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Topic: Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article (Read 4091 times) previous topic - next topic
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Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Hi Guys, haven't been here in awhile, but I came across this hilarious(and very sad) article in Wired Magazine,,  http://www.wired.com/2015/03/hot-stampers


the Headline is "Why Audiophiles Are Paying $1,000 for This Man’s Vinyl".  I think Hydrogenaudio peeps will find the article 'entertaining'...

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #1 –
ah, Tom Port and his 'hot stampers'.  That's been a source of (unintended) humor for years now, among those who observe the antics of the Steve Hoffman forum types.

This picture of the 'hot stamper' listening room is priceless.

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #2 –
Quote from: Stop the Noise on
Hi Guys, haven't been here in awhile, but I came across this hilarious(and very sad) article in Wired Magazine,,  http://www.wired.com/2015/03/hot-stampers


the Headline is "Why Audiophiles Are Paying $1,000 for This Man’s Vinyl".  I think Hydrogenaudio peeps will find the article 'entertaining'...



I think the article reflects a complete and total misunderstanding the topic.  LPs are collectible items like baseball cards. Love or music or good sound has very little to do with their valuation. People who trade in them are better described as record collectors and completely and utterly mislabeled as audiophiles. Love of audio and love of legacy LPs are completely orthogonal.

The article discusses record companies that are essentially trying to manufacture collectibles - IOW the black vinyl equivalent of The Franklin Mint.  I had my education about fabricated collectibles around 20 years ago when I happened to run into an auction of coins minted by them. They sold for the value of the metal in them, with a slight discount for the fact that it was not a standard alloy.

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #3 –
It seems reasonable to assume that at least some vinyl from the 1960s has survived in better condition than the master tapes it was created from. Hence that vinyl, or a needle drop from it, could be the best way to hear that music today.

The other reasons for high prices are quite different.

Cheers,
David.

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #4 –
My eyes almost fell out of my head reading MF had digitized the Rimsky-Korsakov for an A/B comparison! "Hi Rez" of course.
The horror, the horror...

cheers,

AJ
Loudspeaker manufacturer

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #5 –
Quote from: 2Bdecided on
It seems reasonable to assume that at least some vinyl from the 1960s has survived in better condition than the master tapes it was created from. Hence that vinyl, or a needle drop from it, could be the best way to hear that music today.

Indeed. And if this guy has genuinely found some 1st generation vinyl in spectacularly good condition, his first obligation should be to transfer it to digital so it can preserved (and easily made available to everyone who wants it at a sensible price). But I suppose that would kill his business model.

As Arnie has observed, the purpose of owning these LPs is either as an investment (like owning a bottle of wine that nobody would ever drink, in the hope it will increase in value), or simply for bragging rights (like drinking said bottle of wine in front of witnesses just to flaunt your wealth).

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #6 –
Quote from: 2Bdecided on
It seems reasonable to assume that at least some vinyl from the 1960s has survived in better condition than the master tapes it was created from.


At least one title that has any general importance, yes.  Any significant number of titles, seems very unlikely.

Is this something that one would be wise to bet their own money on?

That is highly questionable.

That one would actually encounter that extra good piece of vinyl in their travels would be even less likely.  It's right up there with winning the PowerBall lottery.

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #7 –
Quote from: cliveb on
Quote from: 2Bdecided on
It seems reasonable to assume that at least some vinyl from the 1960s has survived in better condition than the master tapes it was created from. Hence that vinyl, or a needle drop from it, could be the best way to hear that music today.

Indeed. And if this guy has genuinely found some 1st generation vinyl in spectacularly good condition, his first obligation should be to transfer it to digital so it can preserved (and easily made available to everyone who wants it at a sensible price). But I suppose that would kill his business model.

As Arnie has observed, the purpose of owning these LPs is either as an investment (like owning a bottle of wine that nobody would ever drink, in the hope it will increase in value), or simply for bragging rights (like drinking said bottle of wine in front of witnesses just to flaunt your wealth).

