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Snobbery in Hi-Fi. Why are people so stupid and turn their noses up at gear costing much less which is just as good?

Well there's a novel perspective. We're done now, I guess.
 
HiFi is for enjoyment in my view. If
getting lost in the details or the dogma gives you pleasure wherever you sit in the debate then why not but certainly not worth all the anger, hatred and vitriol.
 
To 'enjoy' a thing you have to experience it first, no? For audio gear, that usually means listening to it (though I imagine one could 'enjoy' what it looks like in a picture, and buy it on that basis). To know which thing you'd 'enjoy' most, you'd have to experience a bunch of the things, no?

Is that your thesis? Or is it, 'buy the first thing you enjoy'?

In any case, if either of those are your thesis, why bother reading a site devoted to objective evaluation of audio performance? Anthropological interest?
 
There’s a ton of truth here about pretentious/look at me, buying.

But there’s also a perfectly valid reason for some expensive stuff.

It looks good.

Ugly pro monitors, as an example, are not a possible buy for many, despite any excellence, just because they look utilitarian (to be polite).

To use me as an example, if I only had the cash, I’d buy Dynaudio’s Confidence 20A’s in a flash.

They are (allegedly) superb. And also gorgeous.

I’d also love a pair of Kef Blade 2 meta’s.

Hardly cheap; though they also measure superbly, so I’m not sure they count.
 
Again, back to Veblen.

There are people that prioritize STATUS. They "enjoy" spending their money to simply be perceived as wealthier than most.

How it looks may be irrelevant from an aesthetics POV, so long as it gives the vibe "I have silly money".

How it actually functions is right down at the bottom of their priorities list, in fact to even discuss that aspect is too plebian for them.

Yes this is an extreme illustration, but the "evil science" of marketing is usually striving to use its propaganda techniques to bypass buyers' rationality.

At a more prosaic level, maximising utility-value for money is HARD, takes a lot of time / energy, and specialised knowledge - 99% of buyers just use "brand reputation" as a proxy stand-in to make life easy.
 
I really like these, but then I am shallow and a bit of a goblin...

Gold speakers.jpg
 
krabapple said:
To 'enjoy' a thing you have to experience it first, no? For audio gear, that usually means listening to it (though I imagine one could 'enjoy' what it looks like in a picture, and buy it on that basis). To know which thing you'd 'enjoy' most, you'd have to experience a bunch of the things, no?
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You weren't asking me but I want to answer anyway :>

Yes. Good audio gear gets itself out of the way of my music listening and enjoyment of the music. If it is doing that well then I need to consciously make a shift in my point of view to pay attention to the sound and the audio equipment. Bad sound draws attention to itself and therefore to the equipment while good sound doesn't. For this reason the advice to buy what you enjoy is harder to follow than it is with, say, jewellery.
 
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Multicore said:
No. Good audio gear gets itself out of the way of my music listening and enjoyment of the music. If it is doing that well then I need to consciously make a shift in my point of view to pay attention to the sound and the audio equipment. Bad sound draws attention to itself and therefore to the equipment while good sound doesn't. For this reason the advice to buy what you enjoy is harder to follow than it is with, say, jewellery.
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Your answer reads like a 'Yes' to my post...but you start it with 'No'.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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Paul7777x said:
Ugly pro monitors, as an example, are not a possible buy for many, despite any excellence, just because they look utilitarian (to be polite).
Click to expand...
They usually sound very good though.
 
Westsounds said:
They usually sound very good though.
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Sorry, for me, the wonderful sound for my ears must be combined with nice (to me) aesthetics that please my eyes.
Which is also a reason that I am on this site.
To find items that sound great, yet look good. Sound is THE PRIMARY reason, with aesthetics being secondary.
If it sounds great but looks like hell warmed over, it's a no go for me.
Because my perception of visual annoyance and disruption will enter the sound field, and kill it for me.
Therefore, the sound gear must look reasonably good, for the sound to be perceived as great (if it is great) by me.
 
EJ3 said:
Sorry, for me, the wonderful sound for my ears must be combined with nice (to me) aesthetics that please my eyes.
Which is also a reason that I am on this site.
To find items that sound great, yet look good. Sound is THE PRIMARY reason, with aesthetics being secondary.
If it sounds great but looks like hell warmed over, it's a no go for me.
Because my perception of visual annoyance and disruption will enter the sound field, and kill it for me.
Therefore, the sound gear must look reasonably good, for the sound to be perceived as great (if it is great) by me.
Click to expand...
I'm the same. Industrial design is a big part of the hobby for me, and is usually a deciding factor.
 
Just to consider. I can buy a chair from IKEA or from a master craftsman. Both function nicely. My ass is comfortable. Which one are you giving your kids? There is a problem with just chunking out crap into a landfill with a ****** DAC that measures 2 SINAD more.
 
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EJ3 said:
Sorry, for me, the wonderful sound for my ears must be combined with nice (to me) aesthetics that please my eyes.
Which is also a reason that I am on this site.
To find items that sound great, yet look good. Sound is THE PRIMARY reason, with aesthetics being secondary.
If it sounds great but looks like hell warmed over, it's a no go for me.
Because my perception of visual annoyance and disruption will enter the sound field, and kill it for me.
Therefore, the sound gear must look reasonably good, for the sound to be perceived as great (if it is great) by me.
Click to expand...
You're a snob :D No, I totally understand. I don't want two phone boxes or washing machine'sce appliances taking over my living space either, even if nothing else sounds quite like them, as you say aesthetics play a big part of what you listen to as well. Most of us don't have the luxury of our audio hidden behind an invisible screen, or dont really care what it looks like, it unfortunately plays a part in our sonic picture, and our lifestyle settings.
 
speakers being the worst culprit as well, the front end and amplifier have much less of a visual impact when it comes to sound I find. Electronics seem to be getting better, more powerful and small and smaller as tech advances.
 
DMill said:
Just to consider. I can buy a chair from IKEA or from a master craftsman. Both function nicely. My ass is comfortable. Which one are you giving your kids? There is a problem with just chunking out crap into a landfill with a ****** DAC that measures 2 SINAD more.
Click to expand...

1) what kids?
2) you are making assumptions about DACs' lifespans. I don't know if your assumptions are right or wrong, but I do know that you are making them without enough evidence to meaningfully substantiate them.
 
Oddball said:
I really like these, but then I am shallow and a bit of a goblin...

View attachment 522777
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Tony Montana's system if he had lived long enough to buy one...

Jcrow said:
I'm the same. Industrial design is a big part of the hobby for me, and is usually a deciding factor.
Click to expand...
Aesthetics are an overriding factor for everyone, not just some people. People who say they don't care just haven't been confronted with a hard choice between specs they like and a look they hate, and happen to be happy with unremarkable-looking gear. I find the "I don't care about aesthetics" people actually get super angry when you propose they engage with a strong aesthetic direction they don't understand. You will never catch them listening to Genelecs with Hello Kitty paint jobs. It's not that they don't care, they're just most (sometimes only) comfortable with plain / utilitarian gear.

There may be people who genuinely don't care, but I haven't run into them.
 
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I believe that we should never forget that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I believe that the emphasis here is mainly on the appearance of the speakers.
To me, some speakers are so over designed for the sole purpose to impress and with no specific sound benefits, that even if I had the funds I would never buy any of them.
There are numerous examples of that concept - speakers costing over six figures, looking exotic and expensive and having mediocre measurement.
 
And why shouldn’t good quality ( not necessarily expensive) gear look a bit appealing?
It’s usually on display to some extent, completely so in the case of speakers.
Probably comes down to how far you want to take it.
 
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