Henry Rollins' $200K speakers: How punk is(n't) that?

For a successful, professional musician to have an expensive stereo doesn't bother me, no more than a professional chef owning a pro-quality stove or a professional driver owning an expensive car. I'm also not bothered by a rich lawyer or banker (or anyone who is not a professional audio person) who understands and appreciates music and good audio quality buying good stuff, they should be able to reap the rewards from their success.... Heck, I'd love to be able to afford a $300k system!

What would annoy me is someone who does not care about music or good sound spending $300k on a system just to impress people. Having a $300k system just to listen to the stock market reports on AM radio, or just to look pretty at dinner parties is the kind of conspicuous consumption that bothers me, and I think that Rollins was railing against.

Now, all that said Rollins' own philosophy, and the DIY aesthetic of punk in general, typically shuns such over-the-top expensive consumerism, but I'd be willing to bet that Rollins is actually pushing his $300k stereo pretty hard and playing some good music of all types on it. Would we be concerned if Yo Yo Ma has a $300k stereo? Katy Perry? For them, it's tools of the trade.

If Rollins was in 'Better Homes and Gardens' going on and on about his imported draperies hand woven by monks in the Alps from the silk of virgin spiders, and dyed with the juice of organic, grass-fed berries that only grow on the western slope of one hill in the Urals, harvested by blind orphans and hand-delivered by the Pope.... I'd be a bit more concerned about his philosophy being intact, but for him to have a really nice, and expensive stereo... that's cool with me.

(I must admit though that part of my childhood died when he did The Gap commercials)
 
I try not to judge, which is a PC way of saying I don't give a shit what anyone does as long as it doesn't affect me. (Edit- or the well being of others, of course)
Also, everyone is a hypocrite in some sense. They may not think it, but I can almost guarantee they participate in some activity that is against their belief system. I am guilty so no way I'm gonna throw stones.
Rollins is a celebrity, so he gets to voice his opinion a lot. That's all well and good, but it doesn't have any more value than yours or mine. As far as the OP goes, well, he's gotta spend it somehow...he doesn't do drugs...doesn't like girls...or cars....what else is left?

I can't add much to this except...

....even IF he were to shun his financial success and give it all away with reckless generosity (the Roky denture thing is pretty ****in' cool, BTW) I'd have to say to him....at least take a little of your disposable wealth and buy yourself a bad ass rig with which to fully enjoy your obvious love of music.

I got no beef with Henry. Live and let live.....unless you threaten fundamental freedom. He clearly does no such thing.
 
This may be political, but in what way is a poor Chinese/Indian/Malaysian etc. earning money in a factory suffering? I've always considered this to be real Foreign Aid, i.e. teaching the peasant to fish as opposed to taking a handout or giving aid to governments so they can buy more weapons.

Certainly I have no problem with how Rollins spends his money anymore than I have with Pete Townsend still being alive after hoping "to die before I get old.":D

In some cases what you say is indeed true. In other cases its exploitative. When we reformed our garment industry at the turn of the century so that those workers had days off and fair pay those jobs just moved to other places like Bangladesh where the tragedies we faced a hundred years ago are repeating themselves in the present.

Sent from the driver's seat or the desk at work via my Google Nexus 4
 
I think he should throw a huge punk party and crank that system up, and then for the finally, he should play Rise Above as loud as it will go, then invite everyone to help him smash that fancy system up..

Now that would be maintaining his punk image..
 
who says he paid retail for it? maybe he found it at a garage sale for $25 :smoke:


I LOVEDDDDDDDDDD Black Flag back in H.S.... but that was awhile ago now and I think safe to say I am a very different person now ... don't see why Rollins wouldn't be different these years on.
 
Funny that people are finding fault with someone for buying speakers in an audio forum. :scratch2:

I'll leave the rest of my thoughts to myself.
 
Just remember the singer for the Dead Kennedy's is a high powered lawyer now.
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Eh, no. He does spoken word and music.

Anyway, what I'm most shocked at is how Hank has that much cash to throw at a system. He's had some bit parts in movies and TV but you need some serious bank to drop $250k in a stereo. Maybe got stuff cheap(er) through friends?
I'd like to see his set up.
 
Good for him! if I could afford it...
Henry R strikes me as the kind of guy you could hang out with and listen to music.
 
It bothers me a little that some are ostracizing somebody who shares our hobby and works to increase the awareness of HiFi. This ties in really neatly to that other thread about AK having a bad reputation.

Sent from the driver's seat or the desk at work via my Google Nexus 4
 
"We are consumer driven and materialistic. Certainly, we are not the only country like that but we are very much into our stuff, we value our stuff and we often judge ourselves by size of house, bank account, etc. I think being this way perhaps cuts some of us off from seeing a bigger picture."

I think Henry Rollins probably enjoys his gear very much, probably for the same reasons that we are all here: it makes our music sound better. He has a six-figure stereo system because he can afford it and apparently cares about sound quality very much. I don't think he bought it to be judged by it, increase his his own self worth, etc. He just cares about the music. On the other hand, I don't think he'd judge if a fan listened to Damaged or Weight on a crappy system. I know at one time that's how I listened to those albums. :thmbsp:

That all said, being a Black Flag/ Rollins fan I am surprised that he's into high end audio. I always thought that there was something left to be desired with most of their recordings. Then again, he's not the first punk from that era that cares deeply about quality sound.
 
