Insanely Expensive Audio

[TBone]

Illustrates why obsessiveness with «that live feeling» is a wild glose chase.

Doesn't illustrate anything of the sort ... like trying to make a mountain out of molehills ... and goose chasing is but one obsessiveness best left to the professionals (hunters).

 

[svart-hvitt]

Doesn't illustrate anything of the sort ... like trying to make a mountain out of molehills ... and goose chasing is but one obsessiveness best left to the professionals (hunters).

My point is, «live feeling» and hifi are too separate things. «Live» is about multiple sensations (vision, audio, touch, smell...), hifi is in comparison a very narrow problem.

I think marketing surrounding «innsanely expensive audio» often tries to make the buyer believe that at «live feeling» can be reproduced, but that is of course futility, a wild goose chase.

 

[TBone]

«innsanely expensive audio»

... while ignoring so much audio gear, over the decades, much at a more reasonable cost, that have also marketed/fluffed "live" as ...

 

[RayDunzl]

Is it live, or is it Memorex?

 

[cjfrbw]

Maybe it's Memor-icks?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I have no idea. I think they may have thought the audience could still hear something when they couldn't. Maybe the people right up front at the stage could hear something.

I went to a wedding a couple of years ago where they gave earphones to all the guests who were dancing and, during the band's breaks, they were the only ones who heard the (canned) music. They looked silly to the rest of us but they were having fun and we were enjoying our conversations. It would have been even better if this was used throughout the event since the sound levels of the live (reinforced) band music were often well in excess of 95dB. The earplugs they offered were not sufficient.

 

[RayDunzl]

The earplugs they offered were not sufficient.

My emergency earplug would be a nice big blob of wet (soggy/pulpy) toilet paper... Very effective.

 

[amirm]

My emergency earplug would be a nice big blob of wet (soggy/pulpy) toilet paper... Very effective.

Good to know I am not the only one who does that.

 

[Wombat]

My emergency earplug would be a nice big blob of wet (soggy/pulpy) toilet paper... Very effective.

Recycled?

 

[cjfrbw]

Good to know I am not the only one who does that.

The only problem is when they dry out way before the concert ends, and you are left with spit loogies to keep them wet.

 

[Ron Texas]

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/vac-introduces-statement-integrated-amplifier-at-rmaf-2018/
An integrated amp for $150k. I guess the tubes were blessed by naked maidens of the Pacific...

 

[amirm]

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/vac-introduces-statement-integrated-amplifier-at-rmaf-2018/
An integrated amp for $150k. I guess the tubes were blessed by naked maidens of the Pacific...

They are in dire need of better industrial and mechanical design. Tubes sideways heating the row above them? The ugly color? Who would be proud to have this in their listening room other than price?

If they are going to make expensive stuff, it needs to be exquisite from mechanical to visual look of the product.

 

[Soniclife]

Tubes sideways heating the row above them?

Electrons go faster downhill, for better leading edges.

 

[NorthSky]

 

[amirm]

Exactly!

 

[Ron Texas]

They are in dire need of better industrial and mechanical design. Tubes sideways heating the row above them? The ugly color? Who would be proud to have this in their listening room other than price?

If they are going to make expensive stuff, it needs to be exquisite from mechanical to visual look of the product.

I agree. In air conditioning dependent Houston, the only thing I ever want is an efficient PWM amplifier. A Mac 275 is a work of art compared to that box if you want tubes. Were you looking for the word "thermodynamic"?

Vivaldi is in the top tier price wise.

 

[NorthSky]

 

[andreasmaaan]

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/vac-introduces-statement-integrated-amplifier-at-rmaf-2018/
An integrated amp for $150k. I guess the tubes were blessed by naked maidens of the Pacific...

Well it's creating a buzz in some quarters

 

[Theo]

Adding to the complexity: Any live performance is visual as well (plus touch and smell). Which begs the question if hearing gets impaired once the «bandwidth» of our sensory system gets maxed out.

Good point. Even more extreme than that : it seems that visual processing triggers most of the brain activity, so live performances are more about seeing the band (or orchestra) and room than listening to it. Maybe, if you close your eyes and relax (if you are seated), you may feel that the live concert is like your stereo system in your living room?

 

[Frank Dernie]

They are in dire need of better industrial and mechanical design. Tubes sideways heating the row above them? The ugly color? Who would be proud to have this in their listening room other than price?

If they are going to make expensive stuff, it needs to be exquisite from mechanical to visual look of the product.

Aha! I quite like the styling, and whilst it is true that the higher valves will be hotter than the lower ones due to convection the actual heat dissipation is likely to be much better with this layout than with a conventional audio amp layout. Old high power thermionic valve kit used to be laid out to allow more effective convection cooling like this back in the day.
Actually styling is definitely a personal thing, and the quality of manufacture gives some pleasure in ownership (to me at least).
One of the things I liked about my Goldmund amps was the case, which made no sense from a SQ pov but was so much nicer than the bog-standard painted folded steel box with slab of ally on the front which everybody else was doing at the time.
Nowadays CNC machining is inexpensive and lovely bits of casework are not anywhere near as expensive as they were. I had a Linn Klimax DS on home demo and whilst it sounded no different to me than an item 10% of its price it looked and felt lovely.
The Devialet amps are beautifully made inside and out too, particularly the top model's case.
In the end I wouldn't consider anything this expensive any more, and certainly not with valves. It seems bizarre that analogue kit is so expensive despite having, in almost all cases, performances an order of magnitude or two worse than a £300 DAC.