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June 2001 Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful "Beauty is all very well at first sight, but
who wants to look at it when it has been in the house for three days?" "The best and most beautiful things in the
world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." "Beauty is a short-lived tyranny." As mature, enlightened adults of the 21st century, we are completely and utterly devoted to substance. The aesthetic is merely an illusion, which, like some sultry siren, will draw us in with false hopes only to have our reality shattered on the rocks of truth. Beauty is a mirage. What we value is truth and function. "Beauty is truth, truth beauty." "Elle Mcpherson looks incredibly hot in a
yellow string bikini." Come on, folks; lets cut the bull and get with the program. How about a little psychological game? Read the following pairs of words and choose one word without thinking.
We love things that look good (and marketing people love us). If it comes in a pretty-enough package, no matter how bad for us it might be, we want it -- bad. Is there any other way to explain the success of Brittany Spears, Elizabeth Hurley and Carmen Electra? Well maybe there are a couple things . And how does this relate to audio? Im getting there, Im getting there. Lets say its time to upgrade that amplifier. It has given you five years of stalwart service. It worked well with your speakers, preamp, etc.; you have no real complaints. But after all, its been five years, and in this hobby thats more than a lifetime. You make the rounds of your local audio retailers. If youre lucky, you have more than one in your area to visit. You place your budget at four grand and begin shopping. After extensive listening sessions, you narrow your choices down to two amplifiers. Both work well with your system and would be a substantial upgrade to what you have. One has slightly, and I mean slightly, better bass control. It looks very utilitarian, a stamped black-metal chassis with large rubber feet. The second contender is the equivalent of the first in all areas except bass control. It is also a work of art to behold -- a thick silver face plate with black trim. Large, sculptured heat-sink fins branch out from the sides like rays of sun. It sits on feet that are actually four polished columns ending in spikes. When powered up, the challengers front emblem glows blue as if to announces the amp's royal heritage. " Here I am. Ive arrived." Both amplifiers are significantly better than the amp you are replacing. Which do you walk out with? Your friends are watching. They will ask how much it costs. Whether we like to admit it or not, when we spend this kind of green, we like what we buy to look the part. The ego is alive and well and living inside most audiophiles.
So shall we get down off our utilitarian high horse and join the peep show? Shoot, even my wife made me change audio racks because she couldnt stand for visitors to think our audio rack came from a cost-cutting retailer with the same name. Yeah, youre right on Target. Luckily for us, many audio manufacturers enjoy putting great-sounding machines inside equally fitting packages. Miss universe with a brain? Nahhh! But in the audio world? Absolutely!
For those utilitarians who profess that form and function must always go hand in hand, for those that can only be happy with simplicity in its basest form, I leave you with the words of early-20th century writer Jean Kerr. "Im tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. Thats deep enough. What do you want -- an adorable pancreas?" But that we might be tempted by beauty and sacrifice quality, let me also leave on the words of a famous French courtesan, Ninon de LEnclos. "That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful." Happy listening. ...Bill Brooks
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