I hears them recently and felt they sounded very metalic, plus I find them really ugly, they remind me of the round windows you see on big boats!
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Quebec audiophile shows off his new Hi-Fi system, very expensive set up
- Thread starter BobbyTimmons
- Start date
Why advertise all your stuff like that? Vanity, I guess!
It is made with unobtenium from the planet Rippum!
That’s why I did buy Revel what were they thinking with those white drivers?
That’s why I stopped reading any of the rags such as Stereophile, Absolute Sound, What Hifi and all other paid by advertisers years ago they promote snake oil!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.
Multicore
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It's what he does. Check out the YouTube channel, stats and comments.
Nah not interested! Already waisted to much time in this thread!
OP
BobbyTimmons
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- Thread Starter
- #388
They could sound wrong to you and me while sounding right to him and other B&W 801 D4 Signature customers.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.
If he was a producer we could say not completely neutral speakers are "wrong". The same music wouldn't transfer to other speakers. As a consumer the idea of right and wrong doesn't make sense and it's probably elevated treble which sells them. Look at the electronic music he demos with female vocals.
My theory of speakers is that bad speakers sound wrong to everyone. Even the owners. It's just that the owners blame something other than their loudspeakers for why so many recordings sound bad.
Usually they blame the recording but other options are:
needs more burn in,
mains quality,
cables,
lack of synergy
not got enough foo products in the system yet.
See also: 'Zu'.
I watched the guy's video several times. Here's my take:
- Is his audio system good enough?
- I think it most certainly is.
- Could he have done better for the money?
- Yes he could have.
- Could he have achieved the same level of sonic bliss with less money?
- Definitely.
In my view there are quite a few indications that he doesn't really know what he is doing other than showing off. I would surely not call him an "audiophile". No "audiophile" would spend that much money just to stream music. No analog source? No music collection?
Please watch the video below to get an idea of the extremities "audiophiles" go to in order to achieve "the perfect sound". These are true stories from members of the Audiophile Club of Athens (Greece), filmed in March 2006 by Ken Barnes.
All in all, I am happy for the Quebec audiophile that he was able to achieve his dream system (assuming the video is a true story ...). It's a pretty decent system he has put together. And at least he made sure he had his room treated properly. Or perhaps the store offered it to him for free, after all the money he spent.
But I seriously doubt he is the type of person to sit down and listen to and enjoy music.
I hope I am wrong.
GS
- Is his audio system good enough?
- I think it most certainly is.
- Could he have done better for the money?
- Yes he could have.
- Could he have achieved the same level of sonic bliss with less money?
- Definitely.
In my view there are quite a few indications that he doesn't really know what he is doing other than showing off. I would surely not call him an "audiophile". No "audiophile" would spend that much money just to stream music. No analog source? No music collection?
Please watch the video below to get an idea of the extremities "audiophiles" go to in order to achieve "the perfect sound". These are true stories from members of the Audiophile Club of Athens (Greece), filmed in March 2006 by Ken Barnes.
All in all, I am happy for the Quebec audiophile that he was able to achieve his dream system (assuming the video is a true story ...). It's a pretty decent system he has put together. And at least he made sure he had his room treated properly. Or perhaps the store offered it to him for free, after all the money he spent.
But I seriously doubt he is the type of person to sit down and listen to and enjoy music.
I hope I am wrong.
GS
That's true to some extent. In the Harman/Dr. Toole research that established that people did prefer speakers with a flat spin, there was a percentage of the participant that preferred something else (don't remember exactly, 25%?). If someone prefers a different curve that's fine, assuming that person had at some point listen for a long period (the ears break-in period) a flat speaker.
Maybe some "warrior" can cry why they don't buy just because of the specs.
The problem is that you think he feels and thinks like you. He probably don't do that and changing X for a cheaper and "better" equipment will probably don't make him as happy as he is now. It don't matter if there is placebo or he gets a "better" measureble sound, he will most likely still prefer his original system.
You make an interesting point.
If you have two equally performing golf balls, some people will prefer the one that costs less because they are getting a great performing ball at a lower price. Some people will prefer the one with a Nike logo on it because they are not as concerned with price and like knowing it has a pedigree.
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But doesn’t the fact there are many happy Zu owners undermine your theory. I mean it just wouldn’t be true they are all unhappy. Far from it from what I’ve seen.
Happy New Year.
I don't see a "problem" as you put it. Obviously he doesn't have the same outlook on audio as I do. I never claimed he does. Apparently, he went to the store, flashed his credit card(s) and asked the salesman to put together the best system possible for his (huge) budget. And that is on top of an expensive home theatre system he already has!! Greed!
I am happy with his alleged "happiness". But I can't help wondering, when the "likes" on his youtube video stop, will he still be "happy"?
Other than that, I don't see a "problem". He is the one wasting his money, not me.
In any case, good for him, and so many others like him. If he ever sits down to enjoy music in his system, send me a postcard.
GS
Are there though? Do we have data? I don't want to pick on Zu especially (I know one unhappy owner but UK owners are rare).
To my mind someone 'Discovering how badly recorded most music is', is not in a happy place even if they don't know it yet.
Why do you assume he's happy? Are you projecting how you believe you might feel after throwing hundreds of thousands toward a symmetric pile of military-grade industrial audio objects?
This was posted by an influencer on a platform available to millions of viewers. For all we know he assembled this system for the sole purpose of increasing engagement on his YouTube channel. On this forum, I'm not surprised that people are highlighting the absurd price/performance ratio. It's Audio Science Review, not Audio Feelings Review.
Makes me wonder how this type of consumerism and display affects happiness. Perhaps there is some deeper wisdom to be gained there. Do luxury items generally make us happy for any sustainable amount of time? Probably not.
Brilliant. I'm stealing that bit.
