Is there something 'they' really like?

Archguy

Official Roiurama Factory Rep
My friends all like music, but none of them are into audio gear in even the slightest way. I try to convert them a little bit at a time, now and then, by drawing just a bit of attention now and then to the amazing SQ. When it's amazing, anyway. I make some slow headway, I like to think.

BUT... there are a few pieces, it turns out, they really like. Some of it's easy to predict, and some of it's not. I found out about the Jolida FX10 when I told a friend that one of my tube amps was out of service while I worked on it. A switch broke! He went into the living room and said, with relief, at least it's not that one--that's the one I like.

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Is there some piece or other of your audio gear that you've found appeals to the non-gearheads among your friends and family? Another friend just fell in love with my McIntosh amp, which was very gratifying. I said, just wait until it gets dark in here: then it really comes alive.

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I think the lights help. I can see 'lay people' falling for old-style receivers too. Anyone?
 
Anything vinyl related seems to get people interested. My girlfriend will have friends over who totally ignore the system until they notice that there are records then they want me to play one. Other than that nothing I've got is really all that interesting to look at.

Good point. People under a certain age will drop their jaws when they discover you can produce high-fidelity sound by dragging a diamond across a piece of plastic. Well, they could last time I tried, which was 20 years ago. Nowadays I think hipsters are on to this one.

A friend also mentioned this Cambridge amp, which is attractive enough but IMHO not really worth mentioning..

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ETA: Not a single person likes the Magneplanars. Except me
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The most interest I've had from visitors was a home health nurse who inquired about the music that was playing, which initially was Uriah Heep's Salisbury, the track. She'd never heard it and loved it. I burned her a sampler of old classic rock from bands like Wishbone Ash and Ten Years After, which she played for weeks in her car. No one ever cares about the gear, but they do comment on SQ. If I try to make the connection between that and the gear, they quickly lose interest, I've found, so I don't go there anymore unless someone expresses interest in the hardware.

My guy friends who visit couldn't care less about gear. They use inexpensive sound bars for sports TV and movies. If I hogtie them and tighten the ropes well, they will listen to some music with me - and I have twisted their arms once or twice - and they end up enjoying it, but it isn't something they want to do often. I do miss having audio enthusiast friends who occasionally visit for a listening session like I had twenty years ago in another place.
 
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My mother was no way an audiophile, but she likes good music. When I was kid, I was a fan of Michael Jackson, and I particularly liked the song We Are The World. She knew it very well. Then in 2013, I played her the song on JBL 120Ti loudspeakers, then she was really excited. Mom said she knew We Are The World were sung by many artists, but when the song is played on lesser systems, the voices sound all the same. Mom then told me, that on JBL 120Tis, she could really discern the different voice of a particular singer.
 
The Ohm Fs are always conversation starters. Once someone's interest is piqued, I have them walk around it while the music is playing. Watching their face when they realize the sound never changes is fun.

At this point I have them hooked, so they listen some more. I put on Take Five and they finally hear what drums sound like when they're realistically produced by a home stereo. They go back to their soundbars and bluetooth speakers, but at least they have that sound in their head now. :)

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My friends all like music, but none of them are into audio gear in even the slightest way. I try to convert them a little bit at a time, now and then, by drawing just a bit of attention now and then to the amazing SQ. When it's amazing, anyway. I make some slow headway, I like to think.

BUT... there are a few pieces, it turns out, they really like. Some of it's easy to predict, and some of it's not. I found out about the Jolida FX10 when I told a friend that one of my tube amps was out of service while I worked on it. A switch broke! He went into the living room and said, with relief, at least it's not that one--that's the one I like.

467459-jolida_fx10_tube_amp_like_new_black.jpg


Is there some piece or other of your audio gear that you've found appeals to the non-gearheads among your friends and family? Another friend just fell in love with my McIntosh amp, which was very gratifying. I said, just wait until it gets dark in here: then it really comes alive.

index.php


I think the lights help. I can see 'lay people' falling for old-style receivers too. Anyone?

Yeah, people like the FX10, I posted a video in 2013 on you-tube, nothing great about the video, an iPad feeding a MOG 320 bit download for the FX10, Jolida found it and its still on their website to this day.

I don't know if its like, but everyone comments on my Maggies, "Is that a speaker"
 
Nobody cares.

Actually my gear is in the living room which is closed off by French doors. I have to let people in there, and there is no reason for them to be in there. The seating is only set up for listening to music, so people go into the family room for conversation. The equipment is all tucked in a credenza, so cannot be seen. If anyone does get a peek through the glass they can see speakers and my turntables. The speakers might get a comment as they are large JBL, and not often seen in homes anymore. But people come here to visit people, not check out stereo gear, so very few people get to listen to the system.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
Occasionally my brother will pop in to listen if I get a new piece of equipment. Other than that,nobody gives two shakes of a rats fat ass.
 
"We" may have a very interesting hobby, which is utterly boring and not interesting at all for "them". I can understand.

Although I like looking at cars being a statement of their time, I do meet people just changing their wheels on their recent cars to something "nice" and proudly show them.
They expect me to come with them and have a look, my expectation is just to see round wheels having black tires and up to now this has always been the case. For those, I am one of "them".
 

About the only thing on my 2 ch stereo rig that most visitors find interesting is my elevator Lap Top stand. It sits on a living room TV stand (right of TT) ... which seems to baffle them. I use it as an interface for subscription streaming. I get questions
like "what is that for, Netflix? ... I can watch Netflix on my Smart TV"

Otherwise ... the interest in 2 ch stereo is just not there ... IMHO, like it was back in the day.
 
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like showing off your watches (they all tell time), or your exotic car.

you gotta drink the Kool-Aid first. then you look for the blue lights that signal impending
alien abduction. then when you return, you drink more beer
and then

enjoy the music.
 
Good point. People under a certain age will drop their jaws when they discover you can produce high-fidelity sound by dragging a diamond across a piece of plastic. Well, they could last time I tried, which was 20 years ago. Nowadays I think hipsters are on to this one.

A friend also mentioned this Cambridge amp, which is attractive enough but IMHO not really worth mentioning..

g779351AS-F.jpeg


ETA: Not a single person likes the Magneplanars. Except me
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Even some people who lived through the vinyl era can marvel at it. They remembered it as all clicks and pops.
I know of at least two people who have re-visited their vinyl after being here. And I'm not running any high zoot tables.

Some kids in particular are just thrilled to see a table in action.
My parents saved my old Fisher Price player, so it ended up in my kid's playroom. I recall one play date where one of the kids was a bit older. She took the player over to the corner of the room and away from the noise of the other kids, and just stared at it while it played. It sounded like crap, but it was completely new to her and she couldn't get enough of it.
 
Oh, and one of my neighbours loves my music collection.
When the weather is nice I often play some music out of the garage window that faces the patio. I usually play jazz that isn't too 'busy', blues, and rock that isn't too hard.
If she opens her office window she can hear it.
"I always know it's spring when I can hear blues coming out of your garage".
 
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