Steve Guttenberg - Audiophiliac

[magicscreen]

Top 10 rules for audiophiles
The second rule is very important. I have learned it the hard way

 

[audiopile]

Always keep in mind -this is a hobby/obsession -it is NOT anywhere near to tissue matching for organ transplantation. Keep it in perspective and once you've made your point -stop. All of us have started out reading a thread topic that at some point on some forum turns into being mostly a "your mother wears tennis shoes" exchange -the thread gets longer and longer and becomes pretty much information-less .

 

[SIY]

All of us have started out reading a thread topic that at some point on some forum turns into being mostly a "your mother wears tennis shoes" exchange...

That begs the question of what your mother actually does wear.

 

[bloodshoteyed]

Good post.

I quite like Sean from Zero Fidelity. He's fairly honest.

S.

(right up to 10:15)

i did like him before, but this earned him some serious respect

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

I don't know...there's some assumptions in there that kinda bug me. I mean the DBR-62 are an affordable speaker that performs and measures excellently - every bit as well as speakers costing way more. Why is that a speaker "aimed at joe blow and his crummy component system" rather than an "audiophile" speaker? It really sounds like he's saying the DBR62 is a bland, inoffensive speaker that any dummy can plop down and get good sound out of. In some sense that may be true, but there's an implication that it isn't for "real" audiophiles...which is ridiculous. Great sound is great sound.

 

[richard12511]

I don't know...there's some assumptions in there that kinda bug me. I mean the DBR-62 are an affordable speaker that performs and measures excellently - every bit as well as speakers costing way more. Why is that a speaker "aimed at joe blow and his crummy component system" rather than an "audiophile" speaker? It really sounds like he's saying the DBR62 is a bland, inoffensive speaker that any dummy can plop down and get good sound out of. In some sense that may be true, but there's an implication that it isn't for "real" audiophiles...which is ridiculous. Great sound is great sound.

Placebo tells him that a cheap speaker can't possibly sound as "audiophile" as a more expensive speaker.

This is the same guy that talks about the sound qualities of cables, or certain DACs being "on the warmer side of neutral". He even got into a bit of a bit of a disagreement with a DAC manufacturer of a DAC for which he gave exorbitant praise. He gave the DAC huge praise based on the fact that it was * warm and very musical and made all recordings sound great, etc. The manufacturer replied saying something like "while we appreciate the praise, our DACs are not warm, they're 100% neutral to well beyond the limits of human hearing", to which he disagreed again.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

Yeah, there's an implication that the DBR62 being a well-behaved speaker that fits easily into most rooms somehow makes it a "generic" speaker and is a point against it as far as attaining audiophile status. Which is dumb, since it's the fact that it's a well-designed speaker (born out by it's excellent measurements) that allows it to be so well-behaved. There's a weird "snobbishness" going on there...

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

this guy! lol

 

[Cbdb2]

Well at least the first thing they tell you is its sponsered by Technics. I wish the reveiwers told us who was paying them. Does a crisp $1000 bill in the manual raise the made up score by a few points? When every cable review is made up BS who would know the differnce? There all shills for over priced voodo.

 

[ta240]

this guy! lol

Often, with his reviews, I can't escape the feeling like he is talking to a small child rather than an adult.

 

[MattHooper]

this guy! lol

Not that there isn't anything to "LOL" about, but what specifically made you LOL about That Guy or the video?

Personally, I was ready to criticise the video if he was going tow the idea that vinyl is technically superior to digital. But he didn't. So I was ok with that. Not a fan of advertisements that blur the edges of a review. But then it's stated up front it's sponsored by Techniques and presented as an equipment walk through. And in that sense, I found the video quite nice to watch. Nice eye candy, fun to hear the features.

 

[richard12511]

Not that there isn't anything to "LOL" about, but what specifically made you LOL about That Guy or the video?

Personally, I was ready to criticise the video if he was going tow the idea that vinyl is technically superior to digital. But he didn't. So I was ok with that. Not a fan of advertisements that blur the edges of a review. But then it's stated up front it's sponsored by Techniques and presented as an equipment walk through. And in that sense, I found the video quite nice to watch. Nice eye candy, fun to hear the features.

He does say that Dangerous sounded better - to him - than the same Hi-Rez version he has. Very explainable by placebo, though, so no big deal, imo.

 

[ferrellms]

What do you guys make of Steve?

I could be wrong. Didn't he once say in one of his videos, that measurements are meaningless?

I don't know about you lot. But I've noticed on every video review Steve always likes and praises the product. Hardly ever seen a negative review come out of him.

S.

Since you asked, I've always considered him an idiot not worth paying attention to.

 

[MattHooper]

He does say that Dangerous sounded better - to him - than the same Hi-Rez version he has. Very explainable by placebo, though, so no big deal, imo.

Oh. Ok.

I have no problem with him saying Dangerous sounded better to him. May be bias. May be the case. I've heard plenty of vinyl versions that I preferred to the digital. (In fact I just picked one up: the re-master of a Van Halen album on vinyl. It's blowing my mind how good it sounds,where I was actually a little disappointed from the Tidal stream digital version).

 

[Southall-1998]

Since you asked, I've always considered him an idiot not worth paying attention to.

You certainly have the balls to speak your mind. I'm impressed!

S.

 

[MattHooper]

Often, with his reviews, I can't escape the feeling like he is talking to a small child rather than an adult.

Ha! So true. I knew there was something rubbing me the wrong way and you nailed it.

Actually, that characterization is in line with a number of other video reviewers. Darko always has a deeply puzzled/aggravated look like you are his girlfriend and he just can't believe he has to explain this to you AGAIN. Zero Fidelity seems like a good guy, but his "tell it like it is" routine gets a bit old and...again...though he seems like a good dude, the permanent smirk always reminds me of this Onion classic:

https://local.theonion.com/man-born-with-face-you-just-want-to-punch-1819595092

(Again, these are just havin' fun pot shots from the peanut gallery and I'm sure, from my perspective, I could have a very good conversation with any of these guys about audio).

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Since you asked, I've always considered him an idiot not worth paying attention to.

Its entertainment, meant to keep the mill of audiophilia alive and profitable. All special interests do it - I'm sure stamp collecting does it, or sewer pipe collecting, or spark plug collecting (that's a real thing___).....

 

[egellings]

I think you never hear a review to the tune of "this amplifier sounds like "sh**." because the product sample provider would yank the product and not permit the review to be published under pain of defamatory lawsuit.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

Often, with his reviews, I can't escape the feeling like he is talking to a small child rather than an adult.

Exactly.

And the "coquettish" smile at 7:07 is pretty aggravating! "But it's not a review." lol

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

Not that there isn't anything to "LOL" about, but what specifically made you LOL about That Guy or the video?

Personally, I was ready to criticise the video if he was going tow the idea that vinyl is technically superior to digital. But he didn't. So I was ok with that. Not a fan of advertisements that blur the edges of a review. But then it's stated up front it's sponsored by Techniques and presented as an equipment walk through. And in that sense, I found the video quite nice to watch. Nice eye candy, fun to hear the features.

well, he does suggest that through the "special" system he refers to vinyl playback rivals "some of the best" digital hi-res systems he's heard. But it's really mostly his general demeanor (fatherly smugness?) that gets me...