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The myth of "best" in audio needs to be addressed by all of us

After spending a year and half deeply immersed in audiophilia (with so much enjoyable benefit), I've identified my tendency (seemingly share by many) to chase the fantasy of "best" in this perfectionistic hobby/pursuit.  It leads to obsessiveness, second-guessing, acrimony between audio tribes, and personal insecurity when reading these forums and all the reviews.  

But, thinking about it, how could there ever be a "best" component, cable, or speaker for listening to music.  This is a subjective experience!!! 

From a purely measurement/engineering perspective -- "best" could mean a lot of things (but they don't automatically mean more enjoyable sonics). 

In listening and enjoying music, there is no "best" -- only "favorite".  And even "favorite" can change -- it certainly has for me.  I've gone back and forth multiple times on all sorts of gear preferences. You can like what you like, you don't have to defend it, and nobody should mess with it!

Anybody else want to fight the harmful myth of "best" in audio?
redwoodaudio

Showing 1 response by bob540

bob540
404 posts
 
I agree, there likely is no”best”, not only because people’s preferences differ but also the advance of technologies stands to supplant today’s best with a new-and-improved best.

i tend to lean toward “best for the money”, which is still subjective but closer to achievable.  I understand that $10,000 speakers or a $5,000 DAC is likely to outperform what I have, but given that I won’t be sending at that level, it makes more sense to achieve the best I can within my budget. I leave it to others to extract those final % of improvement with their mega-systems. 
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