Has being an audiophile changed the way you view the quality of other things?

spiritofmusic

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I wanted to say something funny Folsom, but you beat me to it.
 

morricab

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So, the question is has being an audiophile changed how you feel the quality of other things in your life?

I believe I was quality obsessed before I became an audiophile, and it drove me to seek higher quality audio. In fact I argued with my electronics teacher who liked Bose, when I was in high school. And I'm always fascinated with the difference in quality with everything. That doesn't mean I always have the most expensive or think expensive always equals better. But I have noticed that audiophile gear quality of workmanship tends to be much higher than other things in life. And so I was wondering if has affected others to start viewing things that aren't audio as well?
Audio always catered to my observational and analytical skills (tools that have given me a successful scientific career) and translates to other fields where such general skills are valuable...as an analyst. It doesn’t turn me into someone who can translate it necessarily into action (like becoming a musician or artist). That said, it drives me to dig under the surface of things to understand them more fundamentally.
 
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jeff1225

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This is a great thread and I hope it keeps alive. Although I'm a dedicated audiophile, I believe the pricing in the hobby has gotten out of control and I fail to see the "value" of many of the new products.
 
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Folsom

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This is a great thread and I hope it keeps alive. Although I'm a dedicated audiophile, I believe the pricing in the hobby has gotten out of control and I fail to see the "value" of many of the new products.

Ok, but what about other products relative to their price? Say, if something is high quality does the price reflect a more in control command than audio products? I certainly believe you see the quality workmanship in the audio world, but I know little about how you look towards other items.
 

jeff1225

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Ok, but what about other products relative to their price? Say, if something is high quality does the price reflect a more in control command than audio products? I certainly believe you see the quality workmanship in the audio world, but I know little about how you look towards other items.
My brother in law just purchased a Porsche Taycan Turbo S, it is the most impressive car I've ever been in by a HUGE margin. It makes my Audi A7 look like a Honda. To think that you could buy 3 of these impressive cars for the price of a Wilson WAMM Master Chrono makes me laugh.

Now I know many will say "you have to think of the Wilson WAMM as functional art." I buy audio to listen to music, not to impress anyone or stare at the components.
 

Folsom

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My brother in law just purchased a Porsche Taycan Turbo S, it is the most impressive car I've ever been in by a HUGE margin. It makes my Audi A7 look like a Honda. To think that you could buy 3 of these impressive cars for the price of a Wilson WAMM Master Chrono makes me laugh.

Now I know many will say "you have to think of the Wilson WAMM as functional art." I buy audio to listen to music, not to impress anyone or stare at the components.

The efficiency of car manufacturing is pretty mind blowing. Does the quality of the Porsche or the features stand out compared to the Audi? Also I think these days a lot less profit is in the sale of the car.

When I look at the numbers for commercial products, it's just impossible to make electronics be really inexpensive. The parts add up fast, and then you also have either a lot of labor or a fair amount of labor and lots of expensive pre-process. We haven't come up with any solutions unless chain stores want to start purchasing by the hundreds of thousands. And like you, I do think about the relative cost compared to vehicles... You can get so much more mass of operation in any other direction (well, nearly).
 

BlueFox

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You can listen to a stereo 24/7, while a car sits idle most of the time. Comparing a car to a stereo is a very poor analogy.
 

jeff1225

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You can listen to a stereo 24/7, while a car sits idle most of the time. Comparing a car to a stereo is a very poor analogy.
What a strange comment. Let me see if i can try:

“When I’m at a restaurant I would never compare a steak dinner to a fish dinner, fish swim 24/7 and cows sit idle most of the time.”

How’d I do?
 

Zero000

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My brother in law just purchased a Porsche Taycan Turbo S, it is the most impressive car I've ever been in by a HUGE margin. It makes my Audi A7 look like a Honda. To think that you could buy 3 of these impressive cars for the price of a Wilson WAMM Master Chrono makes me laugh.

Now I know many will say "you have to think of the Wilson WAMM as functional art." I buy audio to listen to music, not to impress anyone or stare at the components.
My sister just taken delivery of her Taycan 4S. Yet to go in it but looking forward to it:).

And yes, good post.
 

DaveC

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Taycan is basically big piece of electronics, has as much in common with a laptop as a car, and like both cars and laptops, they can benefit immensely from economy of scale. You can't compare a low-production hand-built luxury product to a mass produced product in terms of price.

Consider how much that Taycan would cost if they could only sell a few hundred of them per year, and had to do it all by hand without the benefit of having Porsche's production facilities. It would be a lot more like buying a Koenigsegg, prices start at $2M:


I am amazed at how much it costs to put together a nice speaker. Manufacturer's costs just for drivers and parts can easily get into the 5-figures, and you still need cabinets, finish work, assembly into a finished product, packing, shipping, marketing and advertising, social media promotion, taxes, etc... Just like cars, unless you can sell enough volume to run an automated production line, the costs are many multiples of a mass production product.

Unlike cars, if you take that Taycan (or other very high performance car) to the track it might end up costing you $1k/day, maybe even more for track insurance, fees, tires, electrons, etc., a high end stereo is an investment that costs nearly nothing in comparison to enjoy for the rest of your life, and can probably be handed down to your kids.
 
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Lagonda

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Taycan is basically big piece of electronics, has as much in common with a laptop as a car, and like both cars and laptops, they can benefit immensely from economy of scale. You can't compare a low-production hand-built luxury product to a mass produced product in terms of price.

Consider how much that Taycan would cost if they could only sell a few hundred of them per year, and had to do it all by hand without the benefit of having Porsche's production facilities. It would be a lot more like buying a Koenigsegg, prices start at $2M:


I am amazed at how much it costs to put together a nice speaker. Manufacturer's costs just for drivers and parts can easily get into the 5-figures, and you still need cabinets, finish work, assembly into a finished product, packing, shipping, marketing and advertising, social media promotion, taxes, etc... Just like cars, unless you can sell enough volume to run an automated production line, the costs are many multiples of a mass production product.

Unlike cars, if you take that Taycan (or other very high performance car) to the track it might end up costing you $1k/day, maybe even more for track insurance, fees, tires, electrons, etc., a high end stereo is an investment that costs nearly nothing in comparison to enjoy for the rest of your life, and can probably be handed down to your kids.
Or sell it used at -40% a couple of years later when the new model speaker comes along ;)
 

dcathro

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I remember the book "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance", which espoused the philosophy that to learn about life you need to fully master one thing. My obsession with audio has taught how you can see all the human behavioural traits and belief systems as expressed by audiophiles.
 
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Lagonda

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Cows only appear idle. They're actually busy making milk.
Fish? They're just breathing.
:)
Is this some convoluted analog versus digital comparison ? ;)
 
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Direct Drive

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Surely.......

cUTULepHejsje2yGVjG26J.jpg
 

morricab

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My brother in law just purchased a Porsche Taycan Turbo S, it is the most impressive car I've ever been in by a HUGE margin. It makes my Audi A7 look like a Honda. To think that you could buy 3 of these impressive cars for the price of a Wilson WAMM Master Chrono makes me laugh.

Now I know many will say "you have to think of the Wilson WAMM as functional art." I buy audio to listen to music, not to impress anyone or stare at the components.
Why is the Taycan called “Turbo”? It’s electric so the turbos need not apply...
 

Rhapsody

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