Interesting bilind testing of Stradivarius Violin

Vinyl lps are probably another example like radios from their heydey.

Seriously, now I am very glad I am not the only audio kook out there apparently whose hearing is not fine tuned enough to be able to clearly determine that a Stradivarius sounds best.

My daughter plays violin using a nice but non distinguished modern violin, and it sounds pretty good to me, but of course I am biased in this case. :^)

"It's far more about the fingers and the ears than the instrument. However, if two players are more or less equal then the one with the superior instrument should prevail."

I suspect the musician's ability to master any particular instrument of good quality matters more than the instrument itself.

Its like the old synergy story here with hifi gear. The best assembled setup usually wins, not necessarily the best quality components.

It's usually the contributions of the users/people that matter most, not the instruments, objects or tools they dabble with.

I was reading up on Stradivarius instruments on Wikipedia.

From what I read, quantifying if and why these particular instruments sound different or better than others is kind of like trying to do the same with fuses in hifi gear. Clearly part of the story here is the legacy and historical impact of these instruments which are very valuable as a result of reputation and age.

Its one of those cases where clearly there may be physical differences from other designs, but quantifying the sound quality remains elusive.

Clearly, few every day shlub musicians would play such an intrument in public or be recorded playing one, so I suspect the skills of the players overall contribute to the instrument's reputation.

I have to believe its possible to make a modern violin that is at least in the same league as one made 100s of years ago. IT might sound similar or different, maybe even better, at least in some ways to some?

I am a firm believer that time always tells though when it comes to practical assessments of value or quality. Good things last, bad things tend to run their course for the most part, but there is always something new on the horizon.

I"If you get Heifitz on the panel that can't hear the difference maybe then I might get on board the placebo train."

With great contributions to the state of hi fi sound like teleportation tweak, flying Saucers, and clever clocks, I suspect you are way overbooked for that particular train already.