Quebec audiophile shows off his new Hi-Fi system, very expensive set up

[FrantzM]

So no one pays full ticket for the silly "HEA" wires? I'm NOT sure with all the sharpies that actually still want them that it matters much. Always wondered what the dealer's actual cost is with much of the audiophool supplies. Or are you saying it's the dealers actually "giving" them away the majority of the time, or is it their friends/family gifting them?

Well … Let's take the case of one cable which I believe the epitome of B.S/Snake OIl/Nonsense...
The Music Interface Technologies ACC 268 Articulation Control Console

It was "reviewed" by Robert Hartley , The Absolute Sound .... HERE Click here!!

This speaker cable cost in 2017, $80,000 Eighty Thousands of US Dollars .. Yes! You read it right! .. I suppose it cost a bit more today...

Suppose you are one of those customers... with wherewithal's .. You know you also bought from the same dealers some 100 Watts at >10% (Ten , yes! TEN %) THD and costing $350,000.ooo They do exist dear people.. Search for Wavac SET amplifiers on Google .. And of course these were reviewed by S'Phile... And said dealer gave you the speakers cable at a 40% discount ... You still paid $48,000 for a speaker cable (!!!) meanwhile The dealer had a 60% markup (Very common in HEA circles...) and made $16,000 on said cable ! The HEA'phile Is happy and proud, he, always a "he", goes around claiming on subjective forums that he never pays full MSRP, while garnering kudos and congrats for his supremely good system ... That is the kind of BS that is commonplace in the HEA ...

Thanks God we have ASR !!


Happy holidays!

Peace.

 

[Anton D]

I once worked for a retail audio store that sold high-end cables.

I was a good salesman and so I had the leverage to say to management, "I will sell these cables if someone specifically requests them, but I will never push them on someone". They were okay with that because I was putting up great numbers. If they weren't, I'd have quit.

There's an important distinction between someone who stocks a product because customers ask for it, and someone who pushes a product. Most retailers sell "high-end" cables because some customers expect them and won't think you're a serious vender if you don't have them. But that doesn't mean you have to fill people's heads with nonsense and upsell regular customers - then you're just a scumbag fleecing rubes.

The distinction between complicity and conspiracy?

Condoning vs. endorsing?

 

[Tangband]

Here's the FR of the loudspeakers he chose, they're not 'Technically good'. IME they're not euphonic either. They just sound a bit wrong:



Even if he stuck with these speakers and genuinely preferred them after long auditions with the massive amount of alternatives at that price or lower (which I bet he didn't do), he could still have spent a lot less on the cabling he chose which is like stuffing dollar bills down the grid.

The amplification could also have been just as good for a lot less - but I appreciate that he wanted the cool looks, which is fair enough.

The lack of baffle step correction is probably because those speakers are constructed for near wall placement. The evelated level 1-2 kHz is a stereosystem correction and the peak at 10 kHz is a good thing for buyers above the age of 50 who needs this peak.

So your statement that the speaker is flawed by design is false.

 

[Midwest Blade]

…what? No turntable, unbelievable.

In a certain way I feel sorry for these guys and their gear…but to each, his own.

 

[Mart68]

The lack of baffle step correction is probably because those speakers are constructed for near wall placement. The evelated level 1-2 kHz is a stereosystem correction and the peak at 10 kHz is a good thing for buyers above the age of 50 who needs this peak.

So your statement that the speaker is flawed by design is false.

if I was going to design a speaker for use against a wall its FR would not look like that.

I would not limit my market to 'buyers over 50' and I doubt B&W do either.

IME there's no case where a lift in the 1-3Khz area is a desirable response in a speaker.

You are correct that the design is entirely intentional - it's designed for showroom appeal not for long term satisfaction.

 

[fpitas]

The evelated level 1-2 kHz is a stereosystem correction

If you did that with your stereo system, it starts to explain why stereo sounds bad to you.

 

[fpitas]

I would not limit my market to 'buyers over 50' and I doubt B&W do either.

I have to wonder if that is even true, that "old guys want rising treble". I'm 70 and I don't, and I can't recall meeting someone who enjoys that.

 

[Sokel]

I have to wonder if that is even true, that "old guys want rising treble". I'm 70 and I don't, and I can't recall meeting someone who enjoys that.

I'm close to 55 and rising highs (specially the 2-4Khz stuff) is not only undesirable by preference,it can literally give me an instant round physical headache after 5-10 min of listening,let alone during a whole play (some last up to 8 hours! )

 

[fpitas]

I'm close to 55 and rising highs (specially the 2-4Khz stuff) is not only undesirable by preference,it can literally give me an instant round physical headache after 5-10 min of listening,let alone during a whole play (some last up to 8 hours! )

My experience, too. I very carefully sculpt the horn nice and flat.

