audiophile stereo dealers: worst taste in music???

Some high end audio staples are popular with the general public as well including Time Out.

 

The Lightfoot MFSL records are excellent.

But what do I know? I like both Billy Joel and Steely Dan.

 

Over here In Oz, in the Eighties nearly every rep would put on Dire Straits "Money For Nothing" and to impress...crank the volume when the guitar finally breaks in....morons!!

 

I am not a fan of Billy Joels music, even less so of his public persona, but some of the guys music would be great for testing out good audio gear. Much of it was produced extremely well.
When I check out gear I don't need to hear stuff I necessarily like on it. I want to know if it can reproduce frequency extremes accurately, how hard you can push it before it saturates, what kind of hiss and noise floor it has.
I obviously wouldn't want to hear a VU album or grunge, or some other style of music where accuracy is not an issue. I also wouldn't want to use many of the bands I like, for example there is a lot of ZZ Top music I wouldn't use. Music with distorted guitars just isn't good for checking out gear. Very clean classical guitars, classical music that has lots of woodwinds and strings in it, or rock albums that have relatively clean guitars would be the ideal for me. Also music that has a lot of air between the instruments is good for checking out gear.
If that kind of stuff sounds good on the gear, then the stuff that does have a lot of "grunge" to it is obviously going to sound accurate and the way the studio engineers intended.

 

What about Dire Straits' Money For Nothing?

Just saw Mikaal mentioned this track.

 

Yep , Dire Straits were the go , but i did hear a lot of Whispering Jack as well , i can still hear the rep - " You will never hear Farnsy this good "

 

Why are some people so vocal about hating Billy Joel?

 

Oh man Brad, you know I love Amy but Unguarded is a pretty poor recording....I thought it was a big step down from a sound quality perspective, which was curious since it was her big label debut. All the others on your list are good to excellent IMO. I have the Mary MacGregor album (hard to find a decent pressing...most of them are pressed on bad quality vinyl)...you and I are about the only ones that probably own this! I agree it's a great female vocalist recording.

 

I was wondering the same thing. I think his albums are diverse, contain little filler, and he has a great voice. And they are generally well recorded. A real head scratcher to me.

 

I just got a vintage MFSL copy of his vinylalbum that has Sundown on it...you are right...amazing sound! What a beautiful album.

 

Next up, "wedding band musicians: worst taste in music????"


Did it occur to some of you guys that the dealers who play what you call 'bad music' are trying to make a successful sale to prospective clients--not entertain an indulgence in spiritual high art? These people need to make a living, this is their job.

 

When I bought my NAD533 turntable (still going strong 20+ years later) I took my own amp to the shop for the test (a Pioneer A300 which admittedly had a poor phono stage). One of the LP's I also took for the test was an original UK Mono Revolver. I was well aware it wasn't a sonic masterpiece, but when it went on the assistants started making smug remarks (which they could afford to do as I was only going to spend £250). I remember thinking.........Bell-ends!

 

I happen to disagree on this, you never know whether the £250 buyer will not end up with more expensive gear later on in his HiFi career, or even, in your store! I loathe salespersons like that!

 

Or spend more money that day. I had one situation where I found myself helping a violinist of the BSO (Boston Synphony Orchestra). He only wanted to spend $500 on a pair of bookshelf speakers. I played him some speakers in his price range and then told him that he just had to hear a pair of Sonus Faber bookshelf speakers that sold for $1000 just so he could hear what a great speaker can sound like. After listening to those he had to get them and did.

 

A. You were/are a great salesman
B. Sonus Faber do make great speakers!

 

Actually it is rather FUN to demo poor sounding music. Lets you KNOW just how realisitically the system can reproduce bad sound.
I like to bring along PJ Harvey "4-Track Demos" To listen to her voice crackle and break.

 

I don't think it's a fraudulent stereotype. These dealers you mentioned are younger than most. It's a demographics thing. You've mentioned that you worked at Sound by Singer years ago I believe. I'm pretty sure Singer wasn't blaring Wu-Tang Clan from his showroom. For most dealers, it's the usual light jazz vocals, classical stuff, tame rock, "safe" 50s jazz etc. A walk on the wild side is Pink Floyd's DSOTM or the Dire Strait's Brothers in Arms or something along those lines. It's so boring at this point. I've been around enough of these guys to notice that they are stuck in their ways and this is what they like and it is what they play. I'm not passing judgment on their tastes, that's not my place, but we should acknowledge that on average, this is the reality. Mentioning exceptions here and there doesn't change it. The musical diversity we see are mostly from the young turks of the industry, not the old guard. They are still buying Time Out and KoB.

This is the reason why I enjoy listening to John DeVore demo stuff. The guy actually plays music I want to hear, and I don't have to worry about people saying the prerequisite "You gotta bring your own music" anytime I voice my opinion about how dealers and showrooms play the same tired music, like I'm supposed to be traveling with records on my person all the time. If I'm out of town, I'm not lugging a bunch of LPs around with me. Why?

When dCS premiered their Vivaldi player last year at a local dealer, it was non-stop light vocals and classical. I had to stop them mid-demo and tell them to play something else. They played the HD-tracks version of A Love Supreme by Coltrane, and it was a nice change. I could tell some dudes there were not feeling it, and they wanted their Diana Krall type stuff back on. They love it man, it sells for a reason. Yeah, not all audiophiles and dealers are like this, but a lot of them are.

 

I think there is quite a bit of ageism here. There are many older folks in hifi like Phil O'Hanlon, David Solomon and others who always demo with a superb and ever changing playlist with lots of newer music.

The young dont have a monopoly on good music.

At Singer, Steve Guttenberg always had some new and interesting music for demo.

 

I think the whole "we have to play to the audiophile Top 10 to sell gear" is a huge failing of the industry and reflects in the ability to connect with new consumers. Especially now with all the hi-rez music choices available...

 

This is a great point. I think these audio makers are shooting themselves in the foot. First off, how many people can actually afford most of what they're selling? And if they can and are below 50 (not trying to stereotype), wouldn't they want to hear something more up to date? If someone like Mike Piazza (a known audiophile) walks in, he doesn't want to demo a 30K turntable with Diana Krall.

 

I make compilation cds just for the express purpose of auditioning speakers. I put several well recorded tracks of various genres on it for a proper and complete "demonstration".

You wanna know a piece of music that will give expensive speakers/gear a proper work out and blow the mind of the salesman and anyone else in the store when you play it? Frank Zappa's N-Lite from Civilization Phaze III. A long and very complex and challenging piece that features a mix of symphonic instrumentation and electronics that is probably one of most well recorded cds ever made. The stereo dealer will respect and fear you from that moment on...

Oh yeah, if you really wanna freak 'em out, use Squarepusher's Go Plastic. It's the equivalent of an extreme test recording unlike anything most of these staid Diana Krall listening commoners are used to, and believe me, it will test the speakers out at all of the frequency extremes...

 

What if he likes Diana Krall
The key is to find out what they are going to be listening to with these speakers and try to demo the speakers with that. If I feel the music I have that is what they like to hear doesn't take full advantage of the system I will try something else also.

 

An insult to Herb.
Herb made This Guy and was never this boring!