Audio Porn Stash

[Dialectic]

This post is a terrible and painful confession.

A recovering audiophile, I used to enjoy reading Harry Pearson's articles in The Absolute Sound and looking at photos of expensive systems and gear. Pearson's articles (along with their inferior progeny in more recent issues of Stereophile and TAS) and photos of expensive gear constitute a porn sub-genre that I call "audio porn."*

The interesting thing is that audio porn in the United States tends to be rather tame compared to the audio porn that can be found in, for example, East Asia--especially with respect to the photos. Consequently, on many trips that I took to Asia, I made stops at airport bookstores, usually before my flight out, to gather up what I could. (Sadly, at my favorite spot for doing this, HKG, the number of bookstores has dwindled for political reasons.)

Below are a few photos from one of the mags I picked up in Hong Kong, and no, I do not read Chinese and thus do not know what the articles say.

At least this particular magazine covers one device that is properly engineered:

As may be the case with other genres of pornography, to find the really weird stuff, you have to go to Japan. There are several major Japanese audio mags, including Stereo, Stereo Sound, Audio Accessory, and MJ. MJ has more and longer articles than the other magazines, does not seem to focus on new gear (or vintage gear, exactly), and contains a lot of circuit diagrams and technical content.

MJ contains measurements, too, but the measurements do not seem to dampen interest in badly performing gear such as turntables or tube amps.

And don't think that audio porn exists only in magazines. There are also audio porn books, such as The Remembrance of Sound (sic) Past by Japanese audiophile, restaurateur and tube amp luminary Susumu Sakuma.

Based on his bio, I confess to doubting whether Sakuma san knows how to design an amplifier that works properly:

Then, when you flip through the book, each chapter seems to be about a different tube amp (I can't read Japanese, so I don't know for sure).

It seems that, like porn of other genres, audio porn seems to be migrating away from print toward the internet. One of the most photo-rich of the audio porn blogs is Wizard's high-end blog, which now has a paywalled premium section!

So that's my confession about audio porn. Please don't judge me for my past problems, and I sure do feel better now that I've gotten it off my chest.


* Audio porn is part of a genre of literature that I call "commodity porn." Commodity porn is all around us in fashion magazines, TV programs about cars, and wristwatch blogs, just to name a few examples. It's meant to produce fantasies of having something perfect that few other people have. At least outside of communist countries,** it is socially acceptable in a way that sexual porn isn't.

** I am not a communist.

 

[milw50717]

Japanese magazines/mooks/soft cover books are quite amazing and can cover a given topic in great breadth and depth. I must admit to having a few for a couple of other interests.

 

[Hipper]

I'm very disappointed in this thread!

I had some audio porn once but it did nothing for me. Think I got it free with a magazine. I never tried it on a decent stereo though.

 

[digicidal]

The interesting thing is that audio porn in the United States tends to be rather tame compared to the audio porn that can be found in, for example, East Asia--especially with respect to the photos.

I'm pretty sure that applies to media concerned with the more typical definition of "porn" as well regarding US vs. East Asia. I wouldn't know, of course... just speculating. Tentacles where?!?!

 

[Tks]

No need to be disappointed nor ashamed. You realized it was nonsense, and you threw it out. Regret I can somewhat understand as being hard to shake. But disappointed, and ashamed? No need.

As for the photos, I still think the decline of magazines was a shame. You don't see as much effort put into a collection of pages so much photography work, and aesthetic pursuit.

Now if only those companies focused on reality and making their products perform as good as they'd look. We'd all be over the moon, and Amir would probably be out of the job ;P

 

[Martin]

I remember bringing home brochures from stereo stores when I was younger... I think I got this one at a Pacific Stereo.

Martin

 

[Tks]

I didn't throw any of it out! I still have all of this filth, this sleaze on my shelf, and the first step will be to admit that I'm powerless over it!

I was more referring to the ideas espoused as a recovering audiophile. As for the magazines themselves. They're lovey.

 

[mhardy6647]

well, depending upon one's particular fetishes and fixations
there's much fun to be had at www.americanradiohistory.com (searchable archives of Stereo Review, High Fidelity, Audio, and - recently added - Vacuum Tube Valley, and more, more, more!). Lotsa audio, radio, and electronics catalog scans, too.

If you are into tape, don't miss:

https://r2rtx.org/node/37

... and presumably y'all already know
www.radioshackcatalogs.com
and
www.alliedcatalogs.com
right?

There's also:
http://www.itishifi.com/
... and, ahem, their "Girl Friday" feature, too

And finally, there's Joseph Esmilla's wonderful blog.
My 'serious' hifi upstairs is heavily influenced by JE, I am proud to say.

http://jelabs.blogspot.com/

Oh, and how could I forget Dave Slagle's blog?
http://hifiheroin.blogspot.com/

 

[arboleda]

I love this thread. More pictures please.

 

[GradyBeach247]

I'm very disappointed in this thread!

I had some audio porn once but it did nothing for me. Think I got it free with a magazine. I never tried it on a decent stereo though.

You need to use a pornograph to play it properly, not digital.

 

[anmpr1]

And don't think that audio porn exists only in magazines. There are also audio porn books, such as The Remembrance of Sound (sic) Past by Japanese audiophile, restaurateur and tube amp luminary Susumu Sakuma. Based on his bio, I confess to doubting whether Sakuma san knows how to design an amplifier that works properly: It seems that, like porn of other genres...

Analogies only go so far, and are often not apt. Pornography exists as a degradation to a natural function, something meant to aggravate a natural desire for degenerate purposes. It is a falsification. The word's etymology is, of course, sexual (relating to writing about prostitution). Dante placed this sort of fraud (Thais as representative) in the 8th Circle. Is this where Susumu Sakuma belongs?

In fact I would not call Mr. Sakuma any type of pornographer or fraudster, a man whom by all accounts was gentle and honorable, a man only interested in propagating his version of a 'do it yourself' hobby. Ressurecting and preserving old gear in a throwaway generation, for aesthetic purposes. A man not interested in opportunistic selling or otherwise fostering anything degenerate. One could possibly consider those things about other practitioners in toob (and even SS) land.

For those interested, his Web presence is still available. One can check it to see whether he was an opportunistic whore or a sonic pornographer, belonging in the lower depths of audiophile hell.

http://www10.big.or.jp/~dh/

 

[Dialectic]

Analogies only go so far, and are often not apt. Pornography exists as a degradation to a natural function, something meant to aggravate a natural desire for degenerate purposes. It is a falsification. The word's etymology is, of course, sexual (relating to writing about prostitution). Dante placed this sort of fraud (Thais as representative) in the 8th Circle. Is this where Susumu Sakuma belongs?

In fact I would not call Mr. Sakuma any type of pornographer or fraudster, a man whom by all accounts was gentle and honorable, a man only interested in propagating his version of a 'do it yourself' hobby. Ressurecting and preserving old gear in a throwaway generation, for aesthetic purposes. A man not interested in opportunistic selling or otherwise fostering anything degenerate. One could possibly consider those things about other practitioners in toob (and even SS) land.

For those interested, his Web presence is still available. One can check it to see whether he was a opportunistic whore or a sonic pornographer, belonging in the lower depths of audiophile hell.

http://www10.big.or.jp/~dh/

Two clarifications:

1. My use of the word "pornography" in this thread has been facetious.
2. I never meant to suggest that Sakuma san was a fraudster or a pornographer in any literal or near-literal sense. His ideas about audio, however, were rather unusual and probably not conducive to making or identifying well-engineered equipment.

Notwithstanding those clarifications, there is more than a whiff of what Marx called commodity fetishism in audio magazines and, also I believe (to the extent I can understand as someone with no proficiency in Japanese), in the work of Sakuma san.

 

[Frank Dernie]

This post is a terrible and painful confession.

A recovering audiophile, I used to enjoy reading Harry Pearson's articles in The Absolute Sound and looking at photos of expensive systems and gear. Pearson's articles (along with their inferior progeny in more recent issues of Stereophile and TAS) and photos of expensive gear constitute a porn sub-genre that I call "audio porn."*

The interesting thing is that audio porn in the United States tends to be rather tame compared to the audio porn that can be found in, for example, East Asia--especially with respect to the photos. Consequently, on many trips that I took to Asia, I made stops at airport bookstores, usually before my flight out, to gather up what I could. (Sadly, at my favorite spot for doing this, HKG, the number of bookstores has dwindled for political reasons.)

Below are a few photos from one of the mags I picked up in Hong Kong, and no, I do not read Chinese and thus do not know what the articles say.

View attachment 52358View attachment 52359View attachment 52360


At least this particular magazine covers one device that is properly engineered:

View attachment 52361


As may be the case with other genres of pornography, to find the really weird stuff, you have to go to Japan. There are several major Japanese audio mags, including Stereo, Stereo Sound, Audio Accessory, and MJ. MJ has more and longer articles than the other magazines, does not seem to focus on new gear (or vintage gear, exactly), and contains a lot of circuit diagrams and technical content.

View attachment 52363

View attachment 52364

View attachment 52365


MJ contains measurements, too, but the measurements do not seem to dampen interest in badly performing gear such as turntables or tube amps.

View attachment 52366



And don't think that audio porn exists only in magazines. There are also audio porn books, such as The Remembrance of Sound (sic) Past by Japanese audiophile, restaurateur and tube amp luminary Susumu Sakuma.

View attachment 52369
View attachment 52371


Based on his bio, I confess to doubting whether Sakuma san knows how to design an amplifier that works properly:

View attachment 52370


Then, when you flip through the book, each chapter seems to be about a different tube amp (I can't read Japanese, so I don't know for sure).

View attachment 52372

It seems that, like porn of other genres, audio porn seems to be migrating away from print toward the internet. One of the most photo-rich of the audio porn blogs is Wizard's high-end blog, which now has a paywalled premium section!

So that's my confession about audio porn. Please don't judge me for my past problems, and I sure do feel better now that I've gotten it off my chest.


* Audio porn is part of a genre of literature that I call "commodity porn." Commodity porn is all around us in fashion magazines, TV programs about cars, and wristwatch blogs, just to name a few examples. It's meant to produce fantasies of having something perfect that few other people have. At least outside of communist countries,** it is socially acceptable in a way that sexual porn isn't.

** I am not a communist.

I confess to doing the same, and camera magazines which often have technical details missing form English language publications.
I have taken it to be recycled now.

 

[Frank Dernie]

http://jelabs.blogspot.com/

Oh no, rangefinder camera porn too.
I did have a very extensive collection but sold it to fund my retirement.

 

[Koloth]

Pornography exists as a degradation to a natural function, something meant to aggravate a natural desire for degenerate purposes.

What is the meaning of your verb to 'degrade to a natural function'? That the outcome of the degradation is the constitution of a 'natural function' or that being 'a natural function' is a degraded mode of existence? Both are awefully weird propositions.

What is the "something" being referred to in the second part of your statement? 'Pornography' or 'natural function'? Presumably the former, even though that is very unclear use of language. While I find both, the use of the verb "aggravate" as well as your concept of degenerateness, suspect, granting you both provisionally, it would seem to me that employing the concept of 'pornography', thus understood, in a description of audio salesmanship, where base (, natural?) desires for acquiring valuables, conspicuous consumption and status goods as well as common perception-biases are exploited to sell extraorbitantly priced luxury goods - often performing technically worse than much cheaper products - is not at all unreasonable.

It is a falsification.

A term cannot be a falsification. And what would be falsified? You dont understand this word.

The word's etymology is, of course, sexual (relating to writing about prostitution).

As all words have etymologies. They are not bound by them. No serious philosopher of language (and I explicitly take Heideggerians to not belong to that group) working in the last century would hope to find the meaning or explication of words in their etymologies.

If you try to preach about your moral sensibilities in a fucking hobbyist forum online and attempt to sound all smart and authoritative, please make sure your post isnt just a hodgepoge of misused words and non sequiturs.

 

[arboleda]

Less words, more pics

 

[mhardy6647]

 

[anmpr1]

Two clarifications:

1. My use of the word "pornography" in this thread has been facetious.
2. I never meant to suggest that Sakuma san was a fraudster or a pornographer in any literal or near-literal sense. His ideas about audio, however, were rather unusual and probably not conducive to making or identifying well-engineered equipment.

Notwithstanding those clarifications, there is more than a whiff of what Marx called commodity fetishism in audio magazines and, also I believe (to the extent I can understand as someone with no proficiency in Japanese), in the work of Sakuma san.

1) Didn't get that. Sorry to misinterpret.

2) If I was going to describe or make an analogy anent Sakuma I might call him an anachronism, a horse 'n buggy guy, or even a flat-earther. I think those are definitely closer than the other, which is not close at all.

3) The Marxist thing? Perhaps in some instances of audiofoolery it is true. However my impression of Sakuma was that he was not trying to replace the value of relationships among friends with those of things traded, and distilling that down to some sort of monetary value, but rather the opposite. He was not selling (other than food), but offering. The idea that food and friends come together over music, having the possibility of creating authentic social relationships. From what I know, one could go to his restaurant and listen/eat. Talk later, over drinks. Listen some more. There was also a hobby-club where enthusiasts would get together and share comradeship building archaic designs. More a guild sort of thing than capitalist, in the formal economic sense.

In short, from an analogic standpoint I think one would be more likely to find examples of Mr. Sakuma's hobby on one of Norm's Saturday Evening Post nostalgic-era drawings than on the cover of Al Goldstein's Screw magazine.

 

[anmpr1]

What is the meaning of your verb to 'degrade to a natural function'? What is the "something" being referred to in the second part of your statement? A term cannot be a falsification. And what would be falsified? You dont understand this word.

I'm writing in a combo box on an audiophile site. Commenting on an analogy. You have have to cut me a little philosophic slack. If you want a detailed discussion of this (which I'm happy to do, with references and all that) send me an IM. I think you can send IM on ASR. If you are just hassling me, then it's not worth either of our time.

 

[Juhazi]

My kind of perversion...

https://www.inner-magazines.com/audiophilia/a-brief-history-of-gradient-labs/