Sounds as if Ya'll muz be hang'n out at "Texas Oldest Dance Hall" 
Gruene Hall Official Home Page
Darn it!!!! I really wanted to relocate to the Weirdest City in da world - but alas ran into a Nashville gal -
Another band well suited fer Austin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9QI...ext=1&list=MLGxdCwVVULXf9Zv1tGwo9JRm45m_Or1OL
Gruene Hall Official Home Page
Darn it!!!! I really wanted to relocate to the Weirdest City in da world - but alas ran into a Nashville gal -
Another band well suited fer Austin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9QI...ext=1&list=MLGxdCwVVULXf9Zv1tGwo9JRm45m_Or1OL
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vinyl = warps + noise + groove distortion + wear and tear + deterioration
I'm sorry but that's not progress
At least vinyl gives a decent frequency response.
SACD and DVD Audio is promising, but audiophiles have largely shunned these formats. Sony has stuffed up any interest in SACD players by limiting the SPDIF output to 48khz. And, I presume they have high royalty fees for artists wishing to release material in SACD format?
Sony with its greed stuffed up SACD big time.
DVD Audio, I don't know much about, but there seems to be little released in this format. - Certainly nothing much of interest to me.
High bitrate recordings appear on paper to offer more than redbook CD but with few people adopting the format of SACD or DVD Audio, it seems that high resolution downloads are the way of the future. Having said that, the major record companies cant seem to pull their finger out and offer high resolution downloads of popular albums, or perhaps they have a reluctance to do this because then they wont be able to offer a "new remaster" every four years to suck more money out of the consumer. I presume that once you have the 24 bit 192khz release you wouldn't need to buy another copy?
So there have been advances in audio, but they didn't come from the "high end audiophile" companies, but from the big consumer companies who were so greedy that there was no universal adoption of these formats.
Although perhaps as I said above, it is deliberate action to stop people obtaining a near perfect copy of the original master in their home?
"Is high end audio just lots of gimmicks and high price tags"?
Some of it will be and some of it will not.
This is not relevant however; what is relevant is the amount of money that extreme high-end audio costs. It is obscene. The law of diminishing returns starts kicking in with great effect after just a few hundred dollars/pounds/euro's making the vast proportion of the cost completely wasted.
The engineering and craftsmanship that goes into the high end cannot be ignored and it is all very impressive, however it is extreme overkill just like the Bugatti Veyron in the world of cars; great engineering and amazing specification but whats it for apart from an extension to your phallus?! Hey look what I've got, check it out!
I am sure that if I were lucky enough to listen to the very best and most expensive high end equipment in the world I would be blown away by the sound quality but it would not stop me feeling that whoever is buying this stuff has got a real mental problem with focussing their priorities.
Hmmmm.....what shall I do with this £100,000; buy that 50kg 12 valve class A tube amp or buy that £1000 amp and give the other £99,000 to a charity that saves the lives of young children by supplying them with clean drinking water and a bit of food.
Some of it will be and some of it will not.
This is not relevant however; what is relevant is the amount of money that extreme high-end audio costs. It is obscene. The law of diminishing returns starts kicking in with great effect after just a few hundred dollars/pounds/euro's making the vast proportion of the cost completely wasted.
The engineering and craftsmanship that goes into the high end cannot be ignored and it is all very impressive, however it is extreme overkill just like the Bugatti Veyron in the world of cars; great engineering and amazing specification but whats it for apart from an extension to your phallus?! Hey look what I've got, check it out!
I am sure that if I were lucky enough to listen to the very best and most expensive high end equipment in the world I would be blown away by the sound quality but it would not stop me feeling that whoever is buying this stuff has got a real mental problem with focussing their priorities.
Hmmmm.....what shall I do with this £100,000; buy that 50kg 12 valve class A tube amp or buy that £1000 amp and give the other £99,000 to a charity that saves the lives of young children by supplying them with clean drinking water and a bit of food.
I would like to say something that, maybe will get through to some here.
In ANY field of endeavor there is excess. Be it good food, wine, cameras, telescopes, autos, houses, vacations, there are some who will take exception to excess. For example, a bottle of wine over $5 is not worth it to me, UNLESS someone else is paying for it. Any lunch over $10 is too much for me, unless it is a VERY SPECIAL occasion. Yet, just down the street there are fine restaurants that charge over $100/person typically, and a vintner, just 2 doors down, who sells fine wines costing into the many hundreds of dollars. Just think, one meal! How many hours can you listen to your hi fi, before it wears out? Compare and note.
Should I picket the vintner down the street? Tell patrons to give their excess money to charity, and to go down a few blocks and buy a bottle of 2 buck Chuck (wine)?
If the attitude expressed here is consistent, maybe I should.
I personally make some of the most expensive audio equipment in the world. I also make some less expensive stuff. All of it is good, and considered by 3'rd parties to be great value for the cost, especially in the USA. Europeans could probably find something less expensive that is made in their country or nearby.
