudspeakers and an amplifier.
Prices start at $1810.00

A lot of live concerts can be heard for that sum.

I remember when at Uni an audiophile got into an argument with a guy at the Student Union during a performance. The audiophile was making the fervent case to a disinterested stand-up bass player that his audio system sounded better than the fellow's live music bass playing!

When the bass player turned away from the audiophile passion, the latter grabbed the bassist and started hitting him, causing a general melee of band members versus. after their break, the band later took the stage to a rousing cheer.

The band, as I recall, was very good, with or without beer, microphones, tubes, or digital processors.

Funny that.

Steve Smith · Jan 30, 2012

The prices and specifications of the interconnects is hilarious when you realise what they connect to internally in the amps, speakers, etc.

Steve.

Steve Smith · Jan 30, 2012

Aristophanes said:
Kimber Kable BiFocal XL Speaker Cables
Price:
$1,810.00

That's just a cheap cable.

8AG consists of sixteen silver conductors (white and clear jackets) that utilize Kimber's proven braiding technique. The insulating dielectric is high pressure/low temperature extruded Teflon. The individual conductors are hyper-pure and arranged in VariStrand conductor geometry.
Prices start at $5760.00

That's more like it. Probably sounds about $10 better than using ordinary heavy duty stranded copper cable.

As you might know (link below) I sometimes build valve (tube) based equipment for recording (for friends rather than commercially). I do not use expensive gold plated sockets or oxygen free copper insulated with powdered hen's teeth mixed with unicorn tears. I prefer to use ordinary components.

If you listen to records made between the 1940s and the 1970s, they sound great and were recorded with very simple equipment with tin/lead soldered joints, tin plated connectors and ordinary copper wire.

Steve.

Edward_S · Jan 30, 2012

This reminds me of something I read in New Scientist magazine years ago. The author had been visiting an audio trade show and noticed that one of the top speaker manufacturers was demonstrating their kit using strangely familiar orange speaker cable. It turned out they had popped over the road to the DIY store to buy a 13-amp outdoor extension lead, which worked as well as anything else.

bdial · Jan 30, 2012

You mean the electrons don't know the difference?

fotch · Jan 30, 2012

A fool and their money are soon parted.

Aristophanes · Jan 30, 2012

bdial said:
You mean the electrons don't know the difference?

Technically, neither do photons, if you get my d-d-d-drift.

E. von Hoegh · Jan 30, 2012

bdial said:
You mean the electrons don't know the difference?

There is no difference to notice. It exists only in the fulsome imagination of the audiophool.

holmburgers · Jan 30, 2012

Here's a good overview of audio snake-oil products...

http://www.analogrules.com/snakeoil.html

Though these are my fave... http://boingboing.net/2005/11/07/astronomically-overp.html

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 30, 2012

Setup of a $70k turntable, in case you have an afternoon to study it:
Walker Proscenium Turntable

Here's a pretty good pre/power amplifier combo for speakers with medium impedance ($14k / $140k):
Atmasphere MP-1 Pre-Amplifier
Atmasphere MA-3 Power Amplifier

And here are a pair of speakers that would fit that amplifier pretty well:
Von Schweikert - Click on Products, VR Series, and find the VR-11SE
You'd have to divorce the better part of $165k to own a pair of these.

I have friends that are obsessed with this stuff, and I just like music. I personally think they're insane, and whatever 'problem' I have with spending a bit too much time fiddling around with films and silver gelatin paper, I feel pretty damned healthy by comparison.

E. von Hoegh · Jan 30, 2012

vpwphoto said:
http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/aopens-vacuum-tube-audio-card-20021223/

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Audio_woo

Dead Link Removed

Funny.

I'm all better now.

My friends and I have been laughing at this stuff for a decade or two. The audiophools aare way worse than photographers. I remember an article that equated the embossing on the plates of 6550 tube with sound quality....

holmburgers · Jan 30, 2012

If you're gonna spend money on audio stuff, a good receiver, good speakers and a good turntable are all you really need. And by good, I mean, you need to get lucky at a garage sale and find a complete Sansui setup for $25...

If I had some dough, I'd be getting these... http://www.klipsch.com/klipschorn-floorstanding-speaker

Steve Smith · Jan 30, 2012

My best stuff was free. I have a huge pair of Kenwood/Trio speakers which my brother found in a cupboard in a house he was refurbishing and my main speakers are Acoustic Research AR-4xa which were left behind by the previous owner of the house my mother bought a few years ago. I also have a nice JVC amplifier my father gave me when he couldn't be bothered with separate units any more and bought an all in one system.

