I just saw this quote from Art Dudley on a members signature:
"Modern hi-fi is little more than a way of getting electricity to pretend that it's music."
Art Dudley, Stereophile
That statement is of course absolutely correct, but what brings about my post, is that it can be construed in various context. Some might read it as a criticism of said modern HiFi. That can?t be argued. Certainly, and sadly, the current state of the art is still a far cry from the real thing. No matter how good your system is, you are still hearing the microphone, and the unavoidable physics which govern the performance of that/ those microphones. And then ALL the imperfect electronics down the chain of recording, mixing, production and finally replay on your system, with its imperfections, however minute. And then there?s the room?..
Yes, absolutely. We can only get a pretentious analogue of real sound from modern HiFi. But modern HiFi as opposed to what?
Vintage Hifi? The gramophone?
Truth is, we?ve never had it so good. Even carefully matched budget systems can approach a very high level of realistic playback. We have managed to get electricity to behave like real sound quite remarkably.
My question to Mr Dudley then: what?s your point?
"Modern hi-fi is little more than a way of getting electricity to pretend that it's music."
Art Dudley, Stereophile
That statement is of course absolutely correct, but what brings about my post, is that it can be construed in various context. Some might read it as a criticism of said modern HiFi. That can?t be argued. Certainly, and sadly, the current state of the art is still a far cry from the real thing. No matter how good your system is, you are still hearing the microphone, and the unavoidable physics which govern the performance of that/ those microphones. And then ALL the imperfect electronics down the chain of recording, mixing, production and finally replay on your system, with its imperfections, however minute. And then there?s the room?..
Yes, absolutely. We can only get a pretentious analogue of real sound from modern HiFi. But modern HiFi as opposed to what?
Vintage Hifi? The gramophone?
Truth is, we?ve never had it so good. Even carefully matched budget systems can approach a very high level of realistic playback. We have managed to get electricity to behave like real sound quite remarkably.
My question to Mr Dudley then: what?s your point?
