artto Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 I definitely consider myself fortunate to have broken the addictive nature and pursuit of reading the high-end audio publications. In fact, primarily because of my re-entering the world of professional music, I really wasnt intimately involved with audio again for well over a decade. I recently ordered some recordings and parts from some of the online audio catalogs. They then obviously sent me (in the mail) full regular catalogs. I was amazed at the number of products in every audio category imaginable. And the prices! Who in the hell buys this ****? There seems to be more companies than ever offering more & more products at higher and higher price points than ever even though this has been a relatively low inflation time period! Considering the above, just out of curiosity, I recently purchased a copy of The Absolute Sound at Barnes & Noble (havent read one of these in years). Unbelievable. The same old ****. Same headlines, same stories, same conclusions. I bet these guys just love word processing. Just change the names and few words and paragraphs around and wolla. Its hard to believe how much has not changed, and yet somehow seems to have gotten worse. The most expensive anything is obviously still the best whatever. No doubt about it. Just for kicks, I even paged through every page to see what it contained (twice). Everything audio related imaginable, except, the one thing thats required, to produce the absolute sound. Not a damn thing on acoustics. No articles, no products, not even any advertisements! (Im hoping this is a good thing, as I recall, the idiots at Absolute Sound have some pretty ****ty listening rooms anyway. Its difficult for me to imagine how they can actually evaluate one thing from another and come to any kind of valid conclusion). However, one article did catch my attention, Missing the Boat by the magazines editor, Robert Harley. From the first paragraph: For all the great contributions the high-end audio industry has made over the past thirty years, it also has a habit of ignoring opportunities to expand its business. The most obvious example is the industrys failure to reach out to affluent, non-tweaky music lovers, instead, to remain content to sell new products to the same pool of already-committed audiophiles. EXCUSE ME? Doesnt this jackass read his own publication? Who else other than AFFLUENT, non-tweaky music lovers would by all the **** published and advertised in your magazine Mr. Hartley? Who else could afford it? Who else wouldnt know any better? For Gods sake Hartley, take your head out of your *** already! Im sure some of you may find something informative in these publications. I dont. Nor can I trust their judgment. As far as Im concerned, theyre light years behind where Im at. Arrogant? Yes. Honest? Yes. Can I back it up? Yes. Is this just my opinion? You bet it is! Fortunately I realize (once again) that I have better ways to spend my seven bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo33 Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 "Is this just my opinion? You bet it is!" Artto, your opinion is shared among many here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale W Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Least they have'nt lowered themselves enough to start advertising products with half naked 16 year old girls like all the 4x4 magazines do .At least not yet ! The olny rags i'll buy now are the HT ones and thats more to look at all the cool HT rooms people have spent tens of thousands to have constructed for them . Some neat ideas for free ( well $7.00 anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royster Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 I hear ya Artto! I find some kind of perverse satisfation in picking up some these big dollar items, for pennies on the dollar a few years from release. I had better be able to live in it, if I spent the kind of scracth that some of the items wre retailing for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted July 22, 2004 Author Share Posted July 22, 2004 ---------------- On 7/22/2004 5:48:45 PM Dale W wrote: Least they have'nt lowered themselves enough to start advertising products with half naked 16 year old girls like all the 4x4 magazines do .At least not yet ! The olny rags i'll buy now are the HT ones and thats more to look at all the cool HT rooms people have spent tens of thousands to have constructed for them . Some neat ideas for free ( well $7.00 anyway ---------------- Funny you should mention that. My impression was one of looking through some kind of teen girly magazine with all their silly ads for all kinds of pricey, trendy, useless accessory products, the kind of mags you might see at your family practice doctor's or dentist's waiting room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Hell, if I could figure out half of what they are saying I'd probably subscirbe to a couple. For the reader it's not about info, it's about lust. Yeah, sex sells. Pretty pictures and gobbly**** about this and that and somebody's gonna be hot for it. Talkin about the gear, of course, seeing as I'm dating twins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 rofl btw, there are decent magazines out there...yes, ones that discuss acoustic treatment as well. we have a whole bunch at work. I'll be sure to catch a few titles and share them with the forum the next time I'm back in the office (they usually got me running all over the US). The only problem i have with them is there's nothing cheap enough for me to buy! However, i think the same conclusions apply in regards to the new ideas (or lack there of). i'm yet to actually hear of something new, simple, and innovative. welcome to the era of tweaking the crap out of everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.