A Cheap Audio Man Rant

It is. Why the sexy pose hiking up the dress? With bondage. I get the lady justice being bound and blindfolded. But don't make it sexy. That's creepy.

 

I don't totally disagree with him

 

cant argue with you, but he has 40,000 subscribers to his channel..
That is quite an accomplishment..

 

I thought he was pretty spot on. It's obvious he upsets of lot of people here.

 

40,000 subscribers who won't spend money on audio gear.

 

I am fairly certain that his channel is only a few months old and he's already at 40k. 3 or 4 months ago, I recall it to be around 8k perhaps.

There are a lot of people out there who operate with a budget, which corresponds to the price bracket of gear that he chooses to review. He is bound to have a larger subscriber count than certain other YT reviewers at some point.

 

Seems there are some folks on YouTube who have the credentials to profess on their topic, while others clearly just don’t know that they don’t have the knowledge to profess on their topic.

 

I operate within a budget too. A higher budget than some, less than others. The difference is that I don't go on rants about people who spend more than I do, or go on rants that higher priced gear is a rip-off for fools. I've heard some of the more expensive gear. And some of it is very good. Better than what I've got and worth the extra cost for those who can afford it. When someone has good gear that is more than I can afford I say congratulations, that's awesome. The people who have experience with better gear are the people I usually look to for audio advice. They know, cause they've heard and owned.

I also don't base my audiophile philosophy on the premise that Death Magnetic is a horrible sounding album therefore the pursuit of high-quality audiophile audio is futile and for fools. I also know that studio recorded rock is different than live performed rock with a huge PA system. The mixing and the EQ and the performance are all different.

 

For what it's worth...

I've made lots of records and I've never signed off on a mix based mearly on a car stereo listen. Nor do I know anyone who has done this.

And I don't know any Audiophile worth his weight who condems a product without hearing it, or if this was the case, I dont expect they would admit it out loud to this guy.

No. The truth, as I see it, is this fellow can't admit that he suffers from the same affliction that all Audiophiles suffer from, which is the somewhat sad fetishizing of objects.

His gimmick is that he gets to take a moral high ground because the crud he likes costs less.

This is just another "rich people suck" routine...Which is all too common in this hobby.

Now it's time to crank my Forte III's.

 

I've watched a lot of YT audio/hifi channels since I got back into hifi after 20yrs, including Cheapaudioman; personally, I find him entertaining.....and I think that's the key with all these channels; take them all with a pinch of salt, and for what they are. Some are just guys into the hobby, trying to earn a crust while some have long, professional careers in the hifi business.

They all have something to offer, and IMHO, the key is to not take anything they say as gospel, but as entertainment. I think it was an Andrew Robinson video where he's speaking to members of his audience who have reached out to him, as they have a problem with hifi upgraditis. Much like gambling addiction, they don't know when to stop. AR said something along those lines. I think Zero Fidelity/Sean said something similar; all these hifi channels should be seen as entertainment, and not as a definitive view on all things hifi.

I must of watched hundreds of videos while researching for my new system, but none of my system components was bought off the back of YT channels say so. I gained a lot of knowledge, both forgotten and new, and on the whole enjoyed this time. The only channel I find difficult to watch is Audioholics; not because I disagree with what Gene is saying a lot of the time, I just find Gene and the presentation of his channel not to my taste. And that's another point; I'm not forced to watch it, so I don't.

 

Meh. Who cares ?

take him or leave him.
He doesn’t bother me.
Just like so much stuff on internetland or the world. We get to choose.
Don’t like what he says ? Don’t watch. Simple.

there is a ton of snobbery in this hobby as in most, and you will have people that turn you on and turn you off.
He actually doesn’t seem snobby at all compared to some others out there in audioland.
Buy what you want, like what you want. It for your enjoyment anyway.

he’s fine. As you were

 

Rich people in this hobby are awesome. Especially the rich people who are able to churn through gear I might be interested in, or even gear that is above or way above my pay grade. And especially when those people share their listening experiences and comparisons of gear. And especially when some of those rich people share similar sound preferences as I do. Cause those people have given me great advice and helped me choose gear that I really enjoy. I wouldn't have discovered the gear I have if rich people with more disposable income hadn't discovered it first and let me listen.

Rich people in this hobby are also awesome because the technology and sound qualities of the high-end gear does trickle down. Some of that high-end very expensive stuff does allow some companies to do lower cost gear based on the engineering and designs of the high-end gear. For example with Chord. There would be no Chord Mojo if there was no Chord Dave and M Scaler.

 

In the video he made prior to this one he stated countless times how much he loves loudness on amps. I haven't read the comments on that vid but it's possible he got attacked for that by audiophiles.

