Agreed, the corollary is also true- the "junk" we are talking about here has to be chosen wisely. For me it is a second path to the hobby that I enjoy and is window to what engineers had to go through without software modeling and CNC machines.
. There are many classic pieces from the past I would love to have and I know they would still give a good accounting of themselves even today: Melco, Micro Seiki, ESL and on and on.
Many of them will have bandwidth limitations, however, they have stood the test of time and can be competitive even within the context of today's world.
Agreed, the corollary is also true- the "junk" we are talking about here has to be chosen wisely. For me it is a second path to the hobby that I enjoy and is window to what engineers had to go through without software modeling and CNC machines.
. There are many classic pieces from the past I would love to have and I know they would still give a good accounting of themselves even today: Melco, Micro Seiki, ESL and on and on.
Many of them will have bandwidth limitations, however, they have stood the test of time and can be competitive even within the context of today's world.
What I see as different today but doesn't make anything better is today there appears to be a larger market of very high end components. The selection and amount sold in the past of the finest pieces is much smaller. A lot of family gear was sold and broken down now. There were not as many premium pieces built for high fidelity in a desicated listening room. That's my perception.
I guess many of these people don't want to do the time-consuming research either. One dealer here said recently that he he has rich clients who just tell him to set up a system in their house because they want to have some music. They don't care about the money they spend and often the system doesn't even go into the best, most spacious room of the house, because their better half doesn't want that. Result is big speakers in insufficiently large rooms. Just the pride of ownership without really trying to get the best sound possible.
I guess many of these people don't want to do the time-consuming research either. One dealer here said recently that he he has rich clients who just tell him to set up a system in their house because they want to have some music. They don't care about the money they spend and often the system doesn't even go into the best, most spacious room of the house, because their better half doesn't want that. Result is big speakers in insufficiently large rooms. Just the pride of ownership without really trying to get the best sound possible.
I moved my hifi from a large living room to a smaller semi-dedicated room. It is designed for hifi but furnished as a reading room. My wife likes to relax there without music, as do I. Anything bigger than Wilson Sabrina would not have worked. I first heard them when they came out in a room that was too big and didn't like them. I preferred the Sasha DAW in that room. The Sabrina is great small room speaker and Wilson clearly had their thinking caps on straight when they came up with them.
A dealer I use has lots of exceptionally wealthy clients, money no object. Some will spend $500,000 in an hour, give a shipping address and barely look at the invoice, others with spend months with long home demo's and then negotiate the price. A friend of mine developed the most expensive terrace of houses in London and the audio systems were all hidden in the ceiling and a footnote in the M&E contract. In these uber homes you're far more likely to see a cinema room than a dedicated music room.
FWIW I have about $20k in art around my house. It would cost me money at the dump to get rid of it. Most art is not worth the canvas its on. Its a rare gem that has value. Not much different than audio. There are a few older audio pieces worth something. McIntosh use to hold its value. Not sure if it does anymore.
FWIW I have about $20k in art around my house. It would cost me money at the dump to get rid of it. Most art is not worth the canvas its on. Its a rare gem that has value. Not much different than audio. There are a few older audio pieces worth something. McIntosh use to hold its value. Not sure if it does anymore.
Agree, I only saved my kids art and the live recordings from when they were in the Jazz and Percussion ensembles at Norte Dame, OSU and Northwestern. Love listening to those live recordings especially the OSU concerts.
FWIW I have about $20k in art around my house. It would cost me money at the dump to get rid of it. Most art is not worth the canvas its on. Its a rare gem that has value. Not much different than audio. There are a few older audio pieces worth something. McIntosh use to hold its value. Not sure if it does anymore.
We buy almost entirely from living artists, usually direct. We have a few lithographs by dead people (Henry Moore etc). Ceramics, wood and glass mostly. The last piece was from a South Korean ceramicist called Park Sung-Wook, which cost more than my speakers. Next up will be a textile piece by a lady we know, she's still in her 20s.
Some people buy art as investments, usually by dead people because when dead they can't keep making stuff. We buy it because we like it and we like artists to be able to eat. I almost became an art dealer twice over. I know enough about the market to have walked away, and the guy who invited me on the second occasion has been on the run from the FBI for the last 7 or 8 years. If you're buying art for your home and are worried about the value, I think you've missed the point.
One of my favourite recent pieces is a photograph by Kaupo Kikkas, an Estonian clarinetist who decided he was better off photographing musicians than being one himself. I met him 8 years ago and finally bought a tree picture a couple of years ago. He featured in Gramophone last month.
HiFi is nothing like art. It is just a consumer product, some is better than others, and over time it's more than likely to diminish in value or become completely redundant.
One of the pieces we have hanging on our living room walls is an interior still life. We purchased it on one of our trips to California.
We talked about possibly purchasing another piece from him.
I did an internet search and found his studio web site.
To my surprise he only paints nude gay men now. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Audio has nothing to do with luxury Lee.
Reviewers should review on audio Q not bling bling / price / builtquality/...
Luxury segment "slash " BS segment
Audio has nothing to do with luxury Lee.
Reviewers should review on audio Q not bling bling / price / builtquality/...
Luxury segment "slash " BS segment
I'm not sure how good it is for the industry. If there is demand for $1m turntables and someone is willing to make one, then that is capitalist economics at work and no one is harmed.
Some companies do ultra-type products as research and PR exercises and it can drip down into affordable products. The modern classic is the Rega Naiad, years of materials research, they made 300 and sold them for £30,000 each, not a profitable exercise. The first derivative was the P10 for £4,000 and now the Naia for £10,000, both brilliant. I was sorely tempted to buy a Naia, BUT ....
I had a big ugly black turntable and wanted one that was made from the same veneer as the bookcases in my music room. To me that's luxury, entirely unnecessary expenditure that has nothing to do with sound quality, but gives me lots of pleasure.
It was done here in the UK, at the level as an Artisan Fidelity Statement level machine. Would you call those a waste of money? I have no idea what an AF Garrard 301 Statement costs, but if I was in the USA and had the money I wouldn't think twice about buying one.
I joined this forum to get advice on this project, I bought most of the components from the same supplier as a member here, it turned out to be a lot easier than expected.
If i wanna buy "luxury " i can buy a high performance car .
Much better machining / technics / paint job / carbon exterior plus it actually gets you somewhere when you turn the key .
But who am i , i never read a magazine for the past 10-15 years
Not. In fact, you can convincingly argue the opposite. Market alienation from potential buyers ( I am very skeptical regarding trickle down technology and consumer purchase benefits), "value" pricing by manufacturers that have little or nothing to do with actual costs, companies that may have one big time market success and then go into the abyss leaving purchasers on the cliff not to mention the requisite servicing difficulties, etc.
I suspect that you are one "industry" that has profited as well as manufacturers that charge "uber" prices because of folks that will buy and sustain this "greed is good" marketing strategy.
With all due respect, I am somewhat surprised by your post but, given your magazine's financial interests, I reckon I should not be. TAS is clearly a player in the hi end audio universe.