I was on a whisky website recently, and spotted a couple of bottlings from now-defunct distilleries (Brora and St Magdalen) which I had bought and drunk a few decades ago at a very reasonable price. Both now command prices in the hundreds of pounds... and I don't regret for an instant sipping those excellent drams instead of laying them down as an investment.

If I had a rare vintage Ferrari or Maserati, I'd be driving it, and driving it fast! If I had an original Leonardo da Vinci artwork, it'd be on my wall instead of in a bank vault.

It's another world, really, and one I just can't go for. A friend recently spent several hundred pounds on a bottle of wine he never intends to open. Last year at my dad's house, on a whim, we opened a 50-year-old Tokay Eszencia after a meal of supermarket pizza. It was bl**dy marvellous. He'd bought it at a normal price years ago and it had survived many house moves, but he always planned to drink it, not sell it.

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #8 –
Four Hallographs.  It doesn't get more woo than that.

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #9 –
To me, the saddest part about the article isn't that someone's willing to pay upwards of $1000 for an album, but that the high-end crowd seems frozen in time, musically speaking.
They may have been adventuresome in their younger days, but lately it's all about aural comfort food.

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #10 –
My God...I didn't know anyone actually bought those magic wooden aerial things. Just when you think they can't get any sillier.

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #12 –
I like how the speaker wires running loosely across the ceiling have stand offs made of, um, some kind of tape I guess, presumably so the channels don't contaminate and/or leak into each other.

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #13 –
Quote from: 16 Hz on
Am I wrong, or these woofers are different/damaged?


So it seems. The speakers are also probably pretty horrific - one or two of just about every kind of audiophile darling driver stuffed into boxes. Couldn't figure out whether they liked dome tweeters or ribbon tweeters, so they put in one of each!

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #14 –
Quote from: mzil on
I like how the speaker wires running loosely across the ceiling have stand offs made of, um, some kind of tape I guess, presumably so the channels don't contaminate and/or leak into each other.


But there are different angles in the cables. Surely this is something that would make any self-respecting audiophile uncomfortable?

One positive thing, at least: possible the only sensible reason for suspending speaker cables off the floor: so one can walk under them.


The most important audio cables are the ones in the brain

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #15 –
Quote from: Thad E Ginathom on
Quote from: mzil on
I like how the speaker wires running loosely across the ceiling have stand offs made of, um, some kind of tape I guess, presumably so the channels don't contaminate and/or leak into each other.


But there are different angles in the cables. Surely this is something that would make any self-respecting audiophile uncomfortable?

One positive thing, at least: possible the only sensible reason for suspending speaker cables off the floor: so one can walk under them.

Well, there is a door behind the setup, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. We had to do that with some mains cables at my last job, as a temporary bodge when we first moved into the premises. However, domestic acceptance factor = nil.

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #16 –
Quote from: JabbaThePrawn on
Well, there is a door behind the setup, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. We had to do that with some mains cables at my last job, as a temporary bodge when we first moved into the premises. However, domestic acceptance factor = nil.


Speaking of doors which are holes in walls, what about the giant hole in the upper woofer cone in the left hand speaker?  Note that were it whole, it would be the only woofer that matches the woofers in the other speaker.

Do the Hallographs overcome the hole in the woofer cone?  ;-)

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #17 –
Notice there is some sort of extra speaker component taped to the inner edge of both between the ribbon and the dome. An ultrasonic tweeter perhaps?




edit: Oh I didn't read the actual article, which I think mentions it, but figured it out by searching: Townshend Super Tweeters

 

Wired Magazine with a Hilarious article

Reply #18 –
Quote from: mzil on
Notice there is some sort of extra speaker component taped to the inner edge of both between the ribbon and the dome. An ultrasonic tweeter perhaps?




edit: Oh I didn't read the actual article, which I think mentions it, but figured it out by searching: Townshend Super Tweeters



Interesting product. Here's their FR from their web site: