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In the Forum: Audio News
In the Thread: The best speaker in the world, is yet again available
Post Subject: Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chosePosted by Gregm on: 10/25/2007
    What I find irksome is exactly this:
Hi-Fi companies and Hi-Fi marketing are lost touch with the nature of sound reproduction and so deep in disassociation with the means of Real Audio that they are forced to pull out of own asses new and new ways “to sell”.
In other words, we are expected to purchase a product (esp speakers) for a number of reasons none of which seems to be directly related with what the product is supposed to do.
Clearly:
the level of treatment of the prospective customers as a potential idiots
is very high.

What the product I would purchase is supposed to do is produce sound in an overall correct manner relating to that sound, in a way that further correlates to what I have defined, and be better at this than my present product doing the same job.

Failing this, why would I purchase the new product since I can stay with my existing one?

Even kitchen tables proposed for purchase are accompanied by a few reasons why to buy: functionality, aesthetics, durability...

However, take the above speakers -- and I take these as an example, one of many, and I would have nothing against the Polymer/DK people: I am urged to purchase these because...
a) they are the best...??? (imagine someone trying to sell you a kitchen table because it's the best)
b) they are cheaper than the retail cost of the parts used... OK
c) they are better/different than two other models using some parts from the same supplier...
d) the drivers have a strong magnetic field...

Presumably, one would buy speakers because they are EACtm : electrical to acoustic energy converter. So how is that sound?? No idea. We are expected to infer functional quality from peripheral considerations: 6 yrs in developing a xover, the Gauss spec of the driver, 6people or 60 or 600 worked very hard for 10-100 years to produce the product, so it must be good...

Basically, I am expected to purchase this product (or many others) simply because it's new, it contains trendy parts, it;s fashionable, because it's nicely lacquered, because... none of the "becauses" being its functionality.

Indeed, manufacturers and marketing seem convinced that people will buy something new anyway; not because they need that particular product but because it's new.

So the attitude seems to be:
"Clients are deaf, so who cares about sound and similar stupidities. Now, what does it take to get this moron and that moron to buy my product rather than the neighbour's?".

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