In the UK I would say that there is a huge amount of snobbery involved, plus a decent helping of ignorance based on iTunes and iPods being the public perception of computer audio. Most audio shops regard computer audio as MP3 quality and I doubt many have sat down and listened to a well structured system based on SB3, Sonos any other lossless capable transport fed into a good DAC.
There is also the notion that if it is more conventient, then it can't be as good - the old LP vs CD debates spring to mind here too. The fact is that computer based audio is cheaper to buy and mainly online too, so not interesting to these guys, and also requires skills that they may not have, hence their fear of it. They much prefer the networked solutions from established audio companies, like Linn and Naim who charge vastly inflated prices for standard computer drives and hardware in a nice box. One of the biggest obstacles I can see though is that established "experts" suddenly become learners again, so it is much easier to dismiss new technology than admit your opinions are no longer pearls before swine. I see mentions of 12,000 tracks and so on, just how many people buying HiFi actually have that number of CDs? Are we assuming that everyone really does benefit from having their library on tap, or perhaps they prefer the physical pleasure of closing the "machined from a solid billet of unobtanium" lids on their transports as they insert one of their twenty or so CDs of Barbara Streisand? Having said all that, it won't be long before audiophile stores catch on and start selling and recomending audiophile grade hard drives, cat6 cables and feng-shui wooden blocks to go under your keyboard. -- CardinalFang ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CardinalFang's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=962 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=32232 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
