Posted by TC [ 66.97.92.100 ] on June 10, 2004 at 10:17:37:
In Reply to: Japanese philosophy posted by manualblock on June 10, 2004 at 08:33:50:
>>The Japanese in their audio approach seem to require that their equipment transform the listener in some ways that we seem to ignore.
==The Japanese have an unbroken 3000 year track record for appreciation of art and music. In that tradition comes respect and dilligence to the craft. The Japanese recognize ones hobby pursuits as integral to ones own integrity and happiness, very serious stuff.
>>So we rehash endlessly the same arguments and discussions while treading intellectual water
==Baseball cards are to blame most of the time. We are more *statisticians* than we realize. Beating numbers in hope of a better avgerage score. To relax and commit to music is very rare. The magazines have dumped gasoline on our specsmanship race to financial and musical ruin. The emotional content (and it's preservation) is lost.
>>. They seem to approach the art as in cooking; combining ingredients to produce a pleasing flavor. In reviewing the Japanese literature it appears they have evolved beyond the swapping amp/cable/pre-amp/cd player phase and into an integrated approach to the experience as a whole. Mr Barbour's contention that the older engineers of 50 yrs. past had an understanding that was accepted universally within their small community sparked these comments.
==The Japanese approach to most anything is very refreshing if you are interested in pursuing excellence in any vocation. One also has to remember while we teach home economics, agriculture and science. Japanese high schoolers are also busy studying home entertainment systems and media. That is their "pay dirt", and of course autos and trans.
>>Why it seems the dog is chasing his tail whithin audio as it presently exists is the question
==Americans for the most part like the taste of tail. Currently our most prolific art form is modifying pickup trucks, and Hondas.
>>I contend that there has not been a significant advance in the musicallity of reproduced sound in 30 yrs.
==I say about 65 years. And there may not be anything new and better as far as sound quality goes except for very incremental resolution gains largely overshadowed by analog formats. Convenience and cost are the new frontiers. But essentially you are correct, musical energy and the preservation of that energy is what we yearn for. And the Japanese do have the edge. Ever read Japanese hifi mags? They kill western publications with magnificent photgraphy, technical authority and endless depth of exploration both in and out of hifi/music.
TC