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System psychology, or just psyched out?

After reading through these forums a bit, listening to what some people have to say about their systems and given my own experience, I have noticed something of a pattern:
People generally like their systems.

Now my question would be is this for psychological reasons, or purely objective?

What I mean is, after we buy something and own it we usually become comfortable and accepting of it which may affect our judgement of it. We become accustomed to and familiar to our systems, and regard it dearly and would not wish to part with it... We have a pride of ownership.

For example, I met a guy in the hi-fi shop who said he loved his Totem Mani-II speakers, but that when he first heard them he wasn't really overly impressed by them, they were simply the best he could afford. But now, he loves them and is completely satisfied with their sound. I know that speakers need to be broken in and played in your usual listening environment for a satisfactory audition, but I also think that other psychological factors like pride of ownership, familiarity and comfort with the product, etcetera, play a role in the level of enjoyment and opinion of the sound.

Now don't mock me here, but my RCA home theater in a box system along with my Bose Acoustic Wave music System(you know, the big stereo box) gives me great enjoyment when listening to music. Playing CD's from my cheap $40 Cyberhome DVD player, the sound has good, not great soundstaging and depth along with decent, good stereo imaging. Also the sound is pretty clear, certainly not the best earth challenging sonics, but still nice. I actually think my system costing just over 300 bucks, 1500 if you count the Bose, which I guess you must although I got it for free from my uncle, he owns a pawn shop, sounds better than the 20, 50, 80, 100 thousand dollar rigs I hear at Audio Lab, my Hi-end shop. Don't get me wrong, I know there's better sound out there, and I want to upgrade which is why I go there(Audio Lab), but I do enjoy my modest setup immensely.

So what's the deal? You think if people heard their own system blindfolded they would be so thrilled, or does the fact that they own it influence their views... and ears?

Oh well, just a thought I had about systems and speakers, what about you?
audio_obsessed_novic

Showing 1 response by plato

plato
1,543 posts
 
I just want to know how many times one needs to watch those Bose commercials (and read the Bose advertising literature) before he can become convinced that an inexpensive Bose system can compete with and possibly beat a $100k audio system.

Audio_obsessed_novic, do you really believe your Bose system is that good or have you simply been romanced/brainwashed by the ads and have rationalized that the Bose is that good so that you won't need to spend any more money?

Another simple thing to realize is that because expensive systems typically have greater extension at the frequency extremes and are more dynamic, they excite room acoustics problems to a much higher degree than a more frequency-limited and compressed system would. And matching components for proper system synergy becomes increasingly important with higher-resolution rigs. In other words, it's very easy to screw up the sound of any expensive system if you don't pay careful attention to system set-up details... If you think it must be set up correctly because it's in an audio store... well, I urge you to reconsider that notion.
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