I keep reading about new products in hifi magazines and wonders if new products really is better then older ones, to me majority of the products seems to go sideways and not forward, why would anyone be interested in buying a product that is not better then the last one? Like cables, how much better can a new cable be then your good old cable?
We have definitely entered an era of diminishing returns 🙂 But as with everything, take food for example, eat steak for a month and nothing but the steak, even though it is your favorite food, you will not find the same enjoyment in it after that time period. That's what humans are like, especially ones with a curious and speedy mind.
Old cables might become rigid and brittle, because plasticizers evaporate from PVC. This is the only reason I can imagine.
So, even of we had the perfect sound in our setup we would still change our gear for something else ?
If something is broken or unpleasent then i understand if one must get a new stuff, or you must have a new feature, but this going sideways i do not understand
It's a DIY site, some of this upgrading is part and parcel of DIY.
But I haven't changed my main speakers since I built them a decade ago
But I haven't changed my main speakers since I built them a decade ago
You have mentioned cables so this thread is doomed! But basically you have asked 'why capitalism'. Companies need to sell new things so persuade people that new is better. Some of us don't buy into that.
I bought a Sony Hifi in 1997. By about 2002 the CD and tape unit was dead, more likely because it got "partied" and was full of smoke/tar.
By 2010 the front panel controls (rotary encoders) were all dead or un-usable.
I still have it. I still use it. It's the best amp I've owned. The story behind it was the war between the likes of Awai releasing higher and higher output wattage stats and scoring sales and part of Sony's market. Of course the Awai units were touting PMPO with WIDE margins. If you turned their volume above about 60% the amp/speakers couldn't handle it. The story goes that Sony decided enough was enough and released a range of HiFis which came close to matching Awai's PMPO but with real RMS power underneath and far exceeded Awai/Akai et. al. outputs. The story goes Sony didn't intend to make money on them, just regain the market. I don't know if it worked for them, but the amp is a beast. You can clock it full to it's MAX, hide it down the back of the sofa at a party, click all the "PARTY MODE" bass buttons and let a drunk DJ loose on a set of decks and ... still full expect it to function the next morning and ... not even distort. At several parties it turned out that rather than it being the secondary HiFi, the party ended up migrating to the room with my Sony amp in it because it sounded better than the rented PA speakers in the main room.
It's been overloaded quite a few times, by idiots shouting into microphones usually, it just relay cuts the amp for 1 second and carries on. It was left powered on for 7 years in my last apartment. Not even on standby just power up on AUX in, 60% volume for the TV.
It's still my TV amp. I keep looking for a reason to replace it, but... as an amp I still can't fault it.
Still the same Sony multi-way (fake surround) ported reflex speakers. They are crusty and they had to be bleached a few times, like the unit itself. They still sound fine though. I'm amazed that the rubber reflexs haven't rotted through yet.
By 2010 the front panel controls (rotary encoders) were all dead or un-usable.
I still have it. I still use it. It's the best amp I've owned. The story behind it was the war between the likes of Awai releasing higher and higher output wattage stats and scoring sales and part of Sony's market. Of course the Awai units were touting PMPO with WIDE margins. If you turned their volume above about 60% the amp/speakers couldn't handle it. The story goes that Sony decided enough was enough and released a range of HiFis which came close to matching Awai's PMPO but with real RMS power underneath and far exceeded Awai/Akai et. al. outputs. The story goes Sony didn't intend to make money on them, just regain the market. I don't know if it worked for them, but the amp is a beast. You can clock it full to it's MAX, hide it down the back of the sofa at a party, click all the "PARTY MODE" bass buttons and let a drunk DJ loose on a set of decks and ... still full expect it to function the next morning and ... not even distort. At several parties it turned out that rather than it being the secondary HiFi, the party ended up migrating to the room with my Sony amp in it because it sounded better than the rented PA speakers in the main room.
It's been overloaded quite a few times, by idiots shouting into microphones usually, it just relay cuts the amp for 1 second and carries on. It was left powered on for 7 years in my last apartment. Not even on standby just power up on AUX in, 60% volume for the TV.
It's still my TV amp. I keep looking for a reason to replace it, but... as an amp I still can't fault it.
Still the same Sony multi-way (fake surround) ported reflex speakers. They are crusty and they had to be bleached a few times, like the unit itself. They still sound fine though. I'm amazed that the rubber reflexs haven't rotted through yet.
It's human nature to be slightly dissatisfied with what we have. It's the evolutionary motor that got us out of caves and into houses, off our feet and into aeroplanes. We just can't help looking for progress, sometimes blind to the cost!
A friend used to say:
"Getting what you want is the EASY part of life. It's learning to want what you have that is the hard part."
i can see a point to buy things to test out, but i do not see the point of going sideways
yes, cables, this review on hifi news https://www.hifinews.com/content/atlas-arran-transpose-loudspeaker-cable got me thinking, how can anyone want to buy this, i mean, the one who buys these i am sure already have some hi-end cables, so what can possible be gained by these? the same applies to speakers, a manufacturer upgrades their cabinets with more x-material and new connectors and folks runs to the shop for upgrading, stupid
i do not mind progress, but i do not think a sidestep is a progress, sidestep is like going from cave to cave
For audiophools it's a drug. They are already in so deep they simply cannot see their biases. Their addiction controls their mind so they don't see their confirmation bias. All they see is the need to spend more money chasing perceived ghosts. The reason they are preceiving those ghosts in the first place is because the addiction knows how to tweak your knobs and it just wants that dopamine hit it knows it's going to get when the near gear arrives. It's totally prepared to reward you when you fire it up the first time... confirmation bias fueled by addiction. Anyone who has been addicted to anything will know what I mean, in the worst cases you are in total denial there is an issue at all.
Replace Audiophool with more or less any extreme, enthusiastic consumer or aficionado.
EDIT: In one way it's not their fault. Marketing's primary goal is to create people like that.
EDIT: In one way it's not their fault. Marketing's primary goal is to create people like that.
Doomed...
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Do not forget to buy one of paul mcgowans reference speaker cables...only $21000.
https://www.psaudio.com/products/pauls-reference-dragon-zero-speaker-cable/
Planned Obsolescence
As Bill said…welcome to the world of Capitalism.
Not only does the corporate world want you to be dissatisfied with your 6 month old iPhone (or fill in the blank), but they want it to be unserviceable (especially by you) and for it to hopefully fail at a predetermined time (by them) so that you have no other choice but to replace it.
This, along with convincing you that your own self-worth is directly related to how many shiney new expensive things you own, is the bread and butter of their profit margins.
Don’t forget…the guy with the biggest stereo and fastest flashiest car is obviously the manliest of us all 😉
As Bill said…welcome to the world of Capitalism.
Not only does the corporate world want you to be dissatisfied with your 6 month old iPhone (or fill in the blank), but they want it to be unserviceable (especially by you) and for it to hopefully fail at a predetermined time (by them) so that you have no other choice but to replace it.
This, along with convincing you that your own self-worth is directly related to how many shiney new expensive things you own, is the bread and butter of their profit margins.
Don’t forget…the guy with the biggest stereo and fastest flashiest car is obviously the manliest of us all 😉
Define perfect 😉 I still haven't found perfection in anything, nor i believe someone truly has.