There are music lovers, and then there are music lovers who are also audiophiles, people supposedly endowed with "golden ears" that they can zone in on the minutest musical details in recordings.
Audiophiles are that breed of people who would not think twice about buying vinyl or —- to Baby Boomers or Gen Xers — "plaka" at P16,000 per disc to feed their audio system costing upwards of P500,000.
Insanity? Yes, maybe. Still, that's why they belong to a select group of, let's say with some levity, the "afflicted." Here's a disclaimer: I'm one of them, or I used to be one, even if I could only dream of belonging to that cost-no-object strata.
We're those who always figure out the wife-acceptancy factor of our next audio purchase to see if we can get away with bringing home that new set of speakers or amplifiers. We are the target of such jokes as the one below.
Enraged wife blasting away at hubby seated on the couch set up at the stereo sweet spot equidistant between the speakers, oblivious of her rants: "You bought a $2,000 pair of cable because you can 'hear the difference' and yet you can't friggin hear me yelling from the kitchen!#@!*"
For audiophiles ready for another round of bawling from wifey, you still have today to catch the November HIFI Show at Dusit Thani Hotel Makati, a show that started as a "record swap" in 2004. The entrance is free!
I am going today to what I consider to be my community's show. But before I do that, I asked Audio Pilipinas admin Leonard Co and tube master and show exhibitor Rene Rivo a few questions.
In this age of music streamed through arguably low-fidelity or lo-fi BlueTooth into headphones or boomboxes, I queried them whether the audiophile practice of getting the most out of the listening experience is still relevant.
I posed Leonard and Rene the question because most people these days treat music as background accompaniment to whatever they are doing, as some sort of elevator music.
"While the majority listen to music over portable devices, there is still a healthy number of enthusiasts who have the space, the cash, and the desire to recreate a live performance in their homes. They are the target market of exhibitors in the November Hi-Fi Show," Leonard explained.
Rene, from whom I sourced an entry-level Dared tube amp that has outlived three solid-state home theater receivers 10 years running, had this response: "Bro, Room 524. Sorry ang daming tao." I could not have been happier with his terse reply.
How's that for relevant?
After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Grupo Hi-Fi/Elrog/Music room of Ka Rene and partners was swamped with audio enthusiasts on the show's day one on Saturday. The group featured all-tube amps handcrafted by Rene driving the Cabasse Murano Alto and Klipsch Forte IV Heritage Speakers.
For the sources: Vintage Analog by Thorens, SME, and Shure cartridge; and for digital, Chord Electronics, iFi Audio, and Atlas Audio. Woodcraft by Jay Sulangi.
From Leonard's take on recreating "live" music, this Contrarian tried to play the devil's advocate by asking him about that other group of audiophiles who take their music everywhere, those who own very expensive headphones and matching mobile amplification that takes advantage of such new technologies like Dolby Atmos.
"Dolby Atmos, like DTS and Aura 3D, began with movies. They are ways of placing the listener in a particular environment, by either redirecting certain sounds to specific speakers in a multichannel system or by changing the sound itself to achieve the same effect on just two (left and right) speakers or headphones," Leonard said.
"In contrast, those with the desire, the funds, and the space for a good Hi-Fi system prefer to hear the music in its unaltered state. They go through great lengths to obtain good equipment, position their speakers and arrange their furniture so that the original sound becomes the star of the show," he continued.
"Enthusiasts of both live together harmoniously. I was told that many who own top-notch hi-fi systems also own equally top-notch headphones and portable players."
So there, visit the November HIFI Show at Dusit Thani and prepare to have your ears opened to what good music on very good systems can sound like. Don't miss the multi-million peso Gryphon set up of AVDI's Wilfred Lim at the Dusit's Chantara Ballroom.
We may not be able to afford any of the associated units like the Gryphon's Apex Stereo amp costing $99,000 or P5,668,690, but we can still at least give them a listen.
