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

merlin said:
AFAIK (and my memory is shot these days)

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



Hmm. Me thinks he would be voting Tory were he British.
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I'm pretty sure that's true, but in fairness it doesn't directly follow just because he's a bombastic loud-mouthed, half-witted twerp.

I have KK to thank for inadvertently pointing out the way that hifi journalism worked. He once wrote an an article about cables which started off by saying (roughly) that he had previously not been persuaded that expensive cables made any difference and that as a consequence he had previously refused to review cables.
It made me think:= -Hang on, I don't ever remember you saying that. Come to think of it, I can't remember anyone in this mag ever saying that.
 
adamdea said:
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.
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Current car ads don't appear to even attempt that! What with exploding coloured paint, somersaulting cars, etc, they have nothing to do with why you might actually need one, or even if it would be useful.
 
If everyone bought merely the basic functionality requirements of items in life, devoid of emotion, then the world would be a very sad, dull place. Next time you go to a supermarket, shops, car showroom, whatever, there are loads of choices for 'things' that essentially have the same functionality. People buy for many reasons; let's just leave it at that.
 
awkwardbydesign said:
Current car ads don't appear to even attempt that! What with exploding coloured paint, somersaulting cars, etc, they have nothing to do with why you might actually need one, or even if it would be useful.
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I'm not sure I follow. Aren't these ads going straight to the point about the fantasy (which can easily be divorced from function)? Exploding paint and somersaulting cars are quite clearly trying to tell you something (false) about how liberating and exciting your life is going to be if you buy the car.

of course once punters started to be able to read ads they had to become a little more playful with the semiotics.
 
simon g said:
If everyone bought merely the basic functionality requirements of items in life, devoid of emotion, then the world would be a very sad, dull place. Next time you go to a supermarket, shops, car showroom, whatever, there are loads of choices for 'things' that essentially have the same functionality. People buy for many reasons; let's just leave it at that.
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Why leave it at that? That's not the end point IMHO it's the beginning.
 
well I have given up on reviews of any kind. yesterday I picked up a pair of Epos M12i that I wanted to get hold of some time or other to compare to the M5i I bought, both off Ebay at less than £150 each, so cheap. I visited the sellers home and heard them in his system and they sounded terrible - he had a large bass woofer some where using a pc based player thru a Cyrus amp I think and the sound was TERRIBLE to my ears - no midrange, voices were thin and recessed with no projection, I heard his latest speakers and mostly the same, but he seemed happy. When I heaved them home ( all 20kg of them, never again lol ) and plugged them into my system a complete change you wouldnt think they were the same speakers - at the moment a bit harder than the M5i but I bet they have been unused for months, while he pondered selling them on, so give them time to settle down esp after having been transported half way across London by hand. So I take reviews and reviewers with a large pinch of salt, I am glad that these days it dont take too much to please or satisfy me :) Noel Keywood is another reviewer I dont believe - his review of the Ortofon 2M Bronze as detailed and academic dont square with my experience and his cd recommendations I long ago ignored eg Mary Black - I bought the recomended cd and thought well she can sing but hardly a notable talent and the songs not that good. Music a funny business aint it lol
 
It's not that long ago that someone posted a link to another KK article where he was a espousing a very different message and strongly defending the ultra high end - which the companies he criticises here are certainly a part of.

I remember KK's regular reviews for HiFi News. They seemed to follow a sort of KK formulae. Start off with a circuitous preamble that included some Yiddish slang and reference to expensive watches. Continue by name dropping some well known industry people - Ricardo (Absolute Sounds) was rarely left out. Write a short comment on the sound of said component that concluded it redefined ones expectations and was a bargain :).

One upon a time hi-fi reviewers saw themselves primarily as reviewers who could also write their thoughts in a coherent manner. These days many seem to consider themselves as primarily being journalists who just happen to write about hi-fi :(.
 
Chaps

This thread seems to be a lot of squawking over a non issue.

If someone wants to spend a pile of cash on an expensive whatever, who cares, it is their money and has bugger all to do with us. They keep workers in jobs and retailers in business. Also they will be paying a high amount of VAT, so we all benefit from that.

Live and let live etc.

Regards

Mick
 
I have had many amps here over the years, none of them too expensive, mostly budget stuff from the likes of Naim, Cyrus, Arcam, Rega etc, just to prove that the sound is in the ear of the beholder, my latest acquisition, an original Cyrus One, something I purchased on a wim & was going to sell on to fund a Naim Nait 5i purchase, has turned out be an excellent purchase, cost me £95 including postage, apart from a stale smell emanating from within (hopefully will burn away of it's own accord) it just sings like a bird with any genre I throw at it, utterly addictive.

For comparison, I had an original Nait here recently, I believe, though could be wrong, both were around £300 new around the same time period, the Cyrus, to my ears, sounds far more convincing, much greater detail levels, which is a must for me,, it grabs hold of a rhythm & holds on like a limpet.

Spending money on hifi is & the reasoning behind it is very subjective, some may need to spend thousands to achieve the sound they seek, others achieve it on a cheap budget, I don't need lots of power for example, some may need this & it's not cheap if you want quality to match. It's all relative.
 
Ken is how we say in here in the Colonies "Full of it".
He has a point here to a degree but this from the guy who spent 30+
years promoting $$$$ Krell, Audio Research and Italian speakers. Now he
has qualms about $5K cables:p. He's also contributed as to why folks
pay to much $ for old Ls35a's IMO.
 
Mick P said:
If someone wants to spend a pile of cash on an expensive whatever, who cares, it is their money and has bugger all to do with us. They keep workers in jobs and retailers in business. Also they will be paying a high amount of VAT, so we all benefit from that.

Live and let live etc.

Regards

Mick
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Entirely fair point, Mick.
 
Notice how deluxe womens watches are pure jewellery, covered in diamonds etc, while mens models emphasise the craftsmanship and are "chunky".
Probably why high end HiFi is a male dominated business
 
Daft article.
Apart from all the issues previously noted, anybody who writes "They will have to communicate -- as have the car, watch, yacht, jewellery, and other manufacturers in the luxury sector -- the value of materials, labour, design, and other considerations. And they have to make it desirable" is having a laugh.

If by "value", he means what somebody is willing to pay, his statement is tautological. If he means cost, when is the last time a luxury goods manufacturer communicated a costed bill of material to a potential customer? Does he think Hermès justify the price of any of their bags based on numbers of hours worked and meters of leather used?
 
I am reminded of the Heartbeat episode in which Claude Jeremiah Greengrass was hired on as Lord Ashfordly's game keeper because some much more nasty poachers were having a go in the North Riding.
 
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