Hi tcpip,
I agree with you on the sub-sat systems. But you see, most people don't care about music. Like you have rightly mentioned in your other article - foreground and background listeners - 99% of the people I come across are background listeners, who are not critical of music. They like something going on in the background when they do other "chores". If they find the music to have some rythm, they will go ahead and pump up the volume or blast it. The problem I believe is that these people have not heard of live music. So they do not know what to listen for in a good system.
Another problem is that when people listen to sub-sat (I know you are hinting at Bose), they compare it with the Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer, Aiwa mini/micro systems. Of course, Bose will sound nice then. They have no opportunity to compare them to some good bookshelf systems. Honestly, then I first heard Bose, I was hooked and 5 years later I purchased the AM-5 Series II. But at that point of time, "quality" did not matter - it was the "loudness" that mattered. But soon I was visiting shows, making audiophile friends online, getting to know Jazz, Classical and the whole Bose thing came crashing on me. The last straw was listening to an in-home demo that Mr.Ajay Shirke (a thorough gentleman - and owner of Cadence Audio) gave me on his system that comprised on Cadence Arca+Tube amps+Forsell CD+SME Turntable+Sony DAT player, etc. I was actually able to "see" music in his system. Of course his system costs several lacs of Rs. But I could not "see" that music in my system.
Then it occurred to me that the sub-sat system was putting out loudness - not music - and that is what ignorant people get hooked up. The bass from these system is great if you don't know what a good percussion, when played live, can do. As I started to listen to live music, I got hooked up to real music and my search began. Currently (13 years after Bose AM-5) I have now a Quad (dynamic - not eletrostats) system that plays absolutely stunning SA-CD. I will not dive into vinyl, as it is expensive and my job requires moving.
But the point is, general public (janta) is more focused on ads and they do not know the real thing. Or, they do not find music to be as compelling as say a movie. Very few "have time" to sit down and listen. Most of them feel that something is wrong with you - if you sit in front of your system and listen. Most janta have home-theater that is wrongly setup. But the system is "invisible" and impresses your friends. Though the future looks not-so-good for the audiophile/audio-enthusiast, we can certainly hope for the best.
Mikker
PS: Here is another link that you can go through:
http://www.intellexual.net/bose.html
Nice post
Hi tcpip,
I agree with you on the sub-sat systems. But you see, most people don't care about music. Like you have rightly mentioned in your other article - foreground and background listeners - 99% of the people I come across are background listeners, who are not critical of music. They like something going on in the background when they do other "chores". If they find the music to have some rythm, they will go ahead and pump up the volume or blast it. The problem I believe is that these people have not heard of live music. So they do not know what to listen for in a good system.
Another problem is that when people listen to sub-sat (I know you are hinting at Bose), they compare it with the Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer, Aiwa mini/micro systems. Of course, Bose will sound nice then. They have no opportunity to compare them to some good bookshelf systems. Honestly, then I first heard Bose, I was hooked and 5 years later I purchased the AM-5 Series II. But at that point of time, "quality" did not matter - it was the "loudness" that mattered. But soon I was visiting shows, making audiophile friends online, getting to know Jazz, Classical and the whole Bose thing came crashing on me. The last straw was listening to an in-home demo that Mr.Ajay Shirke (a thorough gentleman - and owner of Cadence Audio) gave me on his system that comprised on Cadence Arca+Tube amps+Forsell CD+SME Turntable+Sony DAT player, etc. I was actually able to "see" music in his system. Of course his system costs several lacs of Rs. But I could not "see" that music in my system.
Then it occurred to me that the sub-sat system was putting out loudness - not music - and that is what ignorant people get hooked up. The bass from these system is great if you don't know what a good percussion, when played live, can do. As I started to listen to live music, I got hooked up to real music and my search began. Currently (13 years after Bose AM-5) I have now a Quad (dynamic - not eletrostats) system that plays absolutely stunning SA-CD. I will not dive into vinyl, as it is expensive and my job requires moving.
But the point is, general public (janta) is more focused on ads and they do not know the real thing. Or, they do not find music to be as compelling as say a movie. Very few "have time" to sit down and listen. Most of them feel that something is wrong with you - if you sit in front of your system and listen. Most janta have home-theater that is wrongly setup. But the system is "invisible" and impresses your friends. Though the future looks not-so-good for the audiophile/audio-enthusiast, we can certainly hope for the best.
Mikker
PS: Here is another link that you can go through:
http://www.intellexual.net/bose.html