[Folsom]

Recently I went to a local audiophile monthly meeting. It was not the best one as of yet. The first I went to was fun.

This time there was less people. Then a fellow and his kid both sort of ran the show a little.

Here is something that baffles me, and makes me upset, that happened.

They can not hear good enough to distinguish background vocalist from an overlay of voice, example being a song from Gary Jules. Basically if they did not get an image of two people, they would not believe it.

Aparantly anything that is different is comical, if it is not prestiege. The laughed a lot at Mambo Sinuendo by Ry Cooder, but loved Ry Cooder Ry Cooder. The kid had no freaking idea about what type of music from what era of time.

If something was not what they would want to listen too, it was recorded poorly. I mean what the hell? Just because you do not like it, does not mean it is not recorded well. They tried to tell me Amos Lee by Amos Lee sounded flat, during extremely dynamic parts of the song. There was one fellow who liked it but was silenced out by the acusations made that real acoustic sound comes from a room that is not isolated. Funny how when we tried to listen to stuff like that, because they did not like it, they turned it down again.

They thought Bronx In Blue sounded like two mono recordings...

They are pretty much insane.

Then one guy hates SqueezeBox and has to point out that it sucks because he can not do multi channel, fake surroundsound effects, to ruin his music, with it. He brings that stupid shit up every time, when he knows that no one else cares, but then everyone is turned off to the idea of a SqueezeBox. He keeps saying how recording studios use FireWire so USB has to be ok. I try to tell him how jitter induced it is, and how there are timing issues with the USB controller, IRQs, etc...

[95bcwh]

Well....the more I attended these kind of group meetings, the more I realize that my taste is really NOT universal. There're always some people who loves "BAD" sound...(ok, BAD sound to me ear, LOL)

There's a guy who came to my home last week to audition my Salk HT3, and didn't care for its sound, he prefers the sound of a JM-Lab Utopia Alto currently on display at a local dealer, which I thought was set-up poorly and sounded muff and lacking in transparency, and also with too much ambience due to lack of room treatment. So I asked him what exactly he's looking for, he said the HT3 doesn't sound "LIVE" enough, he can hear the piano, bass, drums, guitar, vocal all occupying a distinct space on the soundstage, and he said he doesn't hear such precision at "LIVE" performance. The JM-Lab Alto (at the dealer store) sounded big and with a lot of "air" that's resulted due to the excessive ambience, the instruments are not separately as nicely as the HT3, but he said transparency is not what he's after.

Admittedly, there're a lot of "nuts" out there who simply doesn't talk sense, but this fellow is not a nut case, he does have a point.. perhaps I have been too self-center, I used to go to these meeting and within the first 3 notes if I don't hear what I like, I just didn't bother listening no more. I will need to change that mindset a little, I need to learn to appreciate why certain presentation appeals to certain people.

[Folsom]

That all makes sense, but you are judging what you like vs. dislike. I mean opposed to just deciding music sounds poorly recorded based on the fact that you do not like the style/lyrics etc...

I have to say there are a few speakers and types of equipment that do make things sound perhaps too percise. Granted most recording that is done well goes for this via mixing a live show from the insturment feeds as opposed to a mic for the insturment and vocal, just infront of performer. That or an iso-mic.

Percision is perfectly cool as long as the speaker can still radiate the sound. Unfortunately in the realm of rather nice stuff it is difficult to find this because many recordings, or rather mixes, may not be good enough to even judge it.

Honestly I like music (equipment) that makes me want to dance. It better be alive and full of some power. I want some impact, some feeling, I want to get the chills with the intro guitar line for Money For Nothing. There is a lot of stuff out there that DOES NOT DO THIS for me, and costs more than anything I have ever owned.

I personally feel that drivers under a certain size have trouble developing anything useful other than imaging. It can happen but in general 8 inch drivers doing most of the frequency range (which is really only from 100 to what 2500 or something) I have found to be fairly ideal for radiating. There are much smaller speakers that do it too, but most suck at it.

It is just like bass speakers, or speakers that "play low" when the truth is they roll off, loose impact, because they are not big enough for loud volume low extension, even is the specs say they play that low. This is why I own stereo, facing, floor standing, ear level, subwoofers that play up to around 100hz, or 160hz tops... It is the ONLY way to go if you ask me. The only type of things that work otherwise have built in subwoofers into them, maybe like Gallos 3s, some VMPS, etc, that have large bass speakers. Not that I believe in ones that do not face you unless they only play below like 50hz. True I do not feel AS much bass in the VERY low frequency spectrum but it is realistic for me because it shakes some stuff, I know it is there, I get the bellow. It sounds right.

Now why do I say all of that... Well because of things like Tannoys 15in coaxial $7500 pieces of crap, that only work with female vocalists. The guitars are almost dead, and anything upper midrange IS dead. They have all good characteristics, but they do nothing for me.

All that being said, there is a lot of personal taste. Regardless I do not deny credit for recordings or equipment unless it sounds bad, like it has a bad aspect. I just point out what is good, and what might be missing that makes it not my cup of tea, instead of calling it crap.

[Zero]

When it comes to meeting a fellow audio enthusiast – I always make sure two pre-qualifications are met.

First – Good company. I don’t care what gear there is or what music is playing, having someone I am less than thrilled to be around by my side ruins the whole experience for me. For the most part, I enjoy sitting down and talking with a passionate individual that embraces a wide gamut of hi-fi, doing so with respect to taste, experience (or lack there of) with a sense of humbleness.

All too often I find audiophiles caught up in what I can only crudely relate as being a dick measuring contest. Whether its competition of self appointed knowledge, ‘experience’, or pricey esoteric electronics; I simply cannot associate with this kind of person for any length of time. It is one thing to have a strong opinion, it is another to truly believe you ‘know it all’, or are so insecure as to build up a defense suggesting that you do. Give me someone with an appetite for sharing a passion in a down to earth way; and we’ve got a good time.

Second – Once good company is found – I completely disregard the yardstick I use to measure sound that appeals to me. I know what I like, and if someone that knows me well believes they have found something that will put a grin on my face; I’m always game. But in most cases I found that a lot of die-hard enthusiasts have slight variations into what they expect from their systems. So before I even plop my rear end down in the ‘sweet spot’ of someone’s rig, I ask them what it is that they are looking to achieve with their rig; what they value and what they are willing to sacrifice. Attaining a firm grasp on their goals helps me to appreciate their system even more when I sit down and listen. Even though there have been many occasions to where I did not necessarily ‘dig’ a few systems – I still enjoyed what I heard and was able to feed off of their passion and their hard work.

That’s what its about. Screw the whole “this is why X is great and why Z is not so great”. I’m always willing to learn as there are so many folks more educated than yours truly, but I’ve also got no time for ‘know it all’s’ that truly don’t know that they don’t know.

Let the music play…