Just when audiophiles care very much about the brand and where their equipment is made, this stigma is cast in stone in the back of Asian audiophile mindset. Western audiophiles are more receptive in this regard, they get directly to the sound to see the true worth. Come on, talents are everywhere. I can't stress enough on the value proposition. Everything has a price, there's a point where a willing seller and willing buyer meets. Unless you're under a desperate situation, like a kidney transplant, something like that. You're left with no choice!
Things are taking a twist in Asia, audio is more than audio. Face is a part of audio when a status symbol is a concern. Don't have a million in the bank, I'm sorry, my thinking probably is different until I make my first bucket of gold. Sigh! It's still nowhere in sight.
Audio has not been and will not be a viable investment tool, that's final. As with all things, there're some exceptions. Look around, there are better investment opportunities out there you can take a plunge into and make a quick buck, highly liquid in case you decide to dispose of your investments. High risk, high gain, if that's your risk appetite. There's no Rolex in audio. Want a Rolex? Go buy a Rolex, buy the sport models because they hold value well. In spite of all that, I can't help echoing "Seize your moment of musical pleasure while your ears still serving you faithfully", your hearing progressively deteriorates over time. What's gone is forever gone. I don't know about you, I love having sound in the background.
The issue of skyrocketing prices of audio equipment is pretty much covered by Stereophile. It's overhead driven, the survival of an enterprise depends on profitability. The market shrunk, the decline in sales, the bottom line is in red. Overhead is uncovered, the company will eventually go bust. Second-hand market booms but it'll be shortlived because the spending on new equipment stops, so will the second-hand equipment supply. The rising living cost is real, it chips away the audio budget, high fidelity slowly becomes a luxurious hobby. For the riches are getting richer, they're not affected in any way. You see, it's better for the manufacturers to move up their product line to upmarket where the market is.
"Buy why what pleases you" is a common phenomenon in audio consumerism, further fueled by a plethora of different sounding products. The danger lies in the pairing. You buy a source because it syncs to your belief, so are the amp and the speaker, kaboom! You thin you score a system, a consequential mismatch awaits. Everybody hears differently. Given the performance is constant, comes individual audibility, then what? Do we do compensation on our listening deficiency by having a hand in our sound? Food for thought.
The question remains which do you serve first, music or your interest? Are you over tangling your sound to resort to a cult of your own? The fact remained to be seen, most audiophiles fall into the sensual camp of sound, camping in pleasing sound camp. Going forward, they all come with the predetermined sound in their head. Naturally, they go to the stores to find something that matches their wants. A change of mind flashes if you played the right track, a track that he is emotionally attached to. The longer he stays in the store, the more likely he will be preconditioned into something different from what he initially wants. In this case, he's serving own interest than music. It does enough to change his course of mind over time, if he doesn't buy, the seed is planted in the mind at the least. He will bring that experience back into his dream, he will come back. An experienced dealer will quickly read his body language.
Never in my mind, branding itself is an imposing factor. The dealers have a less convincing task to sell mainstream equipment. They sell by themselves. The manufacturers know it. Then comes the order commitment. They will look out for the next dealer if the existing dealer didn't achieve what it's expected of. Much like a luxurious watch, branding rides above all things. When a tagline says a watch is the only men's jewellery, that my friends, is a powerful marketing propaganda. Women have tons of things to accessorise themselves, men don't. Since it's the only men's jewellery, the thought of spending a little more for your watch is perfectly acceptable.
With little regard to tonal accuracy and no cross-reference what so ever, you bank on the pedigree of the manufacturer. However, you still remained unlearned about tonal accuracy. Hyper detail, wide frequency bandwidth and ability to play loud without compression, these are a wishlist of audiophiles. What's missing? Don't disregard the recording engineer's hand in the sonic editorial. Regrettably, organic, transparency, articulation, transient and openness are not in their sonic checklist. These in my opinion ride above the former traits. If these are not important to you, I must congratulate you because you are free of audio agony. Live your life happy. You don't spend crazy money on audio to live miserably as an audiophile. As a genuine audiophile, we live and sleep thinking of ways and means to improve our sound, not to mention pawning our family trip for audio. Women, housewives, in particular, they're happy because their man stays home at night. Sounds like me! Going forward, I couldn't stress enough the emphasis of "well-proportionated", once the balance is achieved, everything falls into place. Even a novice can tell.
As with a good orchestra, the key lies in the balance too. If "well-proportionated" is taken care of, you have your tonal accuracy work cuts half. I say this because of your room acoustics and even as some consider setup skill is inconsequential, these are the last straw that breaks the camel's back. It isn't an isolated case where a world-class system is ruined by poor set up skill. If someone comes up to tell me that he has more than 50 years of high-end equipment under his belt, fuyoh. Dear friends, how's your sound, you need to convince me of the sound your system produces, not your expensive toys.
Knowing what to listen is important. A respectable audio guru has already coined it as listening intelligence. I couldn't agree more. To clear things up, I'm not in audio business. I sell nothing in audio. I hold back making an enthusiastic recommendation, I'd not like you to be liable for my words. And you decide to listen to others' opinion, the risk is all yours. Don't blame them for a wrong purchasing decision, blame yourself instead. Adios.
