Sorry state of affairs

[Rare Bird]

Are we living in a society of can't care less?

The Granite slabs cheap... thread got me thinking, i've tried to point out on that thread that a correctly machined piece of Granite with precision edging is extremely important to me as well as making the piece look totally proffesional & not just some cheap copping board from your nearest high street store, yeat people are more than happy with the poor quality! What is it with people?

[keiths]

For most people on here, the "sound per pound value" concept is important. If a £10 chopping board sounds as good/provides the same isolation as an expensive machined piece of stone, then the cheap option is going to win.

Many people, especially those with their own man-cave listening rooms aren't in the least tiny little bit concerned with what it all looks like anyway, especially as most of it is hidden by the component standing on it.

Also some people, like me, need to "Cut their coat according to their cloth" as my dad was fond of saying - if you can't afford top quality, you make the most of what you can afford.

[lurcher]

The simple answer is that people all have different values and find different things important. Just because my values are not everyones doen't make mine right and the natural and correct order of things, and it also dosn't make theirs any more right or wrong.

My take would be, if the reason for the granite was a flat top and bottom and density and mass, why would the condition of the sides make any difference at all. But I am not everyone, or for that matter anyone but me. I guess I am a functionality sort of guy (as folk who have seen my workshop/listening room would agree)

[Marco]

Haha... Your den would give Andre a seizure!!

I like it though, as it has a certain 'organic' quality, which appeals to my bohemian sensibilities :eyebrows: ;)

Marco.

[Rare Bird]

Next time you buy a car Nick ask for one with no paint & wheel trims you'll get it cheaper.Afterall those two aspects don't impair it's performance..

[lurcher]

Well, lack of paint clearly does, as it would rust. And strictly speaking my current car has no wheel trims if you mean the purley cosmetic plastic bits they use to cover up pressed steel rims.

[prestonchipfryer]

The granite shelves I use were made to my size requirements; they cost £70 from a local stonemasons. I thought that was a reasonable price. Many people will, and do, go for the cheaper options with goods they buy. This is only natural. The trouble is that cheap does not mean quality. Like most things you only get what you pay for, quality wise. The granite chopping boards I have seen are half the thickness of mine. They were priced at £12.50 each in ASDA and are about half the area. So pound for pound they work out at approx. the same price in total. :)

[lurcher]

The trouble is that cheap does not mean quality

The problem is that often neither does expensive.

In fact as I discovered 20 years ago while BS5750 was all the rage, quality does not mean quality.

[Marco]

I think we have to accept that Andre is a stickler for perfection in appearance of whatever it is he's using, perhaps much more so than some of us, and there's nothing wrong with that - in fact, his desire for quality and perfection is to be applauded :)

Personally, when it comes to audio-related items for my system, as like some others here, I have a separate room for my 'toys' (and here I suspect that this makes a big difference because my 'stuff' is not acting as an 'eyesore' in our lounge), I will always prioritise sonic performance over looks.

And so faced with the choice of using something that looks perfect but sounds mediocre, and something else which looks medicore and sounds amazing, the former will always come a very poor second!

But, Andre is different, and we have to respect that :cool:

Marco.

[Effem]

Aw c'mon Andre, the world isn't going to stop turning because the slabs of granite being sold in supermarkets don't have beautifully chamfered edges :rolleyes:

I can however understand your stance on having something that is as close to perfection as possible for your own personal enjoyment and enrichment.

[keiths]

I think we have to accept that Andre is a stickler for perfection in appearance of whatever it is he's using, perhaps much more so than some of us, and there's nothing wrong with that - in fact, his desire for quality and perfection is to be applauded :)

+1 and kudos to him for being the perfectionist.

[lurcher]

+1 and kudos to him for being the perfectionist.

Yes, agreed, as I said people are different, and the world is better for it. But I do know people (not suggesting Andrie is in this camp) where a obsessive quest for unattainable perfection can actually hurt their enjoyment of even the simplest of things.

[DSJR]

Next time you buy a car Nick ask for one with no paint & wheel trims you'll get it cheaper.Afterall those two aspects don't impair it's performance..

OI!!!!! The Rover P6 you have pictured was, in V8 trim anyway, a wonderful car to own and drive at the time, especially with the Police suspension mods, but the beauty was only frame-deep. as was leylands wont back then, the lack of underseal on the wing-inners was chronic and the things rusted away before your very eyes. the less said about rotten SD1's (in every sense of rotten) the better too.....

The thing is mate, I'd be happy with a cheap granite block and if it could be still cheap yet better/properly finished, I'd be delighted, but at this time I just couldn't afford to pay double for one, for example.

Specialist enthusiast audio gear does seem to command massive prices, mostly in profit per item, and this could easily be put down to the miniscule amounts being made and sold out there I suppose. The bean-counters supplying the granite blocks may well not accept the small increase to properly finish them as being sustainable as someone out there would sell the bog-standard chopping block for less.

I'm sort of contradicting myself I reckon - apologies all :)