Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/03/11

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Subject: Re: [Leica] for sale as a result of our studio going digital
From: John Collier <jbcollier@home.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 11:42:26 -0700

Anyone on this list making fun of serious audiophiles as they obsess over
the little details is a little like the "kettle calling the pot black".* I
have dabbled in the high end audio waters and have friends who are swimming
in the deep end; yes, you can tell the difference. It is subtle at first and
you have to listen carefully, train your ear and have very good audio
equipment in a proper environment. If you take $200 interconnects and hook
them to your Sears stereo which you keep in the bathroom.... need I say
more. It is quite common for the amplifiers, separate $10k+ amps of course,
to be placed as close to the speakers as possible to keep the high amperage
carrying speaker cables as short as possible. This necessitates long
interconnect cables which can easily run into the multiples of  thousands
per cable. Are they crazy? No more crazy than the those of us who shelled
out $2300 for a 35mm lens and keep two or three $2000 bodies around to shoot
400ISO film through!

John Collier


*Is there any racial overtones to this old saying?

> From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
> 
> Simillarly off-topic, but on the same topic:
> 
> I went into a high-end audio store because I couldn't find the widget I was
> looking for in my usual low-end audio place...As I stood at the counter I
> noticed various speaker cables on the wall behind the counter.
> 
> "How is that $9.95 cable?" I innocently asked.
> 
> "$9.95? That's $995, Sir."
> 
> "For a freaking piece of wire?"
> 
> I left.
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> 
> 
>> The high end audio market is a luxury market that is often
>> noted for its
>> cultist tendencies, and has no impact on the production of music.
> 
> Indeed. The $8,000 per foot speaker wire infestation is the funniest aspect
> of this. None of the "true believers" are willing to participate in a double
> blind test of this nonsense.
> 
> I went into a shop the other day to look at cd players. The salesman assured
> me that I was wasting my money on the player if I didn't also get the $200
> "interconnect" cables. We used to call these "phono" cables but I guess you
> can't charge enough for "phono" cables. ;-)
> 
> I said I'd be happy to consider the cables if he would participate in a
> quick test, a comparison between the $200 cables, and the cables that
> shipped with the player. He would be required to tell me which cables were
> being used. He responded that such tests created a tense atmosphere; not
> conducive to hearing the qualitative differences among cables.
> 
> I smiled, and commented on how it would appear that the emperor was naked.
> He didn't get it. I didn't buy it.
> 
> Peter Jon White
> mailto:Peter@PeterWhiteCycles.com
>