 

[JustJones]

Peak at 10khz would work for me since I have an age induced shelf filter there. The 2-4khz no thanks.

 

[Doodski]

I have to wonder if that is even true, that "old guys want rising treble". I'm 70 and I don't, and I can't recall meeting someone who enjoys that.

Rising like this?

 

[fpitas]

Rising like this?
View attachment 337741

Yeah, or even just the rise we see with so many high-end speakers, where the wiggling and waviness head generally upwards. It's an internet cliche that us old guys crave that kind of thing, but I smell a rat.

 

[Doodski]

Yeah, or even just the rise we see with so many high-end speakers, where the wiggling and waviness head generally upwards. It's an internet cliche that us old guys crave that kind of thing, but I smell a rat.

I find live music to have enough highs and mids but recorded music does not have the snap and pop of a live performance so I raise the highs and lower the bass that can't be reproduced by speakers or headphones. I have been using this sort of radical treble EQ tweak since a teen.

 

[fpitas]

I find live music to have enough highs and mids but recorded music does not have the snap and pop of a live performance so I raise the highs and lower the bass that can't be reproduced by speakers or headphones. I have been using this sort of radical treble EQ tweak since a teen.

Well, everybody likes the tonality a little different. Sounds like you have always liked treble.

 

[Mart68]

I have to wonder if that is even true, that "old guys want rising treble". I'm 70 and I don't, and I can't recall meeting someone who enjoys that.

55 and I don't want it. I don't want that lift up around 10Khz - the 'air and space' area - either

That's not unpleasant but it sounds false to me.

 

[Doodski]

Well, everybody likes the tonality a little different. Sounds like you have always liked treble.

Oh yeah I love a good sizzle and burn in the horns and a nice metal sound on the cymbals and stuff like that. Peeps have pulled me aside a couple of times and advised me that I like it really bright sounding.

 

[JustJones]

I don't listen to peeps, they're always cackling about something

 

[Chrispy]

Well … Let's take the case of one cable which I believe the epitome of B.S/Snake OIl/Nonsense...
The Music Interface Technologies ACC 268 Articulation Control Console

It was "reviewed" by Robert Hartley , The Absolute Sound .... HERE Click here!!

This speaker cable cost in 2017, $80,000 Eighty Thousands of US Dollars .. Yes! You read it right! .. I suppose it cost a bit more today...

Suppose you are one of those customers... with wherewithal's .. You know you also bought from the same dealers some 100 Watts at >10% (Ten , yes! TEN %) THD and costing $350,000.ooo They do exist dear people.. Search for Wavac SET amplifiers on Google .. And of course these were reviewed by S'Phile... And said dealer gave you the speakers cable at a 40% discount ... You still paid $48,000 for a speaker cable (!!!) meanwhile The dealer had a 60% markup (Very common in HEA circles...) and made $16,000 on said cable ! The HEA'phile Is happy and proud, he, always a "he", goes around claiming on subjective forums that he never pays full MSRP, while garnering kudos and congrats for his supremely good system ... That is the kind of BS that is commonplace in the HEA ...

Thanks God we have ASR !!


Happy holidays!

Peace.

Oh MIT is one of my favorite bs companies. Somewhat familiar with them, a guy I know designed a box they hotglue the silly extra components into; the MIT guy himself apparently was from an automobile repair business. (transmissions were the specialty IIRC, not detailing).

 

[Sokel]

Through a holistic non-engineering perspective,I always have in mind that the oldest piece of jewelry archeology has unearthed dates back to 70.000 years (still humanoids) .
Vanity is stronger than sex and money combined,the sooner we understand that the better and there various ways to show it.

And it makes no difference if you show it through been smart or simply by been successful,the core is the same and is en-printed to our DNA as it seems.
So...

 

[FrantzM]

The lack of baffle step correction is probably because those speakers are constructed for near wall placement. The evelated level 1-2 kHz is a stereosystem correction and the peak at 10 kHz is a good thing for buyers above the age of 50 who needs this peak.

So your statement that the speaker is flawed by design is false.

Hi

Picking at you a bit:
« Real Instruments » just are real and don’t play any « elevated level ». If a good recording were to be played any frequency range, in an elevated fashion, let alone the 1 to 2 KHz region where the ears are very sensitive, regardless of age, would result in the well recorded « real I instruments » … not sounding « real » and this, consistently. A speaker that presents this trait, would be by that definition, not hifi. Design flaw in my book, perhaps yours if you think about it.

Happy holidays!

Peace.