 

I really liked this video. Some good points. I thought the LS50 was garbage until I heard it with Hegel's top integrated (£9K). Perhaps KEF should tell people. Also those people who claim to know what way a recording sounded in the studio - Of course you can't know although I come across people on forums who claim to have heard the master tape notably to argue the CD is more accurate than the vinyl record. Nobody has ever defined high end except generally as expensive. Price is not necessarily an indicator of sound quality but likely also a factor of looks and external build quality (not necessarily electrical component quality). He isn't being bitter, just his usual style mixed with humour. I've seen quite a few of his videos which focus on 'budget' gear but occasionally he reviews something a little more expensive. This 'rant' is more about what is claimed by 'audiophiles' 0n forums I think.

 

He also told the anecdote about some guy who emailed and rang him to criticise him for giving a positive review on an Elac budget speaker. When asked, the guy who had rang admitted he had never actually heard the Elac, but alluded to the fact that because it was budget or cheap, that it couldn't be good, and wasn't audiophile.

This is obviously the kind of thing Cheapaudioman us referring to in the video in question......and in the context of this caller's remarks on the Elac, he has a point.

 

While listening to him it seems he was railing against such people who make various claims without actual expertise. The thing is almost everyone on internet forums talking about audio is "some random guy" using fake names so they can say what they like without the ramifications of someone showing up at your door and punching you in the face for calling them a snowflake or whatnot.

Recently I posted a reaction youtube video to a young singer I liked (Aurora Aksnes) and I was met with a similar thing that "who is the random guy" and that he didn't offer any real analysis to the singer. Fair enough - I posted it because he had a major emotional reaction to her. So I followed that post with a reaction video from a working professional opera singer of some note, Elizabeth Zharoff. So here is a professional opera singer reacting to other singers. The response? It was phoned in.

Now I think he missed the point on the KEF LS50 and it is either him not listening to the dealer correctly or the dealer not explaining much. I have been to a lot of dealers in Canada and I often wondered how the hell they stay in business trying for the fast sale without any real knowledge. Just spend more on a box so I can buy my Astin Martin. UHF Magazine was one of the only (maybe the only) magazines that noted how many dealers operated to just move boxes.

Audio is a direct experiential thing and it's not one that is equally shared. I keep saying this but in virtually every other consumer product we can more or less share the same experience - you drive a Toyota Camry on a good road in Ontario and I drive the same model in Vancouver on a nice day - we share the same experience. If we have driven all the cars in the Camry class - then we will probably come to the same conclusions - the Accord handles better but the Toyota has less road noise - maybe seat comfort is different given the body size and height of the driver but more or less the conclusions are pretty similar.

Audio? No. First, the gear doesn't sound the same across rooms. You attend a show in Ontario with wooden walls and I listen to a dealer or a different audio show with concrete walls. Sure the speakers may be the same model but I am listening to it on say a SS amplifier class A/B with maybe a zingy CD player - you listen via a noted warm-sounding amplifier (maybe a Jolida or Copland) with tube DAC from Lampizator. You are listening to Yo-Yo Ma and I am listening to Nightwish. I have heard systems the same guy has set up at three different shows and got three very different results.

Add in the noise of youtube pundits like the OP posted, the measurements are first and only pundits (but when they like something that measures a bit worse they have a bunch of exceptions they trot out).

I remember back in 2000/2001 I was posting on forums I found a company that I liked quite a lot that had virtually no presence in the west - one Canadian dealer and maybe 3 in the US. I remember writing that I liked it more than some established brands noting that it mopped the floor with my B&W speakers and the B&W speakers I was planning to buy. I then had a series of posters jump down my throat. I asked them "well have you auditioned it? Nope. But they had all sorts of opinions that I was absolutely wrong. So I can feel for this YouTuber who noted the same thing - the self-proclaimed experts opining that his speakers suck - but have never heard them.

I don't buy this notion of audio experts or professional reviewers - in European countries professionals belong to professions - in the US you are considered a professional only so long as someone is paying you money to do something. So in the States, you are a professional if you are a reviewer or a burger flipper at Mcdonald's.

Real professions are made up of a body of colleagues who are equals and they can bring you in front of some sort of tribunal and take your license back - that doesn't happen say at the Absolute Sound. There was no professional body or College of Audio Reviewers like say the BC College of Teachers.

And while some stereo magazines may hire someone who knows how to make a recording or has a history doing sound work for the Rolling Stones or tunes Pianos at Bosendorfer or ran an Audio Import or Dealer - none of these things make them hear better or have better taste in sound reproduction. I have perfect relative pitch - so does the lovely singer Kristen Chenoweth - but I sure as **** could never sing anywhere near as well as her nor do I have the ability to play musical instruments - it is because of my pitch that I can't stand listening to myself butcher music so badly. I could hold a note on my Oboe. I won second prize in the longest note competition but the girl who beat me was on soprano sax and like Kenny G she also has circular breathing so she killed me.

