It is indeed the age of obsolescence. Some of which is built in at the manufacturers. That’s unfortunate. Though technology moves forward, good technology is hard to find. State-of-the-art technology is revered. A tube ampliflier will run in the tens of thousands. Most everyone seeks a “warm” sound from their equipment. Yet, there’s not much warmth in digitizing everything. This disposable society is what causes mediocre products. When I find something well built, I keep it. No matter how many bells and whistles you put in an audio equipment, it is the interface between the sound and your senses that counts. Some state-of-art equipment sound like ■■■■ (Bose?). What sounds good is very subjective. But, the idea that you should toss an audio equipment because there is a better one coming along is ingrained into the consumers by the likes of Apple. The carrot they dangle is not sound, it is the bells and whistles. If your ego is large enough and your pocketbook deep enough, then that model is for you. Audiophiles (an often misused term) stroke not their ego, but their aural sense. It is an aesthetic satisfaction.
I still have a reel-to-reel deck that I play occasionally because the analog sound coming out of it is unmatched. No, it does not have the sterile perfection of a CD. But, it also does not have digital artifacts I hear in CDs. Listen to a pristine vinyl album through a good analog amplifier with say, a set of B&O Penta tower speakers, and you’ll know what us old fogies mean.
A Sansa Fuze is by no means a reel-to-reel deck. But darn it, it produces a pretty good sound for something that is portable and costs less than fifty bucks. I think I’ll keep it.
ggin1
Message Edited by ggin1 on 02-19-2010 09:32 AM