In the As We See It column of the new issue of Stereophile, Rollins is back, & discusses his system which includes Wilson Alexandria XLF speakers ($200,000/pair) and some VTL Sigfried Series 2 amps ($65,000), Series 7.5 III preamp ($20,000) and TP-6.5 phono stage ($6,500). So we are at over $290,000 without getting to the turntable and cartridge or cabling.

This from the man who said "We are consumer driven and materialistic. Certainly, we are not the only country like that but we are very much into our stuff, we value our stuff and we often judge ourselves by size of house, bank account, etc. I think being this way perhaps cuts some of us off from seeing a bigger picture."

Talk amongst yourselves...

Well, at least he said "we" in the quote and not "you" or "them".....

Henry is an interesting and complex man.
 
Henry Rollins (in 1981, still with Black Flag and still drinking to excess) played in my hometown of Belleville, IL.

We guaranteed them $1000 and they showed up in their touring van, at Augustine's Restaurant (you'll appreciate this, Simi).

I was head of security that night (!)...

The show got wild (of course), Henry got plastered (of course), and his roadies shut off ALL the electricity to the disco, the hotel complex, the restaurant, and the banquet facility where we were holding this little fandango.

As the lights went out, glasses and ashtrays started flying, fists and bodies started flailing about, and a good time was had by all.

No arrests, no problems, just no more live shows at this venue!

Henry, despite his financial success, will always be remembered in this regard. At least by me.

Wilson speakers might not be punk, but my experience with that guy WAS. :yes:
 
Well, at least he said "we" in the quote and not "you" or "them".....

Henry is an interesting and complex man.

Ain't it the truth.
I started this thread not in judgement of any kind. I actually find what Henry has to say in the column fairly compelling, but that said, I personally can't imagine spending 200 large on a pair of speakers. But that's just me.

I DO think that given who he is and what he's had to say over the years* it's interesting to note the nature of his system. And in the grand scheme of things, he's not a big celebrity, so one would think that this investment represents a not insignificant portion of his net worth. Again, not a judgement, just an observation.

And no, Jello Biafra isnt a lawyer, high powered or otherwise. He dropped out of UC Santa Cruz after his freshman year.


*full disclosure: In college (c.1985) I got an A on an assignment for an Effective Speaking class using a Rollins spoken word piece about a rat who wanted to be a talkshow host.
 
Ain't it the truth.
I started this thread not in judgement of any kind. I actually find what Henry has to say in the column fairly compelling, but that said, I personally can't imagine spending 200 large on a pair of speakers. But that's just me.

I DO think that given who he is and what he's had to say over the years* it's interesting to note the nature of his system. And in the grand scheme of things, he's not a big celebrity, so one would think that this investment represents a not insignificant portion of his net worth. Again, not a judgement, just an observation.

And no, Jello Biafra isnt a lawyer, high powered or otherwise. He dropped out of UC Santa Cruz after his freshman year.


*full disclosure: In college (c.1985) I got an A on an assignment for an Effective Speaking class using a Rollins spoken word piece about a rat who wanted to be a talkshow host.

I hear you, based on the memories of 30+ years ago, my internal stereotype would expect him to be rocking a big-ass pair of Westlakes or the aforementioned Ocean Way system..... With lots of money left over for skydiving and boxing lessons.

Perhaps this is the unveiling of a new marketing push?

"High End - Not Just For The Highfalutin'"

"For the first time, I heard the timbre of an SM58 being crushed underfoot as it was MEANT to be heard".

Hey, good job on that "A"!
 
I second Pandovski

I guess I'm the only one who's never heard of his guy. :dunno: Any relation to Sonny Rollins? Hope he's enjoying his system. Maybe he'll post pics in our Members Systems forum. ;)

in that you are indeed NOT the only person who's never heard of him :no: I guess we're out of the loop! :yes:
 
If there's something that nobody's qualified to do, it's call out other people for not being "punk". What is punk?

"A guy walks up to me and asks 'what's punk?'. So I kick over a garbage can and say 'That's punk!'. So he kicks over another garbage can and asks 'so that's punk?', and I say, 'no, that's trendy.'"

Saying that Rollins sold out by doing something he wanted to do is just like any other bullshit selling-out argument (cough, Metallica fans). If the record company didn't tell you to do it - that is, if you wanted to do it - that is not selling out. There's nothing wrong with spending the money you have earned through rightful means and putting some of that cash back in the hands of the working man.

Just remember the singer for the Dead Kennedy's is a high powered lawyer now.
Waaaaaaay off the mark. Jello Biafra tours with his band, the Guantanamo School of Medicine, and does spoken word performances. I've seen him twice this year. If there's anyone who's stuck to his guns when others have not, it's him - even people like John Lydon have slipped to the level of bashing other punk rockers in interviews and the like.
 
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I thought the article was very good,the fact he had a 300K system was just part of the story.
 
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