Which camp are you in?

[Al ears]

I was reading an article about the ressurgence of the Technics brand written by Alan Sircom (HiFi+) where he splits music lovers of today into "mainstream music lover (who now buys Sonos, and largely isn’t that bothered about high-resolution) and the audiophile buyer (who already has their own position on high-resolution, even if that relies on abandoning digital for LPs)."

I wonder, using his definitions, where you lie.

 

[LDTM]

<braces for inevitable carnage>

The latter of the two for me though, even though I stick to CDs.

 

[spiny norman]

<braces for inevitable carnage>

The latter of the two for me though, even though I stick to CDs.

That's three camps already, then.

 

[LDTM]

And here I was trying not to muddy the waters...

 

[cheeseboy]

neither, because he's talking out of his backside.

 

[Al ears]

neither, because he's talking out of his backside.

What? A highly respected hifi critic / editor. Surley not? *biggrin*

 

[Covenanter]

neither, because he's talking out of his backside.

+1

Chris

 

[daanodinot]

Hmmm... I wouldn't consider myself a mainstream music lover (especially not contemporary), and I'm also not really into multi-room systems (i.e. Sonos). But then, I also wouldn't consider myself an audiophile by any stretch of the imagination. I recently bought the Marantz M-CR610, which I bought mainly because it's all-in-one system that offers all the features I need at a relatively low pricepoint. But it's not what most here would consider audiophile hardware. I've never been into LPs, not least because I'm too young to experience any nostalgia about it. But I am old fashioned in the sense that I prefer to listen to whole albums on a loop. I do so by means of physical CDs(!) and via Airplay from a NAS.

In short: I have no idea into which camp I fall.

 

[ID.]

Never liked camping much.

Maybe it comes across differently if I read the actual article, but I also get the impression he has no idea about who the mainstream music lover actually is.

 

[tinkywinkydipsylalapo]

What? A highly respected hifi critic / editor. Surley not? *biggrin*

Oh, I don't think he's being surly: he's just trying to conjure up some kind of simplistic distinction I don't think exists.

 

[cheeseboy]

neither, because he's talking out of his backside.

What? A highly respected hifi critic / editor. Surley not? *biggrin*

no comment

 

[Al ears]

What? A highly respected hifi critic / editor. Surley not? *biggrin*

Oh, I don't think he's being surly: he's just trying to conjure up some kind of simplistic distinction I don't think exists.

My mistake, that should have read surely.... mind you surley he may be.. Cannot say really as never have had the pleasure of meeting the gent.

 

[tinkywinkydipsylalapo]

What? A highly respected hifi critic / editor. Surley not? *biggrin*

no comment

Is there such a thing? *biggrin*

 

[Andrew17321]

Music lovers go to live concerts. And can appreciate music from almost any reasonable reproduction system.

Andrew

 

[LDTM]

Hmmm... I wouldn't consider myself a mainstream music lover (especially not contemporary), and I'm also not really into multi-room systems (i.e. Sonos). But then, I also wouldn't consider myself an audiophile by any stretch of the imagination. I recently bought the Marantz M-CR610, which I bought mainly because it's all-in-one system that offers all the features I need at a relatively low pricepoint. But it's not what most here would consider audiophile hardware. I've never been into LPs, not least because I'm too young to experience any nostalgia about it. But I am old fashioned in the sense that I prefer to listen to whole albums on a loop. I do so by means of physical CDs(!) and via Airplay from a NAS.

In short: I have no idea into which camp I fall.

You sir, are an anomaly, who should be captured and preserved for future study.

Kudos with respect to listening to full albums. Respect.

LDTM

 

[Al ears]

Hmmm... I wouldn't consider myself a mainstream music lover (especially not contemporary), and I'm also not really into multi-room systems (i.e. Sonos). But then, I also wouldn't consider myself an audiophile by any stretch of the imagination. I recently bought the Marantz M-CR610, which I bought mainly because it's all-in-one system that offers all the features I need at a relatively low pricepoint. But it's not what most here would consider audiophile hardware. I've never been into LPs, not least because I'm too young to experience any nostalgia about it. But I am old fashioned in the sense that I prefer to listen to whole albums on a loop. I do so by means of physical CDs(!) and via Airplay from a NAS.

