The Audiophiliac took his vitamins today!

[don'ttrustauthority]

Steve Guttenberg is a 'former' salesperson of audio gear to the upper tier consumer market in NYC.

I think Steve's taste in gear is way off. To me, Klipsch loudspeakers sound busy and colored, but Steve loves them. He also likes the Buchardt s400 that Amir reviewed here favorably, and is a completely different sound. And he hears tones in amplifiers and dacs and PREAMPS?!? I can't imagine I'd ever even want to.

So why do I regularly (well, occasionally) watch the Audiophiliac? Because Steve attends recording sessions frequently, as well as attending live music concerts close in sound to much of the music he listens to at home. So when he compares how equipment sounds compared to how it sounded live, I know that he has the background to know what this means.

AmirM is familiar with Chesky Records and these are high quality, binaural recordings of jazz made especially for headphones that give a good source to show off your gear to friends. Sometimes these sessions are recorded with a private audience present to enliven the atmosphere and deaden the room (mostly deaden the room but don't tell the people they're cheaper than fiberglass).

Binaural means it was recorded with the microphones placed where your ears are, but pointing out I think.

Anyway, that's what I get out of his recordings. A guy who heard the records being made, listening to them on the gear I am interested in buying. It's a unique point of view and I'll take it.

 

[egellings]

Did not binaural recording use a dummy 'head' with mics placed in the head's ears?

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

I haven't been particularly impressed by most of the Chesky stuff I've heard. It mostly sounds like pretty oddly-mixed recordings. It's a dummy head and then the musicians are positioned around the head I believe, but of course since some of the instruments are considerably louder than others, they are situated further away from the head which maybe has something to do with it sounding weird.

As far as Steve G is concerned, it makes sense he'd like busy and colored speakers given his ears are over 70 years old and he probably barely hears above 10khz. lol...

 

[Ron Texas]

Steve is very entertaining, but I would not follow his recommendations.

 

[BinkieHuckerback]

Should very reviewer of audio gear declare their age and hearing abilities?

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

Should very reviewer of audio gear declare their age and hearing abilities?

Maybe. Particularly if they are going to claim to be able to hear the difference between interconnect cables

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Binaural recordings are typically made with a dummy head. I generally like Chesky recordings but to me they are the poster child for 'perfectly recorded music nobody wants to hear'.

Steve can be entertaining, but to me his schtick gets old and repetitive. Sometimes it seems like he makes the same video over and over again, just substituting the different names of the components.

 

[alex-z]

Should very reviewer of audio gear declare their age and hearing abilities?

If you are going to be a subjective reviewer, your hearing capability is second only to your writing ability. High frequency hearing loss with age is a well proven phenomenon that Steve hasn't escaped from.

As far as subjective reviewers go, he is my favorite because he will actually talk about music, but I don't take any of his recommendations at face value.

 

[Shanman]

So whom are people taking true stock in reviews? Zero Fidelity? New Record Day? Darko?

 

[Cahudson42]

The Amber Rubarth Chesky binaural vocal recordings might be worth a listen, if your tastes don't go for Chesky jazz

 

[Grumpish]

Should very reviewer of audio gear declare their age and hearing abilities?

Possibly. My hearing is rubbish now, bad enough to need hearing aids to be able to hear speech clearly. I prefer listening to music without them though and find a high shelf filter giving me around 9db lift above 2kHz works for me, although that would sound uncomfortably bright for anyone with good hearing.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

So whom are people taking true stock in reviews? Zero Fidelity? New Record Day? Darko?

Honestly? Almost nobody…although I do enjoy Alan and Oluv’s bluetooth speaker reviews.

I have no faith at all in any of the guys doing the traditional subjective audiophile reviewing…other than for basic form and function stuff of course

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

Possibly. My hearing is rubbish now, bad enough to need hearing aids to be able to hear speech clearly. I prefer listening to music without them though and find a high shelf filter giving me around 9db lift above 2kHz works for me, although that would sound uncomfortably bright for anyone with good hearing.

Yeah i’ve got my stuff set up with an aim towards neutrality and I haven’t boosted any areas of the frequency range and it sounds real good to me so I think my hearing is still fairly balanced at least but I top out at 14khz last time I checked.

 

[Chrispy]

FWIW I believe Guttenberg actually produced some music at Chesky once or twice. Doesn't mean I'd bother listening/watching/reading anything he has to say about audio gear....I find him quite annoying.

 

[Astrozombie]

He basically likes everything.................

 

[JJB70]

In the case of electronics at least liking everything is reasonable really. In almost all cases an honest review of DACs and amplifiers would be "it sounds fine, if you like the design and feature set and it has enough power, and if the price is OK for you then go ahead and buy it".

 

[don'ttrustauthority]

He basically likes everything.................

Oh, no. He does not publish reviews if he does not like the gear he auditions.

 

[Chromatischism]

I think Steve's taste in gear is way off. To me, Klipsch loudspeakers sound busy and colored, but Steve loves them. He also likes the Buchardt s400 that Amir reviewed here favorably, and is a completely different sound. And he hears tones in amplifiers and dacs and PREAMPS?!? I can't imagine I'd ever even want to.

As far as I'm aware, Steve has never reviewed a speaker or piece of gear he didn't like.

 

[Goodman]

I haven't been particularly impressed by most of the Chesky stuff I've heard. It mostly sounds like pretty oddly-mixed recordings. It's a dummy head and then the musicians are positioned around the head I believe, but of course since some of the instruments are considerably louder than others, they are situated further away from the head which maybe has something to do with it sounding weird.

As far as Steve G is concerned, it makes sense he'd like busy and colored speakers given his ears are over 70 years old and he probably barely hears above 10khz. lol...

Young people hear better but may not listen well or may not know what to listen for.

 

[Chrispy]

Young people hear better but may not listen well or may not know what to listen for.

Let alone develop the bullshitting skills Guttenberg has...