Gib Bogle wrote:
On 2/10/2010 8:07 a.m., Dave Osborne wrote:

That's a very interesting post and echoes a lot of my experience over
the years.
Thanks for that.

I recently came across this (it's been around for ten years, but
passed me by):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainclone

Says it all really. HiFi as a concept is pretty dead for me. Almost
everything
audio sounds 'good enough' these days (if used in an appropriate
context, natch).

New to me. Thanks.

The 'HiFi' world has become one gigantic scam, or comedy, depending on
your level of cynicism. Gold-plated speaker cables costing more than my
amplifier cost to make, and having, of course, no audible effect. Take
a glance at one of the up-market hi-fi mags, the level of ridiculousness
is beyond belief, surreal.

I remember many years ago reading an interview with a British
designer-builder of high quality cheap speakers. He wasn't doing very
well selling his stuff, which was very good value for money, until he
raised his prices significantly. This caused his sales to increase
markedly, but he was so disgusted with this evidence of what the market
cared about that he quit.


I have to say, I was more or less in that camp.

I could have made money with the contacts in the music biz by making a
crappy overstyled valve guitar amp and selling them for a grand apiece.

Think Mesa boogie.


Oh they are actually £1500 new these days.

there must be all of 80 quids worth of parts in em.

But as Keith Richards said 'its less about who you sleep with, than
sleeping with yourself, for the rest of your life, so to speak'