Since I just posted in the thread here about why people don’t use CRT TVs anymore and the huge price I sold my Sony tube for, I’ll continue with a video analogy.
In the color grading world of video, we have to make color shift changes very quickly, or look away for a bit as our eyes self color balance. Look at an image shot too orange for a couple of minutes and our brain sees it as much closer to neutral. I think our hearing may work the same way. We adjust our hearing/interpretation to represent what we’re supposed to be hearing.
I was away from home for a year during 2020 due to covid and wanted to set up a small modestly priced system to enjoy, even though there was a crappy old stereo there. I ended up with a used Hegel H190 all in one unit, a house brand bookshelf speaker Underwood audio sells direct (a very good value at $2500), pair of their Diamond cables and an very old used Furman ref 15 conditioner, and a $120 AQ power cable from bestbuy. I was streaming Qobuz via Ethernet converted to WAV. Even though the speakers had gotten very good reviews, were touted as a Joseph audio Pulsar beater, and had a beryllium/copper tweeter (I still have no idea what that really means) the system wasn’t great. I couldn’t treat the room except to control first reflection points, but did have them 4 feet or so from rear wall, which was a must for me.
Finally my GF came to visit me and she brought my EtherRegen isolator from home. The system got quite a bit better, and then I started playing with putting weights on the 25lb speakers which I thought finally made them provide a slice of high end sound. I was pretty pleased With the little $8k (or so retail) system I had put together.
When I finally returned home and played some of the same tracks, I realized that while that modest system certainly made noise and provided enjoyment, my ear had adapted and fooled me into thinking I was hearing something that I wasn’t.
In the color grading world of video, we have to make color shift changes very quickly, or look away for a bit as our eyes self color balance. Look at an image shot too orange for a couple of minutes and our brain sees it as much closer to neutral. I think our hearing may work the same way. We adjust our hearing/interpretation to represent what we’re supposed to be hearing.
I was away from home for a year during 2020 due to covid and wanted to set up a small modestly priced system to enjoy, even though there was a crappy old stereo there. I ended up with a used Hegel H190 all in one unit, a house brand bookshelf speaker Underwood audio sells direct (a very good value at $2500), pair of their Diamond cables and an very old used Furman ref 15 conditioner, and a $120 AQ power cable from bestbuy. I was streaming Qobuz via Ethernet converted to WAV. Even though the speakers had gotten very good reviews, were touted as a Joseph audio Pulsar beater, and had a beryllium/copper tweeter (I still have no idea what that really means) the system wasn’t great. I couldn’t treat the room except to control first reflection points, but did have them 4 feet or so from rear wall, which was a must for me.
Finally my GF came to visit me and she brought my EtherRegen isolator from home. The system got quite a bit better, and then I started playing with putting weights on the 25lb speakers which I thought finally made them provide a slice of high end sound. I was pretty pleased With the little $8k (or so retail) system I had put together.
When I finally returned home and played some of the same tracks, I realized that while that modest system certainly made noise and provided enjoyment, my ear had adapted and fooled me into thinking I was hearing something that I wasn’t.