Leaving aside the BS, because we can do nothing about it except ignore it, and the high prices, we either pay them or we don't, I'd largely agree with Si's post... except the bit quoted.Diapason wrote:
... it's no longer the case that good sound requires a serious hifi. Contrary to the suggestions elsewhere in the thread, I think the lower end of the market is flourishing, there are LOADS of good-sounding options for the casual listener, and that's the problem. For most people, the sound from an iPod dock and speakers is plenty good enough. ... Now you just buy a Zeppelin, and given how often that pops up in mainstream mags, that's a popular and desirable product to many. Why should people upgrade from the simplicity of that? I think the real answer is that "good" hifi just isn't enough better than "normal" stuff any more.
Almost by definition we hifi geeks will sit down to just listen to music. I know many 'normal' people don't listen to music like that and they will probably have some music on while reading, knitting, welding or shagging but for the sort of person that does sit down to purposefully listen to music the ipod dock or Zepplin simply isn't good enough. Even at full bitrate these systems are tiring to listen to and utterly unsatisfactory. They're fine in a kitchen, office or shop but for lenghty critical listening? I don't think so. An hour or so tops. I know I've spent many hours listening and it wasn't fatigue that made me stop! (it was either family intervention or hunger).
I know I'm not being very articulate here (written between customers!) but I was actually encouraged by the numbers that turned out for the HiFi show this year. There is a real interest out there and while ipods etc. may well rule in quantity they are not comparable in quality, even the music industry has adjusted the quality of it's recordings and the method of distribution to feed that low standard - pay full price for a 128kbs track? sure!
