1 Ticket to Europe, what would you use it for?

[JeromeFrancis]

Dear all,

Imagine the ESG people, climate activists and co take over and limit flight tickets to 1 per person per year, would you rather use it to visit the Munich Highend Show or the Montreux Jazz Festival?
Would be interested in the reasoning as well.

Thanks,
J.

 

[ssfas]

I presume you mean from the USA? Being from Zurich, you'd appreciate the option to fly to Munich, amble by foot or bike in time to get to Lausanne for the jazz, taking in the sights of northern Switzerland, and then fly back to the USA from Geneva. It's dead easy to get round Europe without leaving the ground or annoying Greta Thunberg.

 

[JeromeFrancis]

I presume you mean from the USA? Being from Zurich, you'd appreciate the option to fly to Munich, amble by foot or bike in time to get to Lausanne for the jazz, taking in the sights of northern Switzerland, and then fly back to the USA from Geneva. It's dead easy to get round Europe without leaving the ground or annoying Greta Thunberg.

I was indeed assuming people fly out here from further away to visit the Jazz Festival or the Munich show.

 

[ssfas]

I was indeed assuming people fly out here from further away to visit the Jazz Festival or the Munich show.

I would have thought most people with a keen interest in music, opera, dance etc. travel to see their favourite performers. We certainly do, around Europe, we see whatever performance we can whenever we travel.

Munich is a very important trade show for manufacturers and distributors. As a consumer I have zero interest in hifi shows. Never go, never will.

Wouldn’t go to a jazz festival in the most expensive country in the world! Last year we drove through non stop, from Colmar to Como, on the way to La Scala.

My wife and I would love to come to the Prix de Lausanne. Watch it all on TV every year.

 

[JeromeFrancis]

I would have thought most people with a keen interest in music, opera, dance etc. travel to see their favourite performers. We certainly do, around Europe, we see whatever performance we can whenever we travel.

Munich is a very important trade show for manufacturers and distributors. As a consumer I have zero interest in hifi shows. Never go, never will.

Wouldn’t go to a jazz festival in the most expensive country in the world! Last year we drove through non stop, from Colmar to Como, on the way to La Scala.

My wife and I would love to come to the Prix de Lausanne. Watch it all on TV every year.

To see ballet should have been a third option.
Agree that the trade shows are more for the industry participants than consumers. Yet more and more products are being presented for retail customers directly (i.e. headphones etc.).
To be fair, the question is a bit loaded as us audiophiles are confronted with the old question of whether we spend all that money and time for the sake of owning the gear or the music that those products are capable of delivering.

 

[ssfas]

Whenever I buy audio equipment I think how many tickets I could get with the money, and sometimes this makes be stop and be sensible.

My son has a tight budget, has a large record collection and a stereo system made up of donations from me and his girlfriend's father. I don't think he paid for any of it. A big part of their social life is about going to gigs, music festivals and travel that always involves music, and is always done on a tight budget. No Taylor Swift, thankfully, for which people pay €1,000's.

I don't think twice about buying tickets. When someone like Jonas Kaufman comes to Covent Garden there is a large contingent coming in from around Europe for the performance. It's always the case with the big stars who are difficult to get to see, and there are people who want to see them wherever they perform.

One of the worst is Radiohead, who hardly ever perform. I've seen them twice. My son about 5 or 6 times, including in Berlin and another time he went with my wife to see them in Tel Aviv. She'd never heard of Radiohead and was completely blown away.

I can imagine that if you live out in the woods and can't get to good live music, a stereo system is pretty vital, and you might use your one ticket to go to Munich HiFi Show. For me stereo is more a back-up system and a toy to fiddle around with. When someone pontificates that a €5,000 cable will transform their musical system and transport them into a new sonic world or realism, I think they should grow up and spend €50 on a ticket for a real musical experience.

Fortunately I just turned 60 and got my free travel pass in London, so I don't have to pay for travel and the good bands come here. There was a memorable performance a few years ago by one of your local bands, the Zurcher Sing Akademie. They were very good. I sat next to the musical director, a very serious chap.

