Ken Fritz - Audiophile Documentary

[sigbergaudio]

Well, that story was most of all just sad, and doesn't have a whole lot to do about the hobby as such. Interesting story nonetheless.

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

Perhaps a more accurate title might be "the additional costs of mental illness".
It feels to me like a sorry story for everyone involved

 

[Digby]

I really don't think of myself as an audiophile. I made my system as a design exercise. You could call me a masochist, I suppose.

did you integrate a treadmill to power it?...sounded silly to me at first, but now I think about it...

 

[fpitas]

did you integrate a treadmill to power it?...sounded silly to me at first, but now I think about it...

Hmmm. Wouldn't that be exercise design?

 

[Dialectic]

The saddest part, for me, is that it probably sounded terrible.

 

[fpitas]

The saddest part, for me, is that it probably sounded terrible.

Maybe the additional cost was to make it sound right

 

[BobbyTimmons]

Helping give a bad name to audiophiles.

Why? He had passion, he had a mission in life and he achieved it which is more than you can say about most people.

 

[Astoneroad]

I really don't think of myself as an audiophile. I made my system as a design exercise. You could call me a masochist, I suppose.

I don't either... the ringing in my ears doesn't allow me to fool myself... nor does the feedback from ASR allow much self delusion... lol.

 

[fpitas]

Why? He had a mission in life and achieved it which is more than you can say about most people.

True as far as it goes. But it makes it sound like every audiophile is addicted to high-end nonsense.

 

[BobbyTimmons]

True as far as it goes. But it makes it sound like every audiophile is addicted to high-end nonsense.

He built his own business, built his own concert hall by hand, raised 5 children and had good relations with 4 of them.

It's just the business of Geoff Edgers and the Washington Post to turn that into a negative story as that's what sells newspapers these days.

 

[Digby]

Americans, help me out here, what is the point of this story? To show that a determined man neglected his family for his hi-fi..

Plenty do the same for work, cars/motorbikes, extramarital affairs and so on. Single-minded people, although often times impressive in their resolve, are rarely the nicest or most considerate. It doesn't surprise me that his children seemed less than happy with him, but I don't see what we're supposed to take away; it just seems like airing dirty laundry in public.

The hi-fi is not the point, the man would have found any number of other things to throw himself into/neglect his family with. Many men (and women) are like this.

 

[Keith_W]

I am sure we can all relate to him. Whenever men have a hobby, some men pursue it to the extreme and leave no stone unturned. If you don't believe me, go to Youtube and look for: car enthusiasts, aquarium enthusiasts, lawn enthusiasts, model ship builders, model train enthusiasts, and hobby engineering. The model train guys are especially nuts, they convert living rooms into giant miniature railways such that it loses its function as a living room. At least an audiophile's living room can still be used as a living room!

 

[Ken Tajalli]

I am jealous! Seriously . . .
To have that much money, have a home that large, have a family that accommodating, and to top it all, have the time and the energy to spend on a hobby.
I have had none of those.
He should consider himself lucky. No I didn't read the article! you know, don't have the time .......

 

[GeorgeWalk]

If I recall correctly, I read somewhere on the interwebs that he passed away recently.

The article says he passed away in April of 2022.

 

[BobbyTimmons]

Americans, help me out here, what is the point of this story? To show that a determined man neglected his family for his hi-fi..

Plenty do the same for work, cars/motorbikes, extramarital affairs and so on. Single-minded people, although often times impressive in their resolve, are rarely the nicest or most considerate. It doesn't surprise me that his children seemed less than happy with him, but I don't see what we're supposed to take away; it just seems like airing dirty laundry in public.

The hi-fi is not the point, the man would have found any number of other things to throw himself into/neglect his family with. Many men (and women) are like this.

The newspaper needs to sell copies to pay the journalists' salaries and this is the tone of writing which sells. If they wrote it as a positive story about how a man built his own business, built his own concert hall by hand in his backyard and raised 5 children it wouldn't generate as much interest as writing about it like it is a pathological case.

 

[fpitas]

The newspaper needs to sell copies to pay the journalists' salaries and this is the tone of writing which sells. If they wrote it as a positive story about how a man built his own business, built his own concert hall by hand in his backyard and raised 5 children it wouldn't generate as much interest as writing about it like it is a pathological case.

They're not alone. Every article I read about audiophiles approaches it that way, expensive prestigious exotic stuff that only audiophiles understand.

 

[Digby]

The newspaper needs to sell copies to pay the journalists' salaries and this is the tone of writing which sells. If they wrote it as a positive story about how a man built his own business, built his own concert hall by hand in his backyard and raised 5 children it wouldn't generate as much interest as writing about it like it is a pathological case.

My problem, rather than positive or negative bias, was more the insinuation that 'the hi-fi made him do it', more likely he is just a certain type of person and that mentality would be applied to any number of things, if he didn't have hi-fi to fulfil that need. I suppose his obsession, which he roped his family into and made his children labour to create, suggests he perhaps considered his children similar to his hi-fi, to be tweaked and nudged in different directions, and mainly to fulfil his needs?

I wonder if he took the same interest in any of their passions or if he even knew what they were. If the story is correct (as you say, these things are often exaggerated for effect), probably not.

 

[Multicore]

The saddest part, for me, is that it probably sounded terrible.

Sadder than the consequences for his family?

 

[BobbyTimmons]

The saddest part, for me, is that it probably sounded terrible.

Why do you think it 'probably sounded terrible'? It's an acoustically designed room based on the design of a concert hall in Osaka Japan, with biamped three way speakers and more than enough amplification to handle any peaks.

 

[BobbyTimmons]

Sadder than the consequences for his family?

The only real negative the long article could find in all of it was the relationship with one of his sons. He had 5 children and a good relationship with 4 of them. The article dwells on the bad relationship he had with one of his sons while briefly passing over the good relationship he apparently had with his other 4 children.