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Why I'm turned off of modern gear - A Rant.
- Thread starter dewdude
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MurrayLives
Born to lose, live to win
Statements about budgeting are entirely different from ones made about wealth. I agree.
I was talking to one of my "rich" friends this weekend and I mentioned a good deal on $1,000 speakers. His head spun just thinking about it. Even telling him that mediocre BB speakers would be about $500 a pair wouldn't sway him on the value add. And he knows what my setup sounds like and loves it, but can't square the quality vs. the cost to do it.
fredgarvin
Super Member
As well reasoned as your other replies!
I beg to differ my friend - the hot water should only go through the grounds ONCE to avoid dissolving all the acids from the beans into the water.Percolated coffe = best tasting coffee.
A Bialtetti pot ($34) pushes the hot water through the grounds ONCE. Try a cup or 2 of Cafe Bustelo via a Bialtetti - very yum!
fredgarvin
Super Member
Now that's going too far.Percolated coffe = best tasting coffee.
As well reasoned as your other replies!
Yep. Please feel free to quote some reasoned articles proving that Sony's ONLY reason to create HDMI was copy protection.
There's still a lot of high quality channel equipment being made today that's well within the means of most people. In my office, I have a Yamaha BPC receiver I bought new for $300 and never gave a lick of trouble and been on a good 10 hours a day for the past 20 years...so who knows. 
In any case, classic gear for me is something I enjoy but it does come with a price since I cannot service it myself. I've spent more than enough in repairs alone to keep me going in new (throwaway) gear for the rest of my life and then some. But most new preamplifiers & amplifiers simply doesn't trip my trigger, although there are some notable exceptions.
Other exception is speakers whose performance has improved dramatically over the last several decades, especially relative to improvements in electronics which from an audible standpoint have been comparatively small over the same period - IMHO.
In any case, classic gear for me is something I enjoy but it does come with a price since I cannot service it myself. I've spent more than enough in repairs alone to keep me going in new (throwaway) gear for the rest of my life and then some. But most new preamplifiers & amplifiers simply doesn't trip my trigger, although there are some notable exceptions.
Other exception is speakers whose performance has improved dramatically over the last several decades, especially relative to improvements in electronics which from an audible standpoint have been comparatively small over the same period - IMHO.
MurrayLives
Born to lose, live to win
It wouldn't exactly be out of character for Sony. Just sayin'...
stereofanboy
Addicted Member
My Soundesign all-in-one from 1982 was cheap **** comparable to a Crosley of today. It's still working fine. I wonder how many of the current Crosleys will still be working in 2052. How about 2022?
MurrayLives
Born to lose, live to win
Those old Soundesign/Yorx/etc's have crummy glue that seems to fail at around 30 years, then it falls apart like the proverbial Bluesmobile (not literally, but all the mechanicals seem to crap out at once).
bhunter
The Spherical Cow
I'm partial to ChemEx.
Are you familiar with The Trojan Room Coffee pot at Cambridge and XCoffee? Here's a bit of its history.
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/coffee/qsf/coffee.html
I have had a lot of cheap stuff that lasted a long time....I do think a lot of things depend on how they were treated.
bhunter
The Spherical Cow
Hey! Just like Quad ESL-63 stators.
Yep, they made a joke about it on Halt and Catch Fire this season ...
I remember it back in the early days of Mosaic, too.
dewdude
High on resolution.
This thread went off on several tangents.
Let me explain a few things I should have probably explained:
1) this was a rant. it didn't help that the minute I showed up at my parents place I was getting yelled at for having "done something to the stereo". I actually had no intention of replying...I just wanted to pound out the thoughts in my head someplace they would be read by individuals with the same interest...regardless of what their reaction is.
2) reliability shouldn't be an option for those who can afford to pay through the nose. I paid $129 for my last smartphone...I used it for 18 months before I chose to upgrade. I know people who spent more on "better" phones that had some random failure. I realize random problems can't be avoided...but.......
