The Absurdity of it All


50-60-70 year old ears stating with certainty that what they hear is proof positive of the efficacy of analog, uber-cables, tweaks...name your favorite latest and greatest audio "advancement." How many rock concerts under the bridge? Did we ever wear ear protection with our chain saws? Believe what you will, but hearing degrades with age and use and abuse. To pontificate authority while relying on damaged goods is akin to the 65 year old golfer believing his new $300 putter is going to improve his game. And his game MAY get better, but it is the belief that matters. Everything matters, but the brain matters the most.
jpwarren58
Sounds to me like a standard existential crisis. If we were to look at the process of ‘hearing’ music, and try to find the most ‘repeatable’ method of doing so, no matter the subject, the first thing to remove from the picture would be the brain. Too much experience coloring the sound. Next would be the ears, then air, then walls, then speakers. The problem is that once you have removed these things, there is no ‘hearing’ left. The process is subjective and flawed, and looking for scientific repeatability is a fools errand. Our experience of hearing is just that - an experience. Sartre solved the problem by putting existence ahead of essence. Our subjectivity (enlarged with age) makes for more critical listening ability. The essence (pure music without colorization) can only happen after the existence, therefore is already processed and colored by it. 
There is no hearing without the faults this thread is trying to identify and resolve. This shouldn’t mean that we give up on a subjective ideal, that would be too unhuman of us. Instead we should succumb to the flawed process and learn to appreciate the wealth of subjective folly that comes with age. Even bad directions can get you to the right place, if your willing and able to enjoy the trip (and not stuck with an oar). 
Just my 2 cents - except the last part. That was Homer. He’s old. 
Just my 2 cents - except the last part. That was Homer. He’s old.
i like your post....

 welcome....
I suspect these folks are just craving attention. Probably makes them feel powerful to get people to argue with them. I’ll use whatever cables I like. 
Newbee--  Good point.  And maybe that explains an odd phenomenon with hearing aids.  You put them in; you hear sounds you cannot hear otherwise.  But what then happens is when you take the aids out, you once again can hear those sounds. (Your notes may explain how the brain can do this--likely by associating those low frequencies with the ones the hearing aids demonstrate to the dumb-ass brain are missing.)
Sounds to me like a standard existential crisis. If we were to look at the process of ‘hearing’ music, and try to find the most ‘repeatable’ method of doing so, no matter the subject, the first thing to remove from the picture would be the brain. Too much experience coloring the sound. Next would be the ears, then air, then walls, then speakers. The problem is that once you have removed these things, there is no ‘hearing’ left.


Correct.   
https://youtu.be/5FELdBsixGg?t=115
More to discover