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Interesting video: The Audiophile's Philosophy

Gorgonzola

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Took a lot of words but the message is basic. Audiophilia isn't about "high fidelity sound", i.e. it's not about recreating in its original venue the original performance. It's about the sound the audiophile enjoys best in his (or, rarely, her), listening room and, perhaps equally, savoring the fine equipment he or she has acquired.
 

Ron Texas

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Took a lot of words but the message is basic. Audiophilia isn't about "high fidelity sound", i.e. it's not about recreating in its original venue the original performance. It's about the sound the audiophile enjoys best in his (or, rarely, her), listening room and, perhaps equally, savoring the fine equipment he or she has acquired.

That's one way to put it. There's a lot of irrational behavior out there.
 

Harmonie

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I'm missing the yawning smile for that video, sorry.
 

Newman

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Took a lot of words but the message is basic. Audiophilia isn't about "high fidelity sound", i.e. it's not about recreating in its original venue the original performance. It's about the sound the audiophile enjoys best in his (or, rarely, her), listening room and, perhaps equally, savoring the fine equipment he or she has acquired.
I was afraid you were going to say that.
 

thefsb

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Took a lot of words but the message is basic. Audiophilia isn't about "high fidelity sound", i.e. it's not about recreating in its original venue the original performance. It's about the sound the audiophile enjoys best in his (or, rarely, her), listening room and, perhaps equally, savoring the fine equipment he or she has acquired.
Nothing about enjoying music?

I like ASR because it makes it easier for me to enjoy recorded music without being corrupted by audiophilia.
 

Gorgonzola

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Nothing about enjoying music?

I like ASR because it makes it easier for me to enjoy recorded music without being corrupted by audiophilia.
Well most audiophiles enjoy music but enjoying the music isn't the essence of "audiophilia". I'm acquainted with lots of music lovers who a quite content with a "compact" stereo system. Meanwhile I know lots of audiophiles who have very pedestrian musical tastes.
 

thefsb

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Well most audiophiles enjoy music but enjoying the music isn't the essence of "audiophilia". I'm acquainted with lots of music lovers who a quite content with a "compact" stereo system. Meanwhile I know lots of audiophiles who have very pedestrian musical tastes.
If the music is good, I'll enjoy it on whatever equipment there is.

At home, while the stereo in the living room isn't cheap, it's the musical instruments and equipment in other rooms that represent the unlikelihood of retirement.
 

MediumRare

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What are the speakers in the title card and does he discuss them?
 

Blaspheme

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Took a lot of words but the message is basic. Audiophilia isn't about "high fidelity sound", i.e. it's not about recreating in its original venue the original performance. It's about the sound the audiophile enjoys best in his (or, rarely, her), listening room and, perhaps equally, savoring the fine equipment he or she has acquired.
Good description, I think (but I got more from it, see below).

I recognise them as the Avante Garde Trio with matching subwoofer.
Yes. I do enjoy the appearance of that speaker combination, spoiled just a bit in this case by the other equipment in the way. They'd be fun to hear, I expect. Not on my actual shopping list though—perhaps good for one of the country houses that I don't have. :)

The blue ceramic object reminded me of the idea of using those as Helmholtz resonators to tune the room. I'd be commissioning matching pottery after acoustic analysis, certainly—were I (more) idle and (at all) rich.

Anyway, I'd better run through the video ...

Edit: ~ 20 minutes later, yes it covers familiar ground, but does so comprehensively. I don't have a problem with words—I enjoy them, or their potential—usually. I did art, philosophy and law early on before venturing into science (ecology—so systems, more than individuals per the video at 13:50) so I'm used to that sort of thing. Thanks for posting, this piece can also serve me as a nice counter to the sometimes clumsy, angsty gibberish that fills the space between the graphs (and spills over onto them) in the reviews here. Some detail was new as well: I found Johnson's stuff from 18:00 pretty good, and Langer at 19:20 after that.
 
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thefsb

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Good description, I think.
Partly.

I have unsuccessfully argued here in the past that the fidelity/transparency ideal is doomed and I'm grateful that he easily dismissed that nonsense.

It's in the last 3 minutes, from about 18:00 on that it gets interesting. The punchline, that it all leads up to, is:

The transmission theory of music, the one which aims at a neutral, transparent conveyance of the original reality, sees each element in this sequence atomically, connected contingently, but on a model premised on continuity elements in sequences have heuristic reality only. They are more profitably understood as interdependent and co-constitutive.

Do you have any idea what this means? I do not.

Also, the quote from Adorno, "Mediation is in the object itself, not something between the object and that to which it is brought." Uh duh! What kind of dunce would think otherwise. When you listen to a Glenn Gould, or Beatles, or Queen studio recording, what sort of object do you imagine you are listening to? Academic philosophy often seems to be a game of stating what we all know using words that seem clever. (The Malcolm Gladwell effect.)

Idk.

The professor claims that taking ontology seriously in this context is key. I disagree. I can't think of a domain in which ontology is less relevant.

And I am amazed that he avoids the moral dimension. If you pay attention, even here on ASR, you'll see people saying that such and such should be sued or criminally prosecuted for selling some magick for lots of money. It fascinates me that ASR participants care so much about the consumer rights of wealthy people with expensive hobbies being swindled out of a few dollars while (choose your serious injustice) is happening in the real world.

And I can't imagine evening approaching this topic as a hard-nosed American philosopher without first defining terms: wtf is music?

Sorry. He kinda pissed me off when he at the end asked for comments and then closed youtube comments.
 

Blaspheme

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Yes: I'll get back to this, unfortunately working just now.
 

Chrispy

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Took a lot of words but the message is basic. Audiophilia isn't about "high fidelity sound", i.e. it's not about recreating in its original venue the original performance. It's about the sound the audiophile enjoys best in his (or, rarely, her), listening room and, perhaps equally, savoring the fine equipment he or she has acquired.
You forgot abound fondling and gazing fondly on faceplates.....surely an audiophile adventure! :)
 

Vandemann

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Like wine, the best sounding system is the system you like the best. The more (and better) systems you listen to, the better the system sound you will consider as best.
 

Chrispy

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Like wine, the best sounding system is the system you like the best. The more (and better) systems you listen to, the better the system sound you will consider as best.

Or just the system you prefer despite how good it is in terms of accuracy, in audiophlia this is common.
 

Vandemann

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Or just the system you prefer despite how good it is in terms of accuracy, in audiophlia this is common.

Yes but, excluding perceptual differences in hearing, with enough exposure to accurate systems, or great wines, one should learn to prefer them.
 
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