So how much do you think the placebo effect impacts our listening preferences?

@mahgister

More power to you. It's good that you're able to appreciate your speakers over headphones. I remember at my old house I had carpet in my office which was ideal for speakers. 

Nobody should say headphones are better or worse than speakers. Everyone has their preferences. However, if tracking mixing/laying down a final edit are your priority, then headphones will provide great insight into a track and what needs to be fixed.

If it sounds good on an accurate headphone, it will translate even better onto speakers. 

If we get tight bass, clear midrange, and smooth treble on a track with headphones, on speakers the result will be refined again.

Have you tried listening to your speakers without the bricks on top? Does it reduce the sound quality?

Nobody should say headphones are better or worse than speakers

Average non modified headphones right out of the box and average audio systems uncontrolled and right out of the box are generally a TASTE matter...

But mechanical, electrical and acoustical controls of a speakers system are not a matter of taste....This is the ONLY way to give to your audio speakers/room system superiority over most headphones if not all...I dont have soix experience about that... But based on my experiments this was the case...

For sure when someone mix it is useful to listen to sound under a microscope sometimes headphones or monitor studio box...

I am not an engineer who work , i am in my audio room amd i want music not perfect sounds...

Have you tried listening to your speakers without the bricks on top? Does it reduce the sound quality?

For sure the concrete slabs are not sold with the speakers.... 😊

The slabs and bricks are there to damp the speakers but not only that to compress the springs i use to controls vibrations/resonance problem... The 2 sets of 4 springs boxes under and on top of each speaker are asymmetrically compressed...One set by the load of concrete and speaker weight and the other set on top of the speaker by the weight of the concrete slabs only... the difference in compressing force between the 2 sets of 4 boxes springs  work well to decrease resonant  too powerful mode in the speaker...

It is my own idea about how to use cheap springs to achieve the near same results than costly designed springs...Cost: peanuts... Results: amazingly good....

Thanks for your kind appreciation and posts....

My best to you from the heart.....

I can't believe you guys are arguing if speakers are better than headphones. They are DIFFERENT and do different things.

I don't know anyone who prefers headphones unless they either have no decent stereo or can't play music out loud because it annoys someone.

A very strange twist from a discussion about the placebo effect.

@sokogear

We're not arguing about headphones or speakers. I enjoy sharing my impressions with others and learning new things as well. So many awesome posts here!

@mahgister 

Thank you for explaining the reasoning behind the concrete slabs. While I have not seen this type of application before, I must say it's a unique way to achieve better performance. Perhaps your application is superior to a common speaker stand. (and also much more cost effective). 

High internal loss characteristics may also be improved by added weight (on or below the speaker). Resonance and vibration control could also be positively impacted. I can see how this would help with performance.

Likewise, thank you for your posts. All the best with your system and any upgrades you make in the future...Your posts are appreciated.

@sokogear 

You said, ...


"I can't believe you guys are arguing if speakers are better than headphones. They are DIFFERENT and do different things.

I don't know anyone who prefers headphones unless they either have no decent stereo or can't play music out loud because it annoys someone."

Didn't you just contradict yourself there? 

In my view, emotions are to blame for much - maybe most, maybe all - consumer decision making in ways that are largely subconscious. 

The placebo effect is emotion driven. 

It is inevitable that decisions get made about the purchase of any and maybe all products that are driven by factors intrinsic to psychological projection of personal needs and desires as opposed to any objective assessment of the characteristics of the product itself. The task of the consumer is to keep that process to a minimum, the task of the advertiser is to inflate the process, and the placebo effect is one of his or her tools. 

Happy listening. 

theaudioatticvinylsundays.com

In my view, emotions are to blame for much - maybe most, maybe all - consumer decision making in ways that are largely subconscious.

The placebo effect is emotion driven.

It is inevitable that decisions get made about the purchase of any and maybe all products that are driven by factors intrinsic to psychological projection of personal needs and desires as opposed to any objective assessment of the characteristics of the product itself. The task of the consumer is to keep that process to a minimum, the task of the advertiser is to inflate the process, and the placebo effect is one of his or her tools.

well said, and spot on imo

...any objective assessment of the characteristics of the product itself.

But here's the problem.  You can have a mental checklist of things you want the component to do, and how well it does each one of them.  But the response to music is at least 50% emotional, which means that a large subjective element is going to come into the evaluation.

The trick is to keep separate the emotions inspired in you by the music played by the component, and other emotions you might have about the company, the advertising, the attitude of the dealer, and a host of other factors.

Anyone who does not believe in the placebo effect is fooling himself.  For me, much of the perceived effects of changes in systems from more expensive equipment can be attributed to this.  

The investigators had 82 men and women rate the pain caused by electric shocks applied to their wrist, before and after taking a pill. Half the participants had read that the pill, described as a newly approved prescription pain reliever, was regularly priced at $2.50 per dose. The other half read that it had been discounted to 10 cents. In fact, both were dummy pills.

Guess what happened. 

Good example...

Thanks danvignau...

The placebo effect is constitutive part of any perception at some level, positively and negatively...

But using it to discard audio experience is no more ridiculous than  negating it and pretending to be objective in the absolute meaning of the word...

Placebo effect is too serious matter for audiophile or pseudo "objectivist"  alike...

For the value added by pricing to the S.Q. impression, it is a too common place evidence to be contested...But also depreciating small variation of quality by invoking always placebo effect is of no help here..

Only a personal strings of continuous listening experiments free us of the complete grip of  this necessary constituent part of any perception...

It is only my experience ....

I think its affects a little bit. Bythway, this discussion thread is great.

Anyone who does not believe in the placebo effect is fooling himself.

Ha! Priceless. Didn’t know Steven Wright was a member here.

Seriously though, the placebo effect is exactly why equipment reviews done without a comparison to another similar product are next to useless — yeah I’m looking squarely at you The Absolute Sound. Of course the placebo effect could still be at play even in doing product comparisons, but IMHO they go a long way toward at least mitigating it and the only reason for not doing them is pure laziness and/or a desire to crank out as many reviews as quickly as possible with little-to-no accountability for the accuracy of any assessments made therein. Really grinds my gears.

I enjoy reading this thread, some very thought provoking posts here.  Except for the headphone stuff, which is just dumb.