What makes it cost more than the cheapest audio available? Mostly, sound quality, subjectively evaluated, by 3'rd parties, usually audio reviewers, working for magazines that we DON'T advertise in. Yet, I still get pretty good reviews, and I am not even friends or 'hang out' with any reviewers who have review my designs. The designs stand by themselves or fall down, and sometimes they DO fail in the marketplace.
All that I can say is that my designs are as good as I can get an offshore manufacturer to make them, and their cost, at least at wholesale, is equal to what it would cost you or me to just buy the parts and put them together, ourselves. Doesn't say very much about the savings of DIY audio does it? But that is the reality of the situation. The ONLY way to get the prices lower would be to eliminate the retail dealer. Then, you could get the product perhaps 40% cheaper. Mail order catalogues will get you part-way there, and I recommend them you. However, we must, if we are to make ENOUGH units, to keep the manufacturing cost down, have retail dealers. There is no other way, as of yet. It is our system of commerce at present.
In ANY field of endeavor there is excess. Be it good food, wine, cameras, telescopes, autos, houses, vacations, there are some who will take exception to excess. For example, a bottle of wine over $5 is not worth it to me, UNLESS someone else is paying for it. Any lunch over $10 is too much for me, unless it is a VERY SPECIAL occasion. Yet, just down the street there are fine restaurants that charge over $100/person typically, and a vintner, just 2 doors down, who sells fine wines costing into the many hundreds of dollars. Just think, one meal! How many hours can you listen to your hi fi, before it wears out? Compare and note.
Should I picket the vintner down the street? Tell patrons to give their excess money to charity, and to go down a few blocks and buy a bottle of 2 buck Chuck (wine)?
If the attitude expressed here is consistent, maybe I should.
I personally make some of the most expensive audio equipment in the world. I also make some less expensive stuff. All of it is good, and considered by 3'rd parties to be great value for the cost, especially in the USA. Europeans could probably find something less expensive that is made in their country or nearby.
What makes it cost more than the cheapest audio available? Mostly, sound quality, subjectively evaluated, by 3'rd parties, usually audio reviewers, working for magazines that we DON'T advertise in. Yet, I still get pretty good reviews, and I am not even friends or 'hang out' with any reviewers who have review my designs. The designs stand by themselves or fall down, and sometimes they DO fail in the marketplace.
All that I can say is that my designs are as good as I can get an offshore manufacturer to make them, and their cost, at least at wholesale, is equal to what it would cost you or me to just buy the parts and put them together, ourselves. Doesn't say very much about the savings of DIY audio does it? But that is the reality of the situation. The ONLY way to get the prices lower would be to eliminate the retail dealer. Then, you could get the product perhaps 40% cheaper. Mail order catalogues will get you part-way there, and I recommend them you. However, we must, if we are to make ENOUGH units, to keep the manufacturing cost down, have retail dealers. There is no other way, as of yet. It is our system of commerce at present.
The guys and gals who founded Emotiva would disagree with you. There's already a growing following for their product which as far as I'm aware is not available through retail distribution.
You gotta put yer foot down some times. I "love" to "hate" you but somehow I managed to purchase your most recent publication(I had to order it and I live in Toronto)! I guess you got a buck or two from me.
Hate is a strong word, I should not use it. J. Curl, you are a great influence, regardless of how I take you in. I like you better on papper versus here in the forums though. It is just my opinion, I am entitled, no? Curl = fantastic. Look it up in the "Scientific Journal". I kid you not. In text you remind me of a difficult and wonderous Eastcoaster YouTube - Stan Rogers Barrett's Privateers
I respect "high end" , Curl , Bybee. If the consumers that bought this level of equipment were without this sphere of choices, what would they spend that money on ? $10,000 pants , $50,000 gold toilets ?? At least the $$$'s are being kept in the audio realm. Even if it was modestly priced like the Emotiva , (nice !!) they would not buy it simply for the reason that it did not make enough of a "statement". The scale of quality takes a backseat to the glamor of the name and the pricetag.
OS
OS
John, did this comment come out right?
To me it sounds like you are saying that you charge a (high) price because you can. If you get a good review the price is high, not so good review, the price is low???
And you are also saying that your equipment costs very little to make?
But you put a big mark up on it, and you are saying that DIY costs the same as your equipment?
Sorry I'm not familiar with your brand?
Or did I get that all wrong?
Intermission.
Yes, we were at Gruene Hall. Closer to SA than Austin, but it's a fun little place.
AVE...
People spending their money on high-end audiovoodoo deserve neither money, nor any audio equipment. They should give their money to charity and then commit suicide. This will both help people and increase the total IQ level of Earth...
People who exploit stupidity of hi-end morons are just common frauds...
People spending their money on high-end audiovoodoo deserve neither money, nor any audio equipment. They should give their money to charity and then commit suicide. This will both help people and increase the total IQ level of Earth...
People who exploit stupidity of hi-end morons are just common frauds...
But one man's voodoo is another man's nirvana.
In the absence of evidence that charities are populated by above averagely wise folk, I sincerely doubt this.
Sounds like you've been on the SY, se koolaid
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