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You can always keep the super expensive components that had impressive reviews in mind and look for them 5 to 7 years from now on the used marked. Not great for digital gear but you'd be amazed and how affordable some of these mega-buck components become on the used marked. But you are correct many of the uber expensive stuff just isn't worth it. The sad thing is that a lot of it is, my ears are much better than my pocket book.
I can't afford 90% of the stuff reviewed. $18k+ for a pre-amp!? Good luck with that.
Sometimes I enjoy hearing about what was listened to through the expensive stuff.
at least there was an article about Frank Zappa
Every time I start to agree with this type of complaint, I can't help but remind myself that even if they only reviewed 'affordable' stuff, I'd still never own more than 1% of the gear they reviewed, anyway.
Plus, and I'm being serious, if all they did was review gear in your/my price range, the reviewers would be hard pressed to keep hearing those 'order of magnitude' differences between gear.
Heck, imagine if it were up to Ethan...err...never mind, we've seen that. It was called the last five years of Stereo Review.
"Of all the CD players I've ever heard, this certainly was one of them."
When you chck the ultra high ends reviews, you also realize what a load of crap is being foisted on the hobby.
This month was the humming 13K preamp. Recently we've had broken 23K CD players get raves, as well as 15K interconnects that don't actually carry all that much signal. The dearly (or not so dearly) departed DUP-meister used to opine a Chord amp that goes for tens of thousands of dollars that couldn't even come within 20% of spec.
Much of the time, I am relieved that I am not in that segment of the hobby.
Budda: i think there are a lot of us who have to be very canny in our selection of equipment. magazines like this can be one of many guideposts in the hunt. i sure hope most people take the magazine for what it is, 90% of the time, its just entertainment. I'll read an article and think, oh cool, i'd love to hear that one day knowing that i'll never be able to buy it. but, i enjoyed reading about it. someone said "more pictures" - true that. a good analogy is that high dollar stuff is like a playboy centerfold for audio guys, or would be with more pictures. hey, how about a gatefold JA? start with the focal utopias.
I'd hate to see a staple in the tweeter, though.
Kal
Kinky, kinky.
Dude, that is so odd.
A hobby based on listening that would benefit from more visuals?
Now, if Penthouse and Stereophile merged....
bude dude:
i guess i see it as two different pursuits. if i am reading about audio, i would like to see pictures of the goods. if i am listening, i can close my eyes.
now stereophile and penthouse combined - i am now closing my eyes and imagining all kinds of interesting combinations of huge, pulsing, magnetically excited woofers and delicate, modest little tweeters. all surrounded by hot babes in interesting positions.
see what you started.
RG
And a vinyl lover too boot!
Bet you she digs really deeply into those grooves.
This will make you increase your tracking force and dial up the anti-skating just a tad more.
Hey! That chick is blocking my view of the Dynaco!
Also, I'd be less cheap than the guy she's posing for. I'd at least give her a nice pearl necklace.
Yep, we're hopeless! It's a Marantz 7c.
RG
Yeah. I can tell that from the knobs.
Kal
OK, fine.
Marantz.
The guy may have enough taste to buy Marantz, but he still seems a little cavalier allowing her to handle his big 12 inch like that.
OK, smart guy, which album is she holding?
Puhahahaha!
LMAO
I do have the larger sized pic if you can imagine.
Did you read Charles Hansen's manufacturer's comments re: Wes referring to the preamp as the eighth wonder of the world?
RG
that's what i'm talking about. what a brilliant picture. i have a cabinet just like that from the early 60s that presently holds my albums and cds. now, if i buy an old marantz preamp, will i get a girl like that?
With my luck the girl will have aged just like the Marantz.
At my age it makes no difference.
A year or so ago, I bumped into Dan Aks on 34th Street. Dan used to be the president of the Primedia division that included Stereophile and was let go in the summer of 2004. We chatted about old times and I asked him what he was up to. He was considering an offer from Bob Guccione to run Penthouse, but was probably not going to take it because soft print porn can't compete with what's available free on-line.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
ja:
yes, the internet is changing many things. it's almost like the CD vs Analog argument. for example, do you want a glossy, 3 panal picture that you can hold in your hands (or hand as the case may be), or a cold image on a monitor? from what your associate said, looks like the monitor is ok for most folks.
Good thing audiophiles aren't that way!
Yet.
Post deleted by rvance
Hi, Rvance.
In that post I made that you are refrring to, I had basically gotten your joke backwards and then made the same joke in my post. After I hit enter, I figured out your joke and didn't want to be redundant, so I edtited it to say what it said. I meant it like I was being slow on the uptake, it was not meant as an impoliteness to you.
Buddha, Sometimes I'm just an oversensitive boob, too clever by half. Excuse my bitchy petulance. Thanks for the post. rv