Hi,
you have also possibly noticed that the audiophiles (who I have recently started calling retro-audiophiles) don't like multichannel music reproduction at all. The English Hifi News is a good example of the kind of stupid attitude. But they still sometimes test and compare iPOD to other MP3 players that to me is somewhat weird ... but maybe they wan't to look up to date to the general public ... and multichannel is not in.
Only Stereophile's Kalman Rubinsson is taking this seriously.
The Swedish Hifi&Music also took up multichannel in one issue (the excellent Swedish multichannel record companies BIS and Opus3 have shown their capabilities lately) but after making a reader inquiry they found out that stories about multichannel are not expected ... so that possibly was the end of that interest.
German Stereoplay has no interest in mc but Audio has at least installed some equipment to their readers for equipment comparison. Audio is not clealy showing interest in mc but you can read their passive enthusiasm in the articles. And Audio even had a section for SACD and DVD-A record critisism but now it seems to be gone ....
So what is wrong?
The most active audiophiles are retroaudiophiles that hate CD, digital audio in general and want to go back to the golden 70es and their youth. Extremely conservative gang that controls opionions of those younger audiophiles that for some strange reason have taken up hifi as their hobby.
How do I detect a retroaudiophile:
1. He/she typically hates
. CD and all digital audio ... sometimes SACD is OK
. multichannel audio
. active loudspeakers
2. He/she typical thinks that
. cables are one of the most important factors of audio reproduction
. there are magic tools that can improve audio reproduction of equipment (like mats under your equipment or Golden Sound DH Cones, Squares, and Pads that even Ken K recommended in Hifi News one year ago).
. when the equipment costs outrageously much it cannot be bad
. I have "golden ears" that are better than average ears (and can sometimes detect even ultrasonics)
. mass market products are inherently poor
. tube amplifiers rule
And typically he/she does not understand much about acoustics, mechanics, signal processing, electronics design etc. at all.
Well ... this actually also goes very well with the market situation that is changing all the time and
. outrageously priced items produce high margings for manufacturers and sales chain (even if the quantities are small)
. there is something to write about for the papers (if all properly designed amplifiers would sound the same, Atkinson would not have anything to write about)
. small European and Chinese manufacturers have nische market for their products.
best regards to you all,
Esa
PS. sometimes it even seems to me that High End is about worshiping all sorts of audio anomalies ...
you have also possibly noticed that the audiophiles (who I have recently started calling retro-audiophiles) don't like multichannel music reproduction at all. The English Hifi News is a good example of the kind of stupid attitude. But they still sometimes test and compare iPOD to other MP3 players that to me is somewhat weird ... but maybe they wan't to look up to date to the general public ... and multichannel is not in.
Only Stereophile's Kalman Rubinsson is taking this seriously.
The Swedish Hifi&Music also took up multichannel in one issue (the excellent Swedish multichannel record companies BIS and Opus3 have shown their capabilities lately) but after making a reader inquiry they found out that stories about multichannel are not expected ... so that possibly was the end of that interest.
German Stereoplay has no interest in mc but Audio has at least installed some equipment to their readers for equipment comparison. Audio is not clealy showing interest in mc but you can read their passive enthusiasm in the articles. And Audio even had a section for SACD and DVD-A record critisism but now it seems to be gone ....
So what is wrong?
The most active audiophiles are retroaudiophiles that hate CD, digital audio in general and want to go back to the golden 70es and their youth. Extremely conservative gang that controls opionions of those younger audiophiles that for some strange reason have taken up hifi as their hobby.
How do I detect a retroaudiophile:
1. He/she typically hates
. CD and all digital audio ... sometimes SACD is OK
. multichannel audio
. active loudspeakers
2. He/she typical thinks that
. cables are one of the most important factors of audio reproduction
. there are magic tools that can improve audio reproduction of equipment (like mats under your equipment or Golden Sound DH Cones, Squares, and Pads that even Ken K recommended in Hifi News one year ago).
. when the equipment costs outrageously much it cannot be bad
. I have "golden ears" that are better than average ears (and can sometimes detect even ultrasonics)
. mass market products are inherently poor
. tube amplifiers rule
And typically he/she does not understand much about acoustics, mechanics, signal processing, electronics design etc. at all.
Well ... this actually also goes very well with the market situation that is changing all the time and
. outrageously priced items produce high margings for manufacturers and sales chain (even if the quantities are small)
. there is something to write about for the papers (if all properly designed amplifiers would sound the same, Atkinson would not have anything to write about)
. small European and Chinese manufacturers have nische market for their products.
best regards to you all,
Esa
PS. sometimes it even seems to me that High End is about worshiping all sorts of audio anomalies ...