The Promoting Of Mediocrity In Audio - October 2025

I recently posted a video on Youtube, found at Audible Elegance, about the history of mediocrity in hi-fi as I see it.  It's not the end all and be all of history, but my perspective of it.  I had the pleasure of a viewer commenting about it and it allowed me to explain my thoughts further.  Hope you all enjoy.

Viewer:

"I think a more polite term would be compromise. I've been a consumer of these mediocre products, just recently I bought a soundbar and subwoofer in a box solution. $600 Samsung and no need to manually calibrate crossovers etc it just works with your TV audio. I think we all need to victim to these conveniences, I remember the day I ditched wired headphones for Bluetooth I just can't go back."

My Response:

While I understand what you are saying, you certainly must recognize how "the experts" of CNN, Yahoo, and other sites promote these products as the full and complete solution right along with a link to their paid advertiser or Amazon. You cannot even read any news site without these ads being interspersed with news stories with convenient links to the sellers. That is where I draw the line. It is promoted mediocrity, not a compromise to meet other needs. 

It's like home automation which promotes all these glorious things it can do which, if properly installed, may last a year before computer firmware, software, begin to take its toll. These "upgrades" come from both product manufacturers as well as those from the makers of the control systems themselves. And after a few rounds of this, the entire network becomes outdated like a Windows machine running Vista.

In short, it is the over-promising and underperforming that gets my attention and the obligation to simply point this out. What people do with the information, well, it's their money and their decision as it should be.

-Lou

That LOUDNESS Button! August 2025

The most misunderstood feature on any audio product is the loudness switch or button. Loudness was derived by the research into making a good telephone (The handset one with both the receiver and transmitter in one piece) which resulted in the Fletcher-Munson curve. 

It was discovered that human hearing is not flat (equal) across all frequencies, assumed to be 20 to 20,000 Hz, but has curve across the frequencies with less perception at BOTH low and very high frequencies, particularly at low volumes.  This was used in the design of the original handset dial telephone.

Now, there is not one curve but many based upon decibel levels or how loud it is.  Almost all manufacturers produced a loudness button with a sort of one size fits all and the boosts varied between manufacturers.  

The only company that actually tried to get this right was Yamaha with their variable loudness.  You may recall seeing their loudness control with the numbers 1 thru 10. That would allow the user to change the loudness based upon the volume of the system.  This was actually a promoted feature but even this attempt was basically misunderstood.

Unfortunately, the loudness control became synonymous with bass boost and away it went. Wanted more thump, press the loudness. By the way, I don't think anyone really addressed the human weakness at the other end of the spectrum, treble. 

So now we come to audio products that do not have a loudness button.  This is where misunderstanding really comes into play. Human speech is typically between 55 to 65 db.  If you look at the curve, a loudness button does have some use. However, most people don't listen at that level but, higher.  Put into perspective, 90db is that of a lawnmower, a car horn at 10', or a shouting conversation.  People often listen at 70 to 80 db where the curve begins to flatten out. At 90, well, it is a lot flatter.  But a switch in the signal path is typically not harmless.  So, a number of manufacturers recognizing the incorrect use of the loudness button and the risk to accuracy, have chosen not to provide one at all.  For most, this is not a real issue.  For some, well, they rather cling to it as a bass boost.  

Now, recognizing that not everyone perceives sound the same way, particularly as we age, well, some equalization may be proper.  Life's experiences also dramatically affect hearing.  Constant loud noise at work can be a contributory factor in hearing deficiencies.  Even illnesses can affect life-long hearing.  So, it is not necessarily age dependent but typically it is. 

I thought it would be useful for all to understand a bit more about loudness and if you are interested, look up the Fletcher-Munson curve. 

-Lou

Enter The Age & Inaccuracies of AI - July 2025

Oh, the stock market has gone crazy about the prospects of AI. 

The stories are everywhere about how everyone is going to be replaced by it so you better buy stock in it if you have any hope of making an income.  A fine bit of misinformation in my humble opinion.  Fear mongering for profit, actually.

Our first experience with it came as a result of a customer doing some research about a product of a company we represent.  The President of that company was trying to resolve a situation with a product and there were various proposals discussed.  The customer's choice, however, was influenced by incorrect information provided by AI.  This caught the attention of the company triggering an attempt to correct it with, in this case, Google.  The customer made a good and correct choice, mind you, but with the wrong information.  It could have gone the other way. 

Being curious, I decided to set the wonderful new system to the test.  What else is AI saying and so I searched my own company, Audible Elegance.  What I discovered was, to say the least, disappointing and, in some aspects, harmful to the reputation of my business.  Peppered in the AI response was all sorts of nasties not about us, but about a company with a similar name, Audible, which is a podcast company of entertainment, principally books.  We, ourselves, are quite familiar with that company and every week we receive 10 to 25 calls from their subscribers wanting to talk to them and, as we can gather from the AI review, well, they are not happy campers.  So, the reality is that Google AI is publishing negative and frightful information related to Audible, the podcast company, and not us.  Yet, there's our name attached to it.  I have little doubt that this is happening to many companies and many individuals. 

What is so equally common about these mega-distributors of information, or misinformation, is that it is nearly impossible to hold them accountable for harm they cause.  Multiple attempts have been tried and failed.  They just do what they do and you can go screw yourself.  Yet, they will net immense stock gains every time they mention what they are doing with AI all to the benefit of both management and large investment houses like BlackRock. Who gets harmed in all of this doesn't matter because they will never be invited to their country club. I have sent feedback to Google about what I saw but who knows if and when they will ever correct it.  So, what does this all mean?

I have said time and time again, review the reviewer.  I, myself, place little credibility in AI at this time.  Maybe in the future, yes, but certainly not now based upon multiple other searches.  Some information can be correct, yes, but there is also bad information contained there-in. Like I say, "there's no sense in idiot-proofing anything because they will always build a better idiot." 

Now we have one that many will simply falsely follow like the Pied Piper and Rats.  Remember, he eventually led all their children away too.  Be careful not to be led astray.  Use multiple sources and, if possible, talk to a human.  We are still needed and waiting. 

-AI Lou