John Broskie 's Rant
Today we live in a caste system of consumers and technocrats. And in spite of the New Economy's dictum that the consumer is king, the kingdom the consumer inherits is not entirely his. Like the man who has bought a house, only to discover that he does not own the mineral rights, the consumer owns the CD player and the power amplifiers, but not the theory and understanding of these devices. Like a king who cannot recognize a map of his kingdom, the consumer king cannot recognize the schematic to his power amplifier over that of his CD player or tuner.
The consumer king paid too much, as he gave up more than just money: he gave up his sovereignty, as well. Now, the most the consumer king can aspire to is an exultant and impeccable consumption, a consumption as extravagant as his bank account allows and as correct as the experts, engineers and designers, vouchsafe.
Not too long ago, 50 years ago let's say, the average audiophile reigned over his system, owning an understanding of the circuitry and the mechanics involved, building and designing much of it himself, selecting and choosing the fundamentals, triode or pentode, single-ended or push-pull, rather than just choosing the appearances: oak or walnut veneer, brown or black grill cloth.
Today, solid-state audio equipment neither invites nor easily admits understanding. The brightest engineer cannot decipher the purpose of an unmarked IC. And it is unlikely that any one engineer fully understands a $100 CD player with its mechanical actions and its IC encapsulated digital-to-analog converters and digital filters. It took many engineers to design that CD player and it takes many engineers to understand it.
In contrast, tube circuitry is fundamentally different. It is readily understandable; in years past, GIs and sailors learned in a few months how to understand and fix fairly complex tube equipment. In addition, tube circuitry is readily malleable: circuits can be altered, modified, and augmented, like the great American hotrod. Because it is understandable, because it admits modification, owner-built tube audio restores the lost sovereignty of the owner. Thus, the builder of tube gear is like the teenager who builds the hotrod he desires, believes in, and that expresses his vision. The poor rich kid, hobbled by too much money and by a fear of grease under his fingernails, can only hope to buy, but never really own such a hotrod. Continuing the car analogy, solid-state gear is like the near solid mass of wires, pipes, and sealed-metal parts under the hood of a new car. And just as no one can imagine modifying the aperture of the fuel injection jets in his Lexus, no one would want to de-solder the surface mount resistors and capacitors on the circuit boards to his CD player.
Exit rant-mode.
Isn't this what happened to music too?
analag
Today we live in a caste system of consumers and technocrats. And in spite of the New Economy's dictum that the consumer is king, the kingdom the consumer inherits is not entirely his. Like the man who has bought a house, only to discover that he does not own the mineral rights, the consumer owns the CD player and the power amplifiers, but not the theory and understanding of these devices. Like a king who cannot recognize a map of his kingdom, the consumer king cannot recognize the schematic to his power amplifier over that of his CD player or tuner.
The consumer king paid too much, as he gave up more than just money: he gave up his sovereignty, as well. Now, the most the consumer king can aspire to is an exultant and impeccable consumption, a consumption as extravagant as his bank account allows and as correct as the experts, engineers and designers, vouchsafe.
Not too long ago, 50 years ago let's say, the average audiophile reigned over his system, owning an understanding of the circuitry and the mechanics involved, building and designing much of it himself, selecting and choosing the fundamentals, triode or pentode, single-ended or push-pull, rather than just choosing the appearances: oak or walnut veneer, brown or black grill cloth.
Today, solid-state audio equipment neither invites nor easily admits understanding. The brightest engineer cannot decipher the purpose of an unmarked IC. And it is unlikely that any one engineer fully understands a $100 CD player with its mechanical actions and its IC encapsulated digital-to-analog converters and digital filters. It took many engineers to design that CD player and it takes many engineers to understand it.
In contrast, tube circuitry is fundamentally different. It is readily understandable; in years past, GIs and sailors learned in a few months how to understand and fix fairly complex tube equipment. In addition, tube circuitry is readily malleable: circuits can be altered, modified, and augmented, like the great American hotrod. Because it is understandable, because it admits modification, owner-built tube audio restores the lost sovereignty of the owner. Thus, the builder of tube gear is like the teenager who builds the hotrod he desires, believes in, and that expresses his vision. The poor rich kid, hobbled by too much money and by a fear of grease under his fingernails, can only hope to buy, but never really own such a hotrod. Continuing the car analogy, solid-state gear is like the near solid mass of wires, pipes, and sealed-metal parts under the hood of a new car. And just as no one can imagine modifying the aperture of the fuel injection jets in his Lexus, no one would want to de-solder the surface mount resistors and capacitors on the circuit boards to his CD player.
Exit rant-mode.
Isn't this what happened to music too?
analag
