Reminds me of a story.
Last year I Western Unioned some money to my business partner up in Canada (needed to get the money there ASAP and couldn't wait the 3-5 day for him to get it from PayPal to his bank account). I'll spare the story as to why I'll NEVER use Western Union again, but when my partner went to the Western Union office to pick up the money, they asked him a bunch of questions, including what his occupation was.
My partner answered "business owner." The clerk said the system didn't accept that as an answer. So my friend asked what kind of answer it would accept. The clerk couldn't give him an answer. So my friend said "Ok, I'm an astronaut."
The system accepted it and he got the money.
se
Hmm, I dropped in at SY's house yesterday and he offered up some of his recordings...in 24/96!!! But they weren't 15 minutes long..more like 3 to 5! But VERY life-like!
It helps that you were there for the live event.
It's one where the end benefit to customers is strongly emotional, even spiritual. Aside from which, I agree it has become quite in$ane. Aging baby-boomers (of which, I'm included
) with far more disposable income (of which, I'm not included ) than years left to spend it (of which, I hope I'm not included! ), I suppose.
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There are wealthy people in the world who appreciate hi end audio. They have the disposable income, and want the 'best'. Many here can easily appreciate a fancy auto like a Bentley or Bugatti, but they don't have to be able to afford one to do so. However, hi end audio is just as exotic and expensive as hi end autos. It costs money, time to develop and build, and there are relatively few customers. Audio is not a good area to make a lot of money, unless like Mark Levinson or some others, you have just the right amount of marketing skills AND something useful to sell. I have seen people that I have worked with at discount, because they were not 'in the money', later become millionaires, usually on the backs of their associates and workers. They are really not the 'backbone' of hi end audio, but they are often the most well known. Small companies, truly dedicated to making the best audio possible are out there, they usually barely make a living, and most of them are already out of business. And so it goes!
This is very true John;
but a page later somebody will start writing still the same nonsense he wrote before reading this. You can reveal information, but you can't change people's beliefs revealing it.
Very, very good John! That's the best quip of all, even better than, hate to admit it, my own!
jan
Morning coffee reading
http://www.iwe.rwth-aachen.de/nanobook/samples/sample2.pdf
Some single electron devices.
http://www.iwe.rwth-aachen.de/nanobook/samples/sample2.pdf
Some single electron devices.
Listening to music, live and reproduced, is often like this.
Some "Hi End" audio consumers are far from being wealthy. They give up other things in order to get the best audio they can afford.
I agree, Joshua, and I have participated in 'hi end' by making much of what I use. I mean, would I BUY a Blowtorch with Vendetta phono stage? (Last price, about $22,000) No way, it is NOT that much better than the dual 10 turn wire wound pot that I got surplus for perhaps $20. However, would I MAKE another Blowtorch for ANYBODY these days for $22,000? NO WAY! Too much time and trouble, especially getting the cases built.
What does this mean? This creates a dilemma. IF some well-healed audiophile came to me with money to buy a CTC Blowtorch, just like I use, I would politely decline to do it, for its last asking price. I would lose time and money on trying to do it for less than perhaps $50,000. Trust me, as a person who has ALWAYS underbid a real project, that it would be impossible to do, within a 'reasonable' cost and time constraint.
What surprises me is how many of my 'critics' will easily spend hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars of GOVERNMENT money to make something that they want right. Perhaps we should start economizing at that level, as well. '-)
What does this mean? This creates a dilemma. IF some well-healed audiophile came to me with money to buy a CTC Blowtorch, just like I use, I would politely decline to do it, for its last asking price. I would lose time and money on trying to do it for less than perhaps $50,000. Trust me, as a person who has ALWAYS underbid a real project, that it would be impossible to do, within a 'reasonable' cost and time constraint.
What surprises me is how many of my 'critics' will easily spend hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars of GOVERNMENT money to make something that they want right. Perhaps we should start economizing at that level, as well. '-)
I am dedicated to the sound quality of my stereo setup.
Others may view, or evaluate, my dedication as obsessive and/or compulsive.
Each is welcomed to ones' own view.
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