 

[JeromeFrancis]

Whenever I buy audio equipment I think how many tickets I could get with the money, and sometimes this makes be stop and be sensible.

My son has a tight budget, has a large record collection and a stereo system made up of donations from me and his girlfriend's father. I don't think he paid for any of it. A big part of their social life is about going to gigs, music festivals and travel that always involves music, and is always done on a tight budget. No Taylor Swift, thankfully, for which people pay €1,000's.

I don't think twice about buying tickets. When someone like Jonas Kaufman comes to Covent Garden there is a large contingent coming in from around Europe for the performance. It's always the case with the big stars who are difficult to get to see, and there are people who want to see them wherever they perform.

One of the worst is Radiohead, who hardly ever perform. I've seen them twice. My son about 5 or 6 times, including in Berlin and another time he went with my wife to see them in Tel Aviv. She'd never heard of Radiohead and was completely blown away.

I can imagine that if you live out in the woods and can't get to good live music, a stereo system is pretty vital, and you might use your one ticket to go to Munich HiFi Show. For me stereo is more a back-up system and a toy to fiddle around with. When someone pontificates that a €5,000 cable will transform their musical system and transport them into a new sonic world or realism, I think they should grow up and spend €50 on a ticket for a real musical experience.

Fortunately I just turned 60 and got my free travel pass in London, so I don't have to pay for travel and the good bands come here. There was a memorable performance a few years ago by one of your local bands, the Zurcher Sing Akademie. They were very good. I sat next to the musical director, a very serious chap.

That's a rational approach you got. If you're living in London, you're spoiled by the cultural offering. Nevertheless, improving the hifi system to edge closer to the emotional experience of the live event is intriguing. One just has to be careful to not get caught up in the game too much and keep priorities in check.

 

[ssfas]

That's a rational approach you got. If you're living in London, you're spoiled by the cultural offering. Nevertheless, improving the hifi system to edge closer to the emotional experience of the live event is intriguing. One just has to be careful to not get caught up in the game too much and keep priorities in check.

The cynic in me says that the further away audiophiles get from regular live performance the more they obsess about how close their stereo gets to something they rarely if ever experience. I may be completely wrong. If true, the ticket to Munich wins.

A more interesting survey (no disrespect to yours) is how frequently audiophiles get to hear live unamplified music in a music venue, so open-air opera counts, but a busker playing a banjo in the street doesn't. We always chat to people at performances and in 40+ years I've never had anyone raise the matter of hifi or stereo, not even the Director of the Zurcher Sing Akademie.

 

[JeromeFrancis]

The cynic in me says that the further away audiophiles get from regular live performance the more they obsess about how close their stereo gets to something they rarely if ever experience. I may be completely wrong. If true, the ticket to Munich wins.

A more interesting survey (no disrespect to yours) is how frequently audiophiles get to hear live unamplified music in a music venue, so open-air opera counts, but a busker playing a banjo in the street doesn't. We always chat to people at performances and in 40+ years I've never had anyone raise the matter of hifi or stereo, not even the Director of the Zurcher Sing Akademie.

It's interesting indeed that many musician and producers do not really obsess over Hi-Fi. You should launch a poll and find out about the live performance attendance ratio.

 

[ssfas]

It's interesting indeed that many musician and producers do not really obsess over Hi-Fi. You should launch a poll and find out about the live performance attendance ratio.

If only I knew how !

 

[JeromeFrancis]

If only I knew how !

That's easily done by clicking "New Thread" and then you can choose another tab on the upper edge called "Poll".

 

[Golum]

I presume you mean from the USA? Being from Zurich, you'd appreciate the option to fly to Munich, amble by foot or bike in time to get to Lausanne for the jazz, taking in the sights of northern Switzerland, and then fly back to the USA from Geneva. It's dead easy to get round Europe without leaving the ground or annoying Greta Thunberg.

As I'm in Lausanne I second you proposal - I was thinking exactly along the same lines.

 

[ssfas]

As I'm in Lausanne I second you proposal - I was thinking exactly along the same lines.

That's convenient. Can my wife come and stay for the Prix de Lausanne? She's house-trained, speaks native French and as a former dancer doesn't eat much.