3) you keep going on and on about used junk...yet:
Part of my rant was you'd think if a company was having consistent problems with units failing...they would actually begin to think they have a reputation at stake and would try to fix them. Apparently they haven't...which just says the average modern consumer has fully accepted the idea that something will just die and you'll just go replace it with a new one...that's bigger...with more power...more ram..faster clocks...whatever. Those of us...especially someone like me who services commercial quality equipment for a living...really has to wonder why people have accepted this. I can understand why the TV/VCR repair shop in town closed...no one bothers to have stuff fixed. They just put the corpse on the curb and run out to wal-mart and pick up a new one.
It just irks me to no end.
Let me explain a few things I should have probably explained:
1) this was a rant. it didn't help that the minute I showed up at my parents place I was getting yelled at for having "done something to the stereo". I actually had no intention of replying...I just wanted to pound out the thoughts in my head someplace they would be read by individuals with the same interest...regardless of what their reaction is.
2) reliability shouldn't be an option for those who can afford to pay through the nose. I paid $129 for my last smartphone...I used it for 18 months before I chose to upgrade. I know people who spent more on "better" phones that had some random failure. I realize random problems can't be avoided...but.......
3) you keep going on and on about used junk...yet:
- I only bought the one Onkyo...already dead...to have something to play around with. IT was more dead than the one I already had; I thought maybe having two I could get something going. The one from Goodwill I wasn't aware had a bad HDMI board till I got it home.
- The Denon was a brand new purchase. It wasn't used junk...it was brand new in sealed box.
- I bought the refurb Onkyo...yes...I kind of made an assumption that a company cares about it's reputation and might actually fix problems. I get paid to go through and fix problems....but my name and reputation is on the line so I actually try to figure out why it broke..and do things to prevent it from happening. Hell...if I don't see a customer once every five years; I know I've done my job. If I have to keep showing up every month...I know I've screwed up. But I didn't take any of the other 515's offered to me because at this point I knew there was no way I could service them. No one even wanted money for them...it was "take that dead pile of junk if you want it".
Part of my rant was you'd think if a company was having consistent problems with units failing...they would actually begin to think they have a reputation at stake and would try to fix them. Apparently they haven't...which just says the average modern consumer has fully accepted the idea that something will just die and you'll just go replace it with a new one...that's bigger...with more power...more ram..faster clocks...whatever. Those of us...especially someone like me who services commercial quality equipment for a living...really has to wonder why people have accepted this. I can understand why the TV/VCR repair shop in town closed...no one bothers to have stuff fixed. They just put the corpse on the curb and run out to wal-mart and pick up a new one.
It just irks me to no end.
Actually I don't have a pot to piss in but I don't ignore or whine about reality.
Just old metal oxides instead.
JoeESP9
ESL's & tubes since 83
I bet that many here don't know that Mosaic was one of the first browsers. But, what do I know? I've forgotten my CompuServe number.
Yeah, boats can be expensive, and new outboard motors are also loaded with tech that is pretty similar in nature to what this thread is all about. I just repowered my boat this year, and I went, if not "vintage", at least backwards in time a little from what new motors are all about. My issue here is one of reliability, and the ability to get back home. Where I run I might not see another boat for most of the day, and with the weather always threatening and miles of just rocky coast it would be a hell of a time for the black box to spit out some bad code and flash a error 13 (Take me to your dealer), particularly for some minor issue.
I instead bought an older mid 90's Honda with very little time on it, with carbs, little in the way of computers to fail and it has been a sweet running machine.
As for audio, I guess by my location, and buying choices I am a happy camper with vintage. My Kenwood 700 was built 45 years ago and made to last for generations. I have had it rebuilt recently and the sound is very pleasing to my ears. I cannot see myself ever selling it for something modern just because the new stuff happens to have a remote and some digital wizardry to it. Most of what I need a remote for is volume control and when I listen to music it is through the computer and the little wheel on a wireless mouse is all that is necessary for that. I also listen through the Kenwood amp when I watch TV. Stereo is all I need for that as I am not avid at television for entertainment.
If I were forced to buy new I would look for a company that has a reputation to stand by their products down the road. That means keeping parts available and otherwise doing their best to fix any "dead anchors" they might have produced. Probably not too many companies are up to that. McIntosh probably. Who else?
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