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[kongwee]

I can enjoy 300B, vinyl and horn speakers. These are best things in audio.

 

[theREALdotnet]

It is time for the pushback. It is time to let people who actually love music, know, learn that good sound , accurate reproduction of music, does enhance the appreciation and enjoyment of music. And most importantly: no longer have to cost a lot.

While I agree with the sentiment as such I wonder why the time for pushback is now? Has it not always been time for pushback?

I’m not going to suggest that you’re young or new to HiFi, I’m waaay too new to this forum to be so bold. But consider this snippet:

People who buy high-priced, "exotic" audio equipment are more than ever in need of advice and protection. The high-end market has become a jungle, where rip-offs are possibly even more frequent than they used to be on the low end of the business years ago, in the primitive days of the hi-fi boom. Today, a $1500 power amplifier is more likely to be an overpriced piece of junk than a $300 receiver, which generally delivers decent value for the money. Price is no longer a meaningful indication of quality; it has become a marketing gimmick.

(emphasis mine).

This was written by the late great Peter Aczel, in Vol. 1 No. 1 of ”The Audio Critic”, Jan/Feb 1977. As you see, this battle has been raging for decades and, considering that the voice of reason has made no inroads into suppressing the nonsense peddlers, appears to be an uphill one.

 

[CinDyment]

One word: Drivel

 

[prerich]

We need to lay off these guys. They are entirely conscious of what they are doing. Peak cynicism. They are selling wares and if they don't push a bit more on the marketing/propaganda, the sector that sustains them will disappear ( not that it won't .. regardless).
Let's look quietly at the High Fidelity landscape for a few mins:
DAC are commodities,: My favorite exemple is the Apple dongle at $9.00 being virtually undistinguishable, even superior to a $15,000 DAC "audiophile DAC
Commodity-level availability of ultra-high-performance (power, THD, IM, effciiency, etc) Class D amplifer modules. Now it is no longer an issue to design a high performance amp.. Rather of knowing how to properly assemble, readily available modules in readily available cases... For marketing, you may need to address S'Phile and its competition.. .
Transducers could have been an area of specialization.. alas, there again , routinely , $300 monitors do challenge High End audiophile darlings... and the buzz is on: people seem to know about it. And the assault is not only from the usual or pro shops , it's coming from ... gasp... .eek.. the Lifestyle sector, I have heard so many Sonos-based system that would wipe the floor with many expensive audiophile shrines.. Seriously asking the question: For those who have heard the famous LS 3/5A.. Would a pair of these so-beloved speakers, in the same well treated room, sound better than a pair of Sonos 5? .. damn even a Sonos ARC Soundbar?

....

To conclude. Which systems is, in your opinions, likely to sound better:

This:

or

that...

?

Peace.

Depends on the health of my personal equipment...my own ears. The bottom one will measure better all day long, however, if my own hearing is defective - we dive back into the muck of subjectivity. Science proves and measurements show. Science tells me the Mariana Trench is the deepest place on the earth - but can I experience it at all? Just like these two systems....the Dutch & Dutch 8's are a superior speaker system, but if my ears are damaged, can I tell the difference...can I experience it? To be truly scientific, we need all accumulative data including our hearing diagnosis.