In short: I have no idea into which camp I fall.

You sir, are an anomaly, who should be captured and preserved for future study.

Kudos with respect to listening to full albums. Respect.

LDTM

+1 Well done that man! (Apologies but this may in fact be totally incorrect - we do get a few of the female persuasion on here *biggrin*) It really is the only way to listen to some music.

 

[matt49]

What? A highly respected hifi critic / editor. Surley not? *biggrin*

Oh, I don't think he's being surly: he's just trying to conjure up some kind of simplistic distinction I don't think exists.

My mistake, that should have read surely.... mind you surley he may be.. Cannot say really as never have had the pleasure of meeting the gent.

He posts a lot, though irregularly, on the PFM forum. He's always struck me as a decent and reasonable bloke, and unusually candid for a journo, insofar as he's quite happy to admit that he writes what he writes in order to sell magazines.

He's also very well informed about the state of the hi-fi business. I suspect he doesn't fully believe this "two camps" stuff.

 

[Andy Clough]

Alan is a first-rate guy and certainly knows his hi-fi onions, whether you agree with what he says or not.

 

[Al ears]

What? A highly respected hifi critic / editor. Surley not? *biggrin*

Oh, I don't think he's being surly: he's just trying to conjure up some kind of simplistic distinction I don't think exists.

My mistake, that should have read surely.... mind you surley he may be.. Cannot say really as never have had the pleasure of meeting the gent.

He posts a lot, though irregularly, on the PFM forum. He's always struck me as a decent and reasonable bloke, and unusually candid for a journo, insofar as he's quite happy to admit that he writes what he writes in order to sell magazines.

He's also very well informed about the state of the hi-fi business. I suspect he doesn't fully believe this "two camps" stuff.

'Don't they all?' would be my response to the first highlight.

He is indeed very well informed, I always look with interest at anything he writes / reviews, and he is one amongst only a handful that I would class as notable.

He may indeed have made the statement with 'tongue in cheek' but perhaps he has noted the ipod / Dr Dre's brigade versus the attentive listener subdivisions and I thought it might make interesting debate.

I know which camp I am firmly entrenched in.

 

[Vladimir]

#audiophile, #gearhead, #objectivist, #music lover, #digital, #ss power.

 

[matt49]

He may indeed have made the statement with 'tongue in cheek' but perhaps he has noted the ipod / Dr Dre's brigade versus the attentive listener subdivisions and I thought it might make interesting debate.

I know which camp I am firmly entrenched in.

I'm not sure the two camps you describe here are the same as Alan S.'s two camps. Or let me put it another way. I use Sonos (Connect Amps and Connects), and it does a great job. A couple of my Connects have been modded and make excellent digital sources into an external DAC. Now this obviously isn't what Alan S. had in mind when he used Sonos to define one of his two camps. What he had in mind was the Sonos speakers. (I say this with confidence because I discussed exactly this point with him on PFM a month or two ago.)

So I'm a Sonos user; I don't do hi-res and am perfectly happy with CD quality; but Alan S. would class me as an audiophile, and you'd class me as an "attentive listener".

Categories are tricky little blighters.

 

[Covenanter]

Alan is a first-rate guy and certainly knows his hi-fi onions, whether you agree with what he says or not.

Do you place the onions on top of or underneath the amplifier?

Chris

 

[Al ears]

Alan is a first-rate guy and certainly knows his hi-fi onions, whether you agree with what he says or not.

Do you place the onions on top of or underneath the amplifier?

Chris

Thought everone knew that they went underneath. They'd smell pretty aweful on top of mine.

 

[Vladimir]

Especially on the hot plate called Musical Fidelity A1.

 

[steve_1979]

Alan is a first-rate guy and certainly knows his hi-fi onions, whether you agree with what he says or not.

+1

He seems like a really nice chap and posts some very interesting comments on the PFM forum which are worth reading. His forum comments come accross as being very objective, honest and extremely knollegable on the forum and are often totally different to the audiophile foo that he writes for the magazine (he openly admits on the forum that what's in the magazine is what people want to read and what will sell but is not what he necessary believes himself).