Pipe And Slippers Hifi

CnoEvil

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For me - "Pipe and Slippers" is not a good attribute, but is a criticism. It means that the sound lacks life, air and excitement. It is so smooth that it's dull and soporific.
 

rabski

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That is the point of hifi, yes. Hifi is not always what people want though. If it was, nobody would be listening to turntables or valves, given what is now possible. @uzzy makes the perfect point.
Not that simple, IMHO.

My primary source is vinyl, and there are valves in every bit of the system apart from the streamer. There is no 'pipe and slippers' here, unless it's what the artist intended.

Actually, the type of equipment is a red herring, as always. I've heard far more solid state stuff than valve stuff that rolls off frequency extremes and masks detail. There are, of course, good and bad examples of everything.
 
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oldius

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For me - "Pipe and Slippers" is not a good attribute, but is a criticism. It means that the sound lacks life, air and excitement. It is so smooth that it's dull and soporific.
My wife condemns my Crocs, but they give me life, air and excitement.
 

oldius

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Not that simple, IMHO.

My primary source is vinyl, and there are valves in every bit of the system apart from the streamer. There is no 'pipe and slippers' here, unless it's what the artist intended.

Actually, the type of equipment is a red herring, as always. I've heard far more solid state stuff than valve stuff that rolls off frequency extremes and masks detail. There are, of course, good and bad examples of everything.
And I like vinyl, as you know, but it is no longer capable of the highest resolutions. There is something more - the process, the science, the engineering, and the visuals. Hifi, IMO, meets a more complex and nuanced set of needs.
 

Lancslinn

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For me - "Pipe and Slippers" is not a good attribute, but is a criticism. It means that the sound lacks life, air and excitement. It is so smooth that it's dull and soporific.
So, first we must agree on a definition of the phrase “Pipe and slippers”.
 
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Lancslinn

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And I like vinyl, as you know, but it is no longer capable of the highest resolutions. There is something more - the process, the science, the engineering, and the visuals. Hifi, IMO, meets a more complex and nuanced set of needs.
Hifi for me is about presenting the music in a way that I like. In the same way different conductors can present the same piece in different ways or the difference between recordings made at live performances and those made in the studio.
 

oldius

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Are you sure?

Surely they just make you look like an Old(ius) Git in ugly shoes? :p

Listen to your Wife!
I am an old git in ugly shoes, and she chose this, which suggests listening to her would be stupid!
 

oldius

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Hifi for me is about presenting the music in a way that I like. In the same way different conductors can present the same piece in different ways or the difference between recordings made at live performances and those made in the studio.
I like this post. I was chatting to a friend, @luvpies , about this very issue recently. The joy of great hifi is to reveal this, IMO. It can also reveal just how poorly some albums are produced or mastered, but get it right and the joy is supreme.
 

CnoEvil

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So, first we must agree on a definition of the phrase “Pipe and slippers”.
...As with all subjective terms used to describe the sound we are hearing.

I have always seen the term used in a derogatory fashion, as in, "The sound was too Pipe and Slippers".

I have never seen anyone say, "I'm thrilled with my new system as it is so Pipe and Slippers sounding".

IMV. A system can be detailed, dynamic, rich, natural, with a treble that is clean and smooth......but once it tips into "Pipe and Slippers" territory, it has gone too far in this direction.
 

rabski

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I want my hifi to do the least possible damage to my music. I want all the detail, but I don't want it artificially thrown at me or accentuated.
This. 100%. And you can achieve it at any 'resolution' or with vinyl or digital.

Sorry Geoff, but the 'capable of higher resolutions' makes no difference in the vast majority of cases, because the original recording and mastering is what matters. You can't upsample or oversample 'detail' that isn't in the original.
 

oldius

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This. 100%. And you can achieve it at any 'resolution' or with vinyl or digital.

Sorry Geoff, but the 'capable of higher resolutions' makes no difference in the vast majority of cases, because the original recording and mastering is what matters. You can't upsample or oversample 'detail' that isn't in the original.
Oh, I accept much of what you say, and I often cannot tell the difference between high-res and Redbook for exactly the reasons you say. However, new recordings recorded in high-resolution are a different matter, at least in my experience.
 
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