I'm sure I will get into trouble about this, but this experience (which others may have had as well) makes me sometimes think that there is a lot of impressionistic values concerning some somewhat esoteric Hi-Fi equipment, and this is usually quite expensive as well.
OK, going back about 7 years, I purchased an expensive (by my standards) CD player by a well known company in Cambridge. (Begins with A). It cost £400 then in about 2006/7 and I plugged it in and we used the machine, which seemed OK. (It featured upsampling and all that stuff).
Just before 2 years later it started to miss tracks or parts of tracks. I looked into it and was advised to get a lens cleaner (re the lazer). Did this, and nothing changed. It got worse and stopped working altogether. I contacted the company and they said it was the laser which had probably failed and it would cost about £150 to repair! I pointed out that the 2 year guarantee had only just expired about two weeks earlier, but oh no, they weren't interested.
This isn't actually the moral of the story! Because I was angry and did not want to spend another £150 plus I decided to get the cheapest CD player around. This player went for £39 at Richer Sounds and I bought it, telling my wife that it wouldn't sound as good, but it would have to do. (Made in Scandinavia)
Imagine our surprise when I plugged it in and put on one of our well used CD's. It sounded no different! Identical sound! My wife (also a professional musician) was amazed and I felt like an idiot for spending £400 on a piece of rubbish that only worked for two years. The present CD player is the same £39 job, and still works fine, some 7+ years later.
So the point of this story is to say that a lot of equipment sounds the same, even if the price may be ten times more.
However, I would say that speakers are in a different category, and within reason they can cost more and sound better, or in any case, different. I would also say that recording equipment, mics, recorders, etc., should be of good quality, although even these are getting to be excellent at cheaper prices. In fact one can own a recording set up now that costs a fraction of the equipment used in Abbey Road 20 years ago, and it's possibly better! Even computer editing suites that used to cost an arm and a leg can be bought now for peanuts.
OK, going back about 7 years, I purchased an expensive (by my standards) CD player by a well known company in Cambridge. (Begins with A). It cost £400 then in about 2006/7 and I plugged it in and we used the machine, which seemed OK. (It featured upsampling and all that stuff).
Just before 2 years later it started to miss tracks or parts of tracks. I looked into it and was advised to get a lens cleaner (re the lazer). Did this, and nothing changed. It got worse and stopped working altogether. I contacted the company and they said it was the laser which had probably failed and it would cost about £150 to repair! I pointed out that the 2 year guarantee had only just expired about two weeks earlier, but oh no, they weren't interested.
This isn't actually the moral of the story! Because I was angry and did not want to spend another £150 plus I decided to get the cheapest CD player around. This player went for £39 at Richer Sounds and I bought it, telling my wife that it wouldn't sound as good, but it would have to do. (Made in Scandinavia)
Imagine our surprise when I plugged it in and put on one of our well used CD's. It sounded no different! Identical sound! My wife (also a professional musician) was amazed and I felt like an idiot for spending £400 on a piece of rubbish that only worked for two years. The present CD player is the same £39 job, and still works fine, some 7+ years later.
So the point of this story is to say that a lot of equipment sounds the same, even if the price may be ten times more.
However, I would say that speakers are in a different category, and within reason they can cost more and sound better, or in any case, different. I would also say that recording equipment, mics, recorders, etc., should be of good quality, although even these are getting to be excellent at cheaper prices. In fact one can own a recording set up now that costs a fraction of the equipment used in Abbey Road 20 years ago, and it's possibly better! Even computer editing suites that used to cost an arm and a leg can be bought now for peanuts.
I would have thought?
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