Friday, March 21, 2008
Golden Airs
Let me start out with the Tice Clock. This clock is a basic LED digital clock, substantially identical to a $30 clock sold by Radio Shack. But George Tice sells this for $270. He makes some very lavish claims that by plugging this clock into your audio amplifier's main 115-V power socket, the clock will make all your audio equipment sound much better—that is, if you have a "Golden Ear." However, if you can't hear any difference, then you're admitting that you don't have a Golden Ear—that you have only limited auditory capability to appreciate the BEST in audio.
Having invested quite a bit of my income in audio equipment (but not the Tice clock) in years past, I can tell you this is just the beginning. There were the Shun Mook discs and the short-lived use of Armor-All to improve CD sound (of course resulting in a much more expensive re-packaged Armor-All..), green magic markers and, of course, cables that cost the GDP of a small African Nation per foot.
Emirates Air has announced they will allow cell phone calls in-flight, and have installed equipment to protect their avionics from Cell Phone interference. Perhaps they've plugged in a Tice clock for that?
More importantly, will they let me keep my e-book on during taxi and take-off, for crying out loud? How long will this nonsense go on? If the avionics can't stand some weak nearby electronic interference, they are faulty and we shouldn't be flying at all. Or living near an airport, for that matter.
N.B. - before you ask, my abbreviated view on expensive audio equipment: Electrical systems are chaotic so it is perfectly possible that these kinds of things can make a difference in sound or behavior. The effect may be transient or only exist in musical transients. The trouble with double-blind tests is often that the switching equipment or gain-leveling/impedance matching method used in double-blind tests may introduce or negate audible effects (see Julian Hirsch's famous amplifier tests). More importantly, the value of the product is simply its perceived value in listening. If I take a pill and it makes me feel better, (hate to admit this..) I don't care if it is a placebo. Similarly, if gazing into glowing vacuum tubes makes me enjoy the listening experience more, then...I enjoy the listening experience more.
I love my system now and haven't bought anything in years. When I did, I tended to purchase things that made plausible electronic sense, i.e. high current-delivery amps for low or variable-resistance speakers (Ohm's Law is not yet disproved), sufficient cable gauges to handle current delivery with consistent electrical characteristics, an SACD player and balanced interconnects. I also auditioned speakers for a long time because most speakers/systems that sound great briefly in a store are fatiguing over long listening periods (the old Bose 901s are a good example - the Pamela Anderson of speakers). Thiel speakers are, in particular, neutral-sounding and non-fatiguing for me. For all of this, I only think my relatively modest level of investment is worth it for non multi-tracked Jazz and Classical recordings.
If you want to hear a staggering difference, try listening to a ripped MP3 of a good classical recording vs. the CD and the vinyl over a decent system. Higher-resolution digital and vinyl can both be rewarding sonic experiences, although clearly different. But MP3..yuk.
1 Comments:
By 
, at
Fri Mar 21, 09:04:00 PM:
You said:
"It is essential that the President of the United States love this country, believe in this country, and defend the interests of this country with gladness and singleness of heart."
I won't attempt to refute your entire thesis, but remind you that love and chastisement are not exclusive.
We love our children, yet we discipline them with corrective reminders, and a smack on the behind, when they step out of line.
If Obama must become some automaton who's expected to say on cue, "I love you America," with appropriate feeling and histrionics, and not call attention to its failings and faults, then I say he should immediately, and post-haste, abort the child (his candidacy) before it's born.
I would rather have someone who's "real", understands the country's past, and its future aspirations, in a dispassionate, and realistic light, than show reverence for all those who have gone before, who have caused the country severe damage and harm, while, at the same time, saying, "I love you America."
Love of country doesn't mean that one must love it's excesses, it's deplorable behavior (at home and abroad), or its intractable, unforgiving arrogance, by attempting to manage the world from the White House.
Love of country means that we will acknowledge what's best and what's worst about it; struggle to change the worst, while, at the same time, aspire to bring out the best.
Loving our country is like loving our children: we maximize what is good, and minimize what is bad, with careful and loving guidance, wisdom, and an occasional swat on the backside as a reminder that they're off course, and following a path that won't lead to their best hopes and highest ideals.
