2. tech-talk
  3. 1332143340

How much can be measured -- and how much cannot?

There has been a lot of discussion over the years on Audiogon regarding the measurement of components and other audio products. Some people claim everything is either measurable now or will one day become measurable with more sophisticated measuring equipment. But others say there are things in high end audio that will never me measurable and that measurements are really not that important.

Here is a typical example -- a quote taken from the Stereophile forum regarding their review of the Playback Designs MPS-5:

"JA 2/17/10 Review Measurements of Playback Designs MPS-5
Posted: April 13, 2011 - 8:42am

John Atkinson's 2/17/10 review measurements of the Playback Designs MPS-5 revealed less than stellar technical performance even though Michael Fremer really liked the player. I've included JA's closing measurement remarks below followed by the manufacturer's comments.

To my knowledge there was never any followup in Stereophile regarding the manufacturers reply the MPS-5 could not be adequately measured with traditional measurement techniques.

I believe Stereophile should respond to this reply in the interests of its own measurements credibility.

Len"

How important do you think measurements are? Are the ears really the only true arbiter?
sabai

Showing 4 responses by onhwy61

onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,135 posts
 
I think the original question and all the responses miss the central point of the modern audiophile pursuit. Despite audiophile claims to the contrary the science of of sound reproduction is extremely well understood, particularly if we're talking analog signals. Audiophiles focus on what sounds good, which has become more a function of marketing and mass psychology. As a group we have been indoctrinated and conditioned to think about sound quality in very specific patterns and a group of talented entrepreneurs are profiting by exploiting these patterns. The products we buy are luxury goods and marketing involved is well understood - product differentiation and market segmentation predominate.

Audiophiles have two fundamental challenges to their world view, musicians and engineers. Each group basically thinks we're delusional. To paraphrase comrade Marx, "who you gonna' believe, me or your lying ears?"
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,135 posts
 
In reply to Charles1dad, good sound is a comparative thing. If you don't know bad sound it might be hard to recognize good and nearly impossible to fully understand great sound.

Your attribution of beauty and enjoyment to components is exactly the type of marketing conditioning I was talking about. Over time each of us has developed a belief system about sound and music that largely predetermine our opinions on certain audio subjects. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but once you take it into account questions of measurements vs. subjectivity become largely irrelevant. We can trade opinions, but our belief systems, which I believe are marketing driven, prevent us from being educated, at least to some large extent.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,135 posts
 
When I say marketing one of the concepts I'm referring to is that only through the meticulous selection of and then synergistic mating of equipment can audio satisfaction be attained. I suspect some people will find the last sentence nonsensical. And it could be, but have you ever had a moment of musical bliss when listening via clearly non-audiophile equipment? It happens to me all the time and I think it's because music and the emotions I bring to listening to music trumps the quality of equipment I'm using. Has all the knowledge each of us learned in our individual audiophile journeys actual conditioned us to enjoy music less if not reproduced via high end equipment? If so are you really better off than when you started?
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,135 posts
 
Sabai, what do you mean by the phrase "the essence of music" and is it related to high end audio?
More to discover