And I thought photography was expensive!

[sashbar]

My question would be did they try the same system using cheap cables? And if so was there a noticeable difference? If there was, did the person who noticed it know which cables were used?

The problem with most audiophiles is that they use subjective reasoning to say why something is better. Something "sounding better" is not something that can be quantified, just like saying something tastes better.

Of course, they would bring their studio cables ( some Van Damme stuff or similar - cheap, but not bad cables at all btw, studios do not use any wire either) and when I switch to a cable that balances the system well, and they usually say - "you are kidding, it can not be. Yu have switched something in you amp" or " have you moved one of your speakers" etc. (I presume you are aware that in a well balanced Hi end system moving a speaker by several cm changes the sound quite dramatically)
Of course this is all subjective. How can you measure the cable distortion that, for example, flattens your sounstage by a meter ? You switch the cable - you hear a saxophone or a fiddle two steps further from where it was a minute ago.. A sound engineer will tell you that sounstage depends on the speakers and the room, not cables. But then you switch cables and you hear it clearly.. do you need any measurements to prove it? Any blind tests? And that is just a soundstage, a very simple concept. But music as such is very subjective and your perception of what you hear is subjective. Some people do not hear anything. Fair enough - some can not tell a good orchestra performance from a bad one, it is all just mucis. But it does not mean there is no difference.

I am not going to argue here anymore, but if you want to immerse yourself into the sheer madness of this hobby - there is no better place than Romy the Cat personal website. Read about his phiosophy and about his playback system. This guy is completely mad. But make no mistake - this guy KNOWS what he is talking about. His knowledge and undersatnding of both audio and classical music is second to none.

http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Playback/MyPlayback.aspx

 

[runnah]

What format do folks typically use on the high end systems?

 

[Smokeyr67]

What format do folks typically use on the high end systems?

I prefer FM, but AM's not too bad if you add a coat hanger to your aerial

 

[TATTRAT]

I'm glad that photography is still a hobby. I try to keep life interesting with a wide variety of miscellaneous **** that keeps things new, but it just so happens that I keep my camera(s) at an arms reach.

I would LOVE to dedicate a LOT more time to it, but like my budding music career when I was younger (lol), I found it is better to stick with things that keep the bills paid. Anything beyond that is just a perk.

 

[EIngerson]

Owning a boat.....

Seeing your avatar you know how this it.

Cycling (mountain bikes) are my other poison, It's not hard to spend $5k on a bike, a grand or so on kit (helmets, gloves etc) and then upgrade every year! At least with photography I don't upgrade as often

That's similar to racing dirt bikes:

$7,000 for the dirt bike (a lot of the guys have more than one)
$2-3,000 in gear (depending on the level of quality/protection you want)
$300 per weekend in entry/race fees, food, travel
$200-1,000 a month in maintenance/parts
$5,000 - $300,000 RV/Motorhome, depends on how loaded you are
The biggest cost though can be medical bills (or your life), especially when you don't have good health insurance. Personally my insurance company has paid into the 6 figures on me from over the years. Which is why my insurance premium is more than my mortgage payment. lol


Have a buddy that drives his 6 figure motorhome from Canada to the US, pretty much every weekend, so that his kids can race. He told me that last year he spent ~$18,000 in fuel costs alone.

Yup, I know all about those things. lol

 

[runnah]

Vintage pornography.

 

[cynicaster]

One of my best friends is a life-long audiophile type who actually believes the bull**** he reads in those $20 magazines from the UK. He's always telling anybody who will listen how he's saving up money to buy this or that vial of snake oil for his stereo. Sitting on the can at his house, I sometimes leaf through those magazines for a good laugh. The last one I looked at was like 200 pages thick, and contained not ONE negative review on anything. Hilarious...

The purveyors of the voodoo cables and such use predatory marketing just like all other industries do. The big difference is that the demographic is a cult that rabidly needs to believe there is always a way to buy better sound; after all, if it is acknowledged that there is no objective benefit to the $8000 cables over the $200 cables, then there is nothing for the obsessed audiophile to chase, and their fun is ruined. Talking about acoustically treated "sound labs" is kind of beside the point, because let's face it, most mere mortals have the equipment in the living rooms of their homes, and those rooms must serve functions other than critical listening of audio.

I remember my friend getting pissed off at me for joking about his stupid cables one time, and I bet him $100 that he wouldn't be able to pass a statistically significant double-blind taste test between my cables and his. His response? Double blind isn't fair. WTF?

All joking aside, there are times I feel genuinely sorry my friend, because he has pissed away unthinkable amounts of money on utter nonsense.