Steve.

vpwphoto · Jan 30, 2012

That "Walker" turntable "for me" is a little Rube Goldberg like.
I won't rain on their parade... gota love that it was set up in front of some crappy blinds though.

E. von Hoegh · Jan 30, 2012

Steve Smith said:
My best stuff was free. I have a huge pair of Kenwood/Trio speakers which my brother found in a cupboard in a house he was refurbishing and my main speakers are Acoustic Research AR-4xa which were left behind by the previous owner of the house my mother bought a few years ago. I also have a nice JVC amplifier my father gave me when he couldn't be bothered with separate units any more and bought an all in one system.

Steve.

I have a set of AR 4s that my father purchased new about 1968. I found an AR amplifier, working, at a lawnsale for $3. What I listen to is a pair of Canton Karat 100s, a homebrew subwoofer, an extensively modified Soundcraftsman amp. Various signal sources fed to the amp through an old Dynaco pre amp.

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 30, 2012

E. von Hoegh said:
I have a set of AR 4s that my father purchased new about 1968. I found an AR amplifier, working, at a lawnsale for $3. What I listen to is a pair of Canton Karat 100s, a homebrew subwoofer, an extensively modified Soundcraftsman amp. Various signal sources fed to the amp through an old Dynaco pre amp.

Interesting. My setup is an old Scott 299B tube (valve) amp from 1961, a pair of Snell EIII speakers, and a Sony SCD-333 SACD player. It sounds good enough for me without breaking the bank, I even got the amp for free. I really get into the music and can listen for hours just enjoying the tunes. (I really wish I still had my Linn turntable, but had to sell it in a financial hardship).

It's too easy to obsess over individual pieces of equipment, regardless what our interests are. I've been to many homes of audiophiles, and while their systems sound great, their record collection leave a lot to be desired. Sometimes I bring music that I really love, but is poorly recorded... It's amazing how bad those recordings sound in these big buck systems... I admit to being a bit sneaky like that, but I can't help myself. Icelandic artist Johann Johannsson, for example, released a spectacularly beautiful album called 'Fordlandia'. It's basically about Henry Ford's utopian society, and if you're not moved by the music you must be pretty numb inside. It's just gorgeous music. To watch how they're torn between the beauty of the music, and just how flat and poor the recording is, is majestically funny. Or, if I want to listen to reggae on their big Martin Logan electrostatic speakers, and the whole system falls on its face, because it doesn't rock or boogie... Or how about some Ramones?

holmburgers · Jan 30, 2012

Hey, guess where Martin-Logans are made??

Just got the Ramones on vinyl for X-mas, interestingly enough!

CGW · Jan 30, 2012

Funny but the biggest and best music collections I know seem to get played on OK-ish systems, while the truly awful, small, demo audiophile recordings-only collections live in dedicated listening rooms with gear worth way more than the last new car I bought. Several of these guys go to bed nightly worrying they might die in their sleep not owning something that looks like space junk with a power cord. Haven't met anyone into photography yet with a dependency that deep--yet.

Paul VanAudenhove · Jan 30, 2012

I agree that the pricing can be stratospheric, but not all of it is snakeoil.

It's a long-standing joke in the audiophile community that some people have assembled insanely expensive systems, but only own ten records to play. Just like it's true that many musically great records sound like crap played on a high end system. The trick is to strive for balance!

I don't believe that Martin Logans can't rock - in fact I'd love to get my hands on a set of CLS's!

But is it really any worse than esoteric agitation schemes for film, experimenting with film/developer combinations or discussing the colour or contrast renditions of different lenses?

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 30, 2012

Paul VanAudenhove said:
I don't believe that Martin Logans can't rock - in fact I'd love to get my hands on a set of CLS's!

Bob Marley might disagree. Check it out some time, and put the CLSs next to a pair of Vortex Screens or something like a pair of Heron Meadowlarks.
Bring Audioslave, The Red Hot Chilipeppers (affectionately known as Flea's band), The Clash, Propellerheads, and Radiohead with you while you're at it.

Paul VanAudenhove · Jan 30, 2012

I've heard great sound from Quad ESL-63's, so I'd expect nothing less from the CLS's! BTW, the 63's were driven by a whopping 25 wpc amp! But I'll also admit that they don't go to ear-bleed volume!

MattKing · Jan 30, 2012

In one of James Michener's many really big novels he writes about tech specialists who could work anywhere in the world, tended to obsess about and own fantastic "stereo" systems, but seemed to only buy "Best Of" compilation LPs.

One thing I've noticed in places like thrift stores is that it is hard to locate amplifiers or receivers with a phono amplifier circuit - most likely because all the relatively recent ones require a pre-amplifier to play LPs.

Audio folks as bad as us...

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