More Money Than Brains Dept

There are similarities between audiophiles and pro audio installation. Both will spend time building a room to make for a good stereo image. However, the studio person is content with metal speaker stands, as opposed to spending thousands for specialized granite pillars or mahogany knobs for the pre-amp. There is a point of diminishing returns, and a point where no ear is good enough to tell differences, even for a master mixing tech (who knows the difference between making a mix for LP, CD, radio, and directly to iTunes.)

The ironic thing is that the pro stuff can be used for audiophile work, but usually not the other way around.

I have "Tin Ears" , But 35 yrs ago, I worked for JBL building the factory in Northridge, Ca... where they consolidated all their operations that had been spread out over the city
Stayed on as a machinery maintenance tech and factory electrician
As a by product I learned a lot about speaker MFG, and what goes into making pro audio monitor speakers, and the consumer stuff, some of which I have forgotten..
But I can say this...It an't easy to design and MFG the pro stuff

You haven't seen anything yet.

http://www.machinadynamica.com

When someone starts debating ultra-tweeter response above 15K Hz, I walk. That is bat and canine audio range.

And vibration transducers that shake the flooring. My gig is small speakers that sound great. I hobbied speaker construction in the late sixties. One customer had a huge home in the hills above Bezerkeley. A ninety-foot long library. He wanted "live concert" dimension and db. I used thirty-inch diameter ElectroVoice woofers and Voice Of The Theater mid-range horns. He had his existing McIntosh tube type pre-amplifier, final amp and an equalizer with what must have been sixteen slider controls per channel.

He was a happy camper but while proofing the system I think I damaged my hearing. His Shur turntable was located in a heavily insulated closet. His test record was the overture from 2001 a Space Odyssey.

I took the money and ran. My favorite remains bookshelf speakers.

"I personally know a couple of real Audiophiles"...I always wanted to be one, how much are the Certificates and who is the issuing Agency?? (LOL!!)...But not sure if I could afford the entry fees...

3 tons

The funny thing is the difference between "audiophile" expensive stuff (specialized wood knobs, overpriced cables), versus studio/professional grade equipment.

For example, a set of pro grade monitor speakers are similar in price to midrange "audiophile" stuff, but the monitors will have a proven flat response which is necessary for an accurate mix (boomy bass can always be tossed in later), while the "audiophile" stuff... who knows.

Pro grade stuff is for people who spend money to do audio for a living, and it doesn't live up to the rigors of the studio and gigging, it is not worth having. "Audiophile" stuff doesn't really have to do much other than maybe look cool.

Isn't it sorta like filling two identical wading pools - one with a 5/8" hose, the other with a 3/4" hose. Then have the manufacturer go off and start bragging the water that went through his hose feels "softer"?

Gold does have it's place in electrical and electronics. 24 karat gold has quite low electrical resistance and is impervious to all but agua regia acid. Coins brought up as sunken treasure hundreds of years spent beneath the sea, look like they just came out of the mint. But gold plating has to be thick, and mate with gold plated parts for the process to work. Whine! Expensive!

Golden ears audio stuff is really something. Thanks to the power of suggestion with our hearing. I take pride in my high end speakers wired with Home Depot outdoor lighting cable.

For a chuckle read up on how a high end power cord can greatly improve the sound. So much snake oil out there...just amazing..

pconroy328 wrote:
Ok - there's no way in heck I'd ever pay for these Monster style cables. But I've seen a couple of studies in Audiophile magazines where the cables do "sound" better to professionals in a double-blind study.

I've read just the opposite, that they can't tell the difference. I personally know a couple of real audiophiles, the kind who's equipment even has tubes because that's how anal they are. Even they've told me that Monster Cable is a rip off. Good quality cabling can make a difference, but Monster does not improve it enough to justify the cost.

For speaker cable- larger is better- there is a huge difference between #16 and #12, and yes, I (and many others) can easily hear that (of course, the system I was demonstrating it on was a triamped 2,000 watt per channel setup :). That has to do with damping, or the ability of the amp to *stop* the speaker from moving.

The funny part about the power cord is- what about the other 1,000 feet of wire between the outlet and the transformer on the pole?