I got into Hifi because I loved music. My first big stereo system during high school was not high end by any means. To be honest; I can’t remember the model numbers of my equipment. I had my grandfathers speakers, subwoofer, and equalizer. My power was a Technics receiver (I think); sources were two Gemini turntables (DJ gear) and a Sony 5-disc CD carousel. It was the early nineties, and we blasted everything from Pink Floyd to Nirvana, Peter Tosh, Depeche Mode and DJ Frankie Bones (every genre you can think of). While the system may have been what we now call “mid-fi” those were some of the greatest listening sessions I will ever experience.
Music is many things; a journey, an escape, an irritation or a search for bliss, but it is always changing. I’m not sure where I’d be without music. Kurt Vonnegut said, in A Man Without a Country that he wanted this as his epitaph: “The only proof he needed for the existence of GOD was music”. I believe that says it all. Hifi is a superbly engaging vehicle to the wonderment of music. The sound can have immeasurable effects on you. It can change you mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally (okay, so I just ran out of adjectives) and metaphysically (my apologies – it’s near impossible to describe the feelings you absorb from music). Two of the greatest attributes of music are the physicality of the sonic waveforms, and how they affect you. If music is capable of these incredible things, don’t you want to be immersed in that experience? Well, the fact is we cannot go to live concerts every night (at least I can’t, not in my thirties, but if you’re younger than me you better be soaking up loads of shows, or you’re going to regret it later in life).
Since you can’t be out at concerts every night, you are obligated (if in fact you are a music addict like me) to try and bring that visceral impact; the intense feeling of live music events home with you! I’m not saying you need to build a small concert hall, quite the contrary; many smaller scale systems today are capable of delivering big sound (more-so than ever before). Now we can continue to debate, critique, dissect and argue about High fidelity and the art of reproduced sound all our lives, but in the end, doesn’t that detract from the message in the music itself? This is not to suggest that people with experience in the Hifi industry don’t have something to offer novices (initial sonic adventurists) but we all interpret the outside world differently. That coupled with the fact that Hifi magazines are businesses: The bulk of their money is generated from advertising dollars (as well as subscriptions).
This is not a shot at the integrity of Hifi journalists, just a glimpse of the reality when a hobby births an industry. There are salaries and bills to pay, and so the division begins the moment the wall goes up between critics and devotees. While many critics are in fact enthusiasts themselves (the best ones anyway), it’s tough to remain objective when you come to know the people building the stuff you’re reviewing. Friendships are formed naturally, and the lines can get blurry amongst business acquaintances. Many writers do a fantastic job of keeping business and pleasure separate. Me; I can’t help it if I like the manufacturer of a product I’m reviewing. That said; if I do get a product from a manufacturer who happens to be a friend of mine and I don’t like the product, I simple send it back without an official comment. Perhaps this makes me a bad critic. I don’t write negative music reviews either, only because I don’t want to waste the readers’ time telling them about a product that I think sucks. What would be the point of that? Who am I to judge somebody’s art? That lies in the eye of the beholder. Anyway; the bottom line is: Enjoy your music, no matter what equipment you rock at home. My mentors got into sound because they loved music. Harry Pearson is Hp on paper, but a music lover in life. Arif Mardin was a producer on a vinyl LP (or compact disc) but also a true composer. Neither The Absolute Sound nor Atlantic Records made them who they are. Their passion and drive shaped their lives. Both of these great men (Arif, unfortunately no longer with us) used the gear (whether in the recording studio or the listening room) merely as the vehicle to the music, and I have heard both of them say so at different points in their careers. However; a seriously dialed-in stereo system can be so surreal! It can transport you to another time and place! It’s all about the journey, and whether your sonic voyage is towards Stravinsky or Sonic Youth, we are all joyriders in a wondrous undertaking; trying to turn our home systems into time machines, electronic sweat huts and meditation rooms.
I know I love music and cannot live without it actually, so why not love a great-sounding Hifi system? If you haven’t heard stereo done right, or sat in the concert hall, or even in your room with the lights out and your friends, blasting Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, you’re missing out on something special. I honestly do not know where I’d be without music, or even if I would be alive today. As the title of the great Hunter S. Thompson documentary states: Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride.
Michael writes for Positive Feedback and The Daily Swarm
