why so serious? that's what joker repeatedly said to his nemesis.

indeed, why take yourself so seriously? one dealer had tea with me and he uttered the following words - many audiophiles have fallen sick; the industry itself is sick and even he himself is sick. being in the industry for too long exposes him to all the problematic traits of local audiophiles. being in their company for too long also made him a cynic.

this hobby is no longer fun with bad-mouthing, back-stabbing, ego-bashing and mud-slinging bickers happening all the times. is it a malaysian problem or is it a global problem? gone are the days where audiophiles congregate together on a weekly basis at the coffee table to share, exchange and generally have a good time. nowadays many discerning and intellectual audiophiles (especially the high-end ones) prefer to play in solitude, just to distance himself from the rascals.

we think that today's audiophiles lack hands-on knowledge, self-confidence, assurance and depth of character. too many armchair critics. too many sour grapes. too many with "communist " mentality (as opposed to "prosper-thy-neighbor" mentality) .

the local situation has gone so bad that many dealers want to look beyond the audiophile community, and start to do business with non-audiophiles, the genuine music lovers who are less problematic and easier to deal with.

call me an audio rebel. i don't believe hifi has to be monotonous and political. why can't it be naughty and fun just like car audio with plenty of eye-candy? besides, there are times i couldn't find a fitting photo to insert into my post!

if no one has done it (to mix women with hifi), why can't i be the first one in the world?

do we need a hifi doctor to cure all the sicknesses?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

MaggieL,

I think you are just relating audiophilia with the very feelings of human nature. As more people go into hifi, you will get to see more "unhealthy" traits.

I don't think it is possible to stem this kind of mindset because not every people who buys a hifi system because they love music. It also takes time for an audiophile to develop his/hers listening skills which unfortunately is a luxury which not everyone has.

So what I do is just sit back and listen to music, let other people do the politicking (some people may have their own personal agenda). I always feel that if you like what you hear in your system, that's great. If you can afford to upgrade to a better sound, even better. Let the music from our hifi gear do the talking (singing).

Happy listening.

Anonymous said...

MaggieL,

I think you are just relating audiophilia with the very feelings of human nature. As more people go into hifi, you will get to see more "unhealthy" traits.

I don't think it is possible to stem this kind of mindset because not every people who buys a hifi system because they love music. It also takes time for an audiophile to develop his/hers listening skills which unfortunately is a luxury which not everyone has.

So what I do is just sit back and listen to music, let other people do the politicking (some people may have their own personal agenda). I always feel that if you like what you hear in your system, that's great. If you can afford to upgrade to a better sound, even better. Let the music from our hifi gear do the talking (singing).

Happy listening.

Anonymous said...

MaggieL,

I think you are just relating audiophilia with the very feelings of human nature. As more people go into hifi, you will get to see more "unhealthy" traits.

I don't think it is possible to stem this kind of mindset because not every people who buys a hifi system because they love music. It also takes time for an audiophile to develop his/hers listening skills which unfortunately is a luxury which not everyone has.

So what I do is just sit back and listen to music, let other people do the politicking (some people may have their own personal agenda). I always feel that if you like what you hear in your system, that's great. If you can afford to upgrade to a better sound, even better. Let the music from our hifi gear do the talking (singing).

Happy listening.

Anonymous said...

MaggieL,

Some people need to be praised simply to satisfy their egos. Same with few audiophiles. If you owned a Ferrari/Brabus, the tendency to show off is very high indeed. That is why the makers made them in the first place. Same goes here. Showing off that they can afford thousand and thousand of RM for the hifi gears. Whether they sound good or not...that is not the issue. As we know cost doesn't always correspond to performance. So after spending that much and suddenly your words are not that favourable, it will hurt their pride. Then they will despise you. Most are moving towards fancy appearance rather than the sound itself. Hifi gears don't have to look ugly but you go into hifi for the sound. Some of them jump into hifi world without knowing the basic of being an audiophile. Sound & Music.
My only critic that I solely trust is my wife because she doesn't have any interior motive. If she said the sound is good, then it is. If not we try to find the fault together. How nice is that for a romantic evening?

Anonymous said...

MaggieL,
As I have been following your blog for a number of years, I know you happen to one of those high-enders who "prefer to play in solitude". You choose who can visit based on their "qualifications". Nothing wrong at all with your approach just that I find you are at odds with the topic "audiophile sickness".
When you are able to accept or reject anything any visitor says without taking it personally then there won't be any sickness.
Hint:
Imagine every visitor looks like Pace in her bra and nothing they can say will ever affect you.

Juleiet said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
maggielurva 愛美姬 said...

hi anonymous,

i am not high-end la, tho' i choose solitude. i blogged at 3am this morning. guess i am partly sick too ;-)

i am actually insinuating at a recent case that caused a lot of hoo-hah in the hifi circle.

Anonymous said...

ML,

the songs fron your book of life sounds so exciting. wonder why u bother with hifi. :-)

Anonymous said...

ML,

the songs fron your book of life sounds so exciting. wonder why u bother with hifi. :-)

Anonymous said...

Women with cars, wine, tobacco and any other male ego dominated products, why not hi-fi?

Nothing wrong with looking at beuaties, ain't it?