"Delusional nice people" - Ken Kessler on the high end audio industry

[Cereal Killer]

I really can't understand the point of such ****y articles professing survival technique's. Its only unaffordable if you cant afford it. Everything is relative to your datum point. It's mainly a UK thought pattern, the EU, USA and Asia have no issues with aspiring HiFi ownership. But Brits like and enjoy self deprecating..

 

[narabdela]

Its only unaffordable if you cant afford it.

I think you've missed the whole point of that article by a fairly wide margin.

 

[Cereal Killer]

I think you've missed the whole point of that article by a fairly wide margin.

Maybe I've not self deprecated enough this morning.

 

[davidsrsb]

The thing about luxury watches is that nobody claims they tell the time better, just that they are jewellery and contain deliberately complex miniature mechanisms

 

[Cereal Killer]

Why would they, you shouldn't have to justify a purchase, especially to one self... If you want it, get it. If you feel the need to justify something, you have doubt, and that isn't a luxury. Why do people move house, country or continent?

 

[Julf]

Why would they, you shouldn't have to justify a purchase, especially to one self... If you want it, get it. If you feel the need to justify something, you have doubt, and that isn't a luxury.

Sure - but how many high-end audiophiles will admit that "it doesn't sound any better, but I like how it looks and I just wanted it" instead of resorting to all sorts of foo to justify why their choice is somehow better than a cheaper alternative?

 

[Cereal Killer]

Sure - but how many high-end audiophiles will admit that "it doesn't sound any better, but I like how it looks and I just wanted it" instead of resorting to all sorts of foo to justify why their choice is somehow better than a cheaper alternative?

Why even ask them to do so? 'Their' decision doesn't need policing or questioning. Do you ask someone the same question if you see them wearing a 10K watch? If you do feel the need maybe the question is more about you than the owner of said watch...

 

[Stunsworth]

This is the same guy who said rubbing a Canon lens cleaning cloth on your speaker cones would improve the sound.

Damm, I bought a Pentax one, no wonder it made no difference.

 

[barryb]

*I'd take a wager against anybody here that'd they have an entirely different set-up if they could only audition gear blind/ have no info prior to listening.



*if I had the cash.

 

[stevec67]

The thing about luxury watches is that nobody claims they tell the time better, just that they are jewellery and contain deliberately complex miniature mechanisms

You should read some of the watch threads on here for some of the elaborate justifications and jewellery denial that goes on.

 

[Wolfmancatsup]

You should read some of the watch threads on here for some of the elaborate justifications and jewellery denial that goes on.

"jewellery denial"

 

[Cereal Killer]

Do you think people need justification when buying their future wives an engagement ring?

 

[Julf]

Why even ask them to do so? 'Their' decision doesn't need policing or questioning. Do you ask someone the same question if you see them wearing a 10K watch? If you do feel the need maybe the question is more about you than the owner of said watch...

Trust me, nobody is asking - the opinion is usually very actively provided, with no prompting required.

 

[Cereal Killer]

Trust me, nobody is asking - the opinion is usually very actively provided, with no prompting required.

Then how and why do you know they justify a purchase?

 

[Julf]

Then how and why do you know they justify a purchase?

I don't. It is entirely possible that those people truly believe that the more expensive gear is better. See the subject of this thread.

 

[Jim Audiomisc]

The point of an opinion column is to get people talking or arguing about what it said. KK seems good at that.

Personally wrt watches I tend to use a cheap battery one. However I really would prefer ye olde mechanical wind-up type as I get irritated by the process of having to change the battery. And confess I like wind-up watches simply because I'm impressed by the mechanical engineering.

So I'd buy a decent wind-up example if it didn't cost an absurd amount.

 

[Rodney gold]

I got a broken watch for free .. it tells the time with 100% accuracy twice a day ..

 

[adamdea]

Expensive product sell a fantasy of sorts (I don't mean a delusion). So what is the fantasy? Traditional car ads had a pretty clear agenda of a bit of freedom combined with a very large dose of "you might get laid". Things have become a bit more complicated with women buying cars, environmental concerns and a more ad-literate audience, but you can usually see what they are getting at.

Watches- largely power, potency and an imaginary competence at dangerous sports. I don't think anyone really fantasises about them being better at telling the time these days, do they?

Audio. Ahem- there's the problem. It's really difficult to separate from the "it actually makes music sound better" fantasy. Hence the problem of creating a powerful brand attraction which can justify high prices entirely divorced from technical performance/ audible benefit. If hifi were like watches, no one would have to argue about cables.

As for Ken Kessler: as usual he's just pissing on our backs and telling us it's raining.

 

[Cereal Killer]

I don't. It is entirely possible that those people truly believe that the more expensive gear is better. See the subject of this thread.

.....

Sure - but how many high-end audiophiles will admit that "it doesn't sound any better, but I like how it looks and I just wanted it" instead of resorting to all sorts of foo to justify why their choice is somehow better than a cheaper alternative?

So where did you get the above info from then?

 

[merlin]

AFAIK (and my memory is shot these days) Kessler more or less introduced American "High End" to the UK in association with Absolute Scams.

I've yet to hear a product he raved about that I would give listening room to and grew to assume that he was simply in the pay of Riccardo and had an entertaining journalistic quality.

He raved about every ridiculously priced Koetsu that AS ever gave him to play with.

I can only assume that he's A) getting very old and grumpy and B) seems to be struggling for work these days.

Here's what the same guy had to say about Sonus Faber's entry into the high end cable market

So far, only two Yter cable models are offered, and neither Serblin nor Favella suggests that new models will follow in the foreseeable future, due to the laws of supply and demand: Favella can make only so many per week. The speaker wire is available in standard lengths of 3m (about 10') and 5m (about 16'). Its single silver-palladium conductor is encased in a high-density polymer dielectric and terminated with banana plugs of the same alloy. The matching interconnect, in a standard 1m (39") length, is constructed identically but terminated in silver phono connectors made by WBT.

While I want to avoid turning this into a quasi-review, suffice it to say that I was entirely seduced: Sonus Faber users will recognize the firm's finesse and delicacy. Physically, the cables are highly flexible, eschewing the whole naval-hawser macho bullshit. I loved that, too. They're positively svelte. And when I learned that the prices were, at worst, manageable—hundreds of euros rather than thousands—I decided to add them to my review system.

Hmm. Me thinks he would be voting Tory were he British.