[Audio Empire]

On Thu, 6 Oct 2011 06:03:57 -0700, Arny Krueger wrote
(in article ):
"bob" wrote in message
...

snip

I'm sure there are dealers who know this stuff. I'm sure there are
others who don't. The question is, how is the consumer to tell,
without developing the very expertise in question? At which point, of
course, you know longer need the dealer's advice.

Also, there seem to be many opportunities for any local dealer to be out of
the loop when cartridges are ordered and installed. Is there not a common
scenario where someone reads a glowing review of the next new magic
cartridge and runs right out on the internet and buys it? Don't they often
install it themselves when it shows up on their front porch?

Yes, and most don't ever think about whether or not their arm is compatible.
I can tell you that if they ARE compatible, it's generally an accident of
happenstance.

And given what else they sell and promote--magic cables, magic pens,
magic stones--I'm mystified as to why we should trust any such dealer
to be right about anything related to audio.

Good point. I stopped believing dealers over 40 years ago. They all talked
mucho ignorant trash. I haven't bought anything from a brick and mortar home
audio store this millenium. I don't think I've even darkened the door of one
with my shadow during that time.


Suffice it to say, then, that you are blissfully ignorant of the how the
latest speakers sound? Because listening at either an audio show (rare) or a
dealer is about the only way we get hear the latest speaker technology. Me, I
don't care what the dealer uses to interconnect components. Wire is wire. As
long as the cabling used isn't some kind of "active" nonsense or has boxes
full of outboard components built into them so that they act like filters,
they are going to all sound the same.

I go to dealers to hear the latest stuff and to generally keep-up. If you
don't do that, you can have no idea about the strides that have been made in
speaker technology in the last few years (electronics? Not so much.).