I consider myself reasonably adept at discering parody but am nonetheless uncertain here. Got home from work yesterday to find my new S'Phile and after my usual post-work bike ride and shower and quick meal, settled down in front of the stereo to spin some vinyl and start reading. Mr. Guttenberg's "As We See It" seemed sensible enough, if not mostly a repeat of what has been said many times before, but I couldn't help but wonder if it was chosen to match the content of sevaral recent letters from readers on the same general topic and then I came to the last letter and as I was reading it I kept thinking, "this has to be the most idiotic letter I have ever seen written to the Editor!", no easy feat. You mean to tell me that a sane reader, not under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, really expects us to accept his premise that having two cholic-y babies and experiencing their reactions to two different stereo set-ups (one being uber-expensive and one being more along the lines of what most of us have) constitutes unquestionalbe objective proof that differences among systems are qualitatively real and susceptable to verification through infantile reaction! The leap from buffoonery to the absurd came upon seeing the author's name as the founder/designer of Ayre Electronics, one of this hobby's most respected manufacturers! So please somebody, clarify things for me and tell me that I failed to pick up on an effort at parody, and that the author never meant to do be taken seriously.
I consider myself reasonably adept at discering parody but am nonetheless uncertain here. Got home from work yesterday to find my new S'Phile and after my usual post-work bike ride and shower and quick meal, settled down in front of the stereo to spin some vinyl and start reading. Mr. Guttenberg's "As We See It" seemed sensible enough, if not mostly a repeat of what has been said many times before, but I couldn't help but wonder if it was chosen to match the content of sevaral recent letters from readers on the same general topic and then I came to the last letter and as I was reading it I kept thinking, "this has to be the most idiotic letter I have ever seen written to the Editor!", no easy feat. You mean to tell me that a sane reader, not under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, really expects us to accept his premise that having two cholic-y babies and experiencing their reactions to two different stereo set-ups (one being uber-expensive and one being more along the lines of what most of us have) constitutes unquestionalbe objective proof that differences among systems are qualitatively real and susceptable to verification through infantile reaction! The leap from buffoonery to the absurd came upon seeing the author's name as the founder/designer of Ayre Electronics, one of this hobby's most respected manufacturers! So please somebody, clarify things for me and tell me that I failed to pick up on an effort at parody, and that the author never meant to do be taken seriously.