After some pondering, I decided to don’t attend to the Vienna HiEnd Audio Fair.
The reasons are many and all absolutely legitimate: first, comes my oblomovism, then the distance, costs, physical fatigue due to inexorably advancing age... but above all, after eight editions of the Munich fair, I feel a very significant, perhaps incurable, psychological fatigue: I know exactly how many people I know will be dressed, I know exactly the exorbitant price of a sandwich or a bottle of mineral water, I know that at the Silbatone stand, Maria Callas and Led Zeppelin records will be played at impossible volumes on unattainable cinema speakers and everyone will be elbowing each other over the high cost of amplifiers and preamplifiers... Aries Cerat will almost certainly present impressive new speakers, which, like ACapella, will cost millions... an absolutely embarrassing, painful sense of déjà vu, with flocks of audiophiles of different nationalities mingling in the corridors mostly talking about the sky-rocketing high prices of this or that and the Chinese stands always impeccably kept and sadly empty.
It will certainly be hotter than expected and - aside from the pleasure of greeting some friends who will be exhibiting for the first time - a fair like this represents a niche sector whose target audience ages year after year, without any real generational turnover… looking at elder people (so similar to me) spending in vintage discs at inflated price-tags sums worth the life and care of many children in war-zones makes me sad and guilty.
I'll definitely miss chatting with Joe Roberts, Beau Ranheim and JC Morrison, greeting Michael Fremer and a few others... but this feeling of having to "participate to exist" is frankly pointless!
I don't need or haven’t to buy anything, I have more records than I can listen to for the rest of my life, and—frankly—audio and music are a solitary, poetic, almost mystical journey that doesn't fit well in the glittering world of the contemporary audio industry.
My personal parameters differ from others, and I'm not seeking approval or proselytes as my actual frailty and disenchanted and realistic (pessimistic?) approach is my very own, period.
Let's just say I feel more like an ascetic with a deep love for music than a tycoon with a fat wallet and that my home audio system never sounded this good, also without spending millions.
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According to rumors, I believe (and hope) the fair will return to Munich in a few years... we'll see what the future holds.
Personally, I hope fair attendees in Vienna’s HiEnd will find reasons to be interested and learning how to better enjoy music.
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I can fully understand your concerns. I actually intended to go to the show (since it is easy for me to reach), but after all that other shows in Munich and elsewhere I am hesitating. 1. You can really only look at the new devices, not critically listen to them. 2. I have not real intention to buy anything. 3. And since I am at the moment not involved in any actual HIFI or high-end projects or in retail anymore (like in some other years), there is little benefit.
ReplyDeleteYes… it’s a bit like being a good food lover and continuing, yearly or more, to attend to kitchenware shows: after awhile, a sense of annoyance and disgust arises… you begin to appreciate simple dishes served on old wares… food and music are far more important than any home appliances… last but not least: the market is drugged and inflated, not truly interesting as it used to be, anymore…
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