Lastly, videos like this tend to be desired by people who A) can't afford the expensive stuff so they want to dismiss it all as overhyped junk. That's fair enough. I mean my old Honda Civic gets much better gas mileage (and is far more reliable) than any Italian Sports Car - thus it's a better car right Bunch of suckers.

Edit - And why not - Zharoff on Kristen Chenoweth (perhaps the most adorable woman on stage)

 

Another 'famous' hifi youtuber loves the cheapaudioman so much he even moved to his state so that he would be closer to him. A perfect example of how hifi can lead to friendship.

 

I’ve watched a lot of YouTube Hi Fi during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic I think I only watched Steve Guttenberg.

This guy however started grating on my nerves right away. Cringe. Awkward. When New Record Day started doing shows with him, it was the worst. Hated it. Definitely not entertaining for me and I checked out.

My other hobby is collecting Star Wars figures and I watch a much hated guy from that scene named That Junkman. He could be Cheap Audioman’s Cousin maybe. Good ol’ Georgia boy. His antics and trolling behavior crack me up.

Watching more and more of these YouTube channels makes me surprised at all the behind the scenes drama between the channels. Both of my hobbies….

 

I saw this a little while ago and like everything else it's his opinion, he is entitled to it, even thought I do not agree, when it comes to what you use listen to your music of choice be it a a hundred thousand dollar system a boom box, computer, cell phone, and everything in between "if it works for you that is all that matters"

 

I didn't really understand his take on compression? He doesn't seem to mind it?

I 100% agree with his take on (most/nearly all) over priced CD players.


The other stuff I didn't have any major problems with and were generalizations that I see regularly here on SHF, on a daily basis.

 

In fewer words it is still an imperfect world...

 

I know a lot of "non-rich" people who spend way more on equipment than rich do. In fact most rich people that I know are happy with their Crosley...

 

I have no interest in videos like that contained in the OP. But it was only fair to view it to hear out what it had to say, to hear what a great many view as interesting content.

I found it a bore. All he does, IMO, is regurgitate much rant talking points known and heard throughout audiophilia and belittle & mock audiophiles as stupid for blah, blah, blah. I don’t take offense to any of it, whether what he blathers about applies to me or not. I couldn’t possibly be induced to respond in any way to somebody as unoriginal as this guy. If I came across guys like this in real life they could think anything they want of this hobby and I couldn’t GAS.

This thread got me to click on a type of video I know not to click on. And it affirmed why I don’t waste time on numb-nuts videos such as this. Well, except for the time I wasted on this one.

 

I think that it is not an accomplishment of any value to audiophiles. According to your considerations then, popularity is a better (or merely equal?) metric for value than expertise and rationality. That’s what YouTube is in this particular strata - a popularity contest. In other words, less than useless.

There’s a problem with your reasoning, I think, because the wet fart prank guy on YouTube that has 635,000 subscribers. That’s 16X more subscribers than the cheap audio guy. The thing is, again in my opinion, the wet fart prank guy likely knows approximately as much about audio. Stop using subs, likes, upvotes and other meaningless numbers as a metric for value because (with apologies) IMO it’s a sucker bet.

I watched three other videos by the cheap audio guy. Unfortunately, I cannot now unwatch them. The man offers very little of value to budget-conscious and budget-restricted audiophiles. In my opinion the man just regurgitates platitudes and things he has cribbed from other sources. In my opinion he doesn’t have an original thought in his head and he is no better bargain hunter than you or me or most other SHF members. So, IMO, still useless.

People often confuse concepts of peer review with concepts of popularity metrics, but the two things are very different. Popularity is based on timing or attractiveness or aggression or complaint or rant and occasionally even legitimacy (and usually some combination of those things). Peer review is based on a combination of trained and learned expertise, proven value, standards of achievement, and an examination, by a group of acknowledged and established experts, of the facts at hand. Most of the YouTube audio guys offer no such expertise. This is true of every YouTube category

Subscription counts, Likes, Upvotes and other artificial metrics of popularity must never be used as a guide to quality or authority or expertise or choice or value. They are merely guides to what seems to be popular at the moment, keeping in mind that popularity has never, ever been a measure of quality. That’s the case with the cheap audio guy too - low quality and badly edited content, no expertise, clickbait show titles, rants that people eventually tire of, and simple-minded subject matter that doesn’t tax his viewers. Whoever really wants to spend some of their time on that is of course free to do so, but there is no value there of any kind and I’d caution SHF members against basing any of their equipment buying decisions on anything the cheap audio guy says.