2. misc-audio
  3. 148401-20253

Well maybe it IS my hearing

Hi everyone,
Lately I've gotten into some lively debates. One thing which I'm afraid we don't take into account enough is our own personal hearing. Truth is there's now way I can hear like I did when I was 20 something. So, quite likely I hear very differently than other A'goners. Just because I personally can't hear a difference in a power cable / tweak doesn't mean you don't. I don't make that claim. 

However I think it is also unfair to accuse me of having an agenda if I can't.


Lastly, if I can't hear a difference, the financial value I place on a more expensive tweak = zero. That's just the way my wallet operates. I'm not buying to impress others. My stereo is not my Mistress whom I must serve with more and more expensive shoes.  I just made her a very pretty red and carbon fiber and aluminum power and she's going to have to be happy with that.


I do take exception to over broad, fact less claims of performance however, or people working very hard to explain to me how wrong a person I must be if I can't hear a difference.


I think this is good for you as well. Buy what your ears tell you have value, and don't be swayed by crowds.


Best,
E
erik_squires

Showing 3 responses by n80

n80
2,100 posts
 
I think hearing acuity is only part of the equation as had been mentioned above. And physiologically acuity of sight, taste and hearing are no more than half of the equation that results in perception.

Many people have exceptional vision but do not observe well. I'm sure hearing is no difference. I think one can train for that. But like so many other human attributes, some people are superior to others in some aspects.

Here at Audiogon those claims of superiority seem to abound. But I suspect that is natural for a site about fine audio.

I know that my high frequency hearing is diminished. I know that I have bilateral tinnitus 24/7. But I know that for me there is a bigger problem. I have a hard time being consistently objective about finer points of hi-fi reproduction. In other words, I can frequently hear differences with various component/media changes but often can't tell if one is superior to the other. Likewise, I can hear the same media on the same system and it sounds different to me from one day to the next.

But I also know that I love music.

And I like the way it sounds on my system. 

So I am not on an upgrade treadmill and never will be.

For me this hobby is not a pursuit. It is not a fetish.

None of which is to say that I might not change components but that will have a lot more to do with moving towards a decent streaming setup than a pursuit of some unattainable standard.
n80
2,100 posts
 
@erik_squires :  "Do I really want to be the person who can taste a difference in $300 bottles of wine, or one who enjoys $30 every week?

We do that to ourselves a little too much."

Well that's just it isn't it? But that's exactly what this whole audiophile business is about for quite a few people here, if not most of us. And you would have to include yourself in that group too right?

And to be honest, if someone were to offer me the ability to hear the differences in power cables, between what type of wood my pre-amp was sitting on or the effect that the position of throw pillows in my listening room has on SQ...............I would decline. Such levels of perception (real or imagined) seem primarily to drive discontentment. And discontentment drives the audio industry.....and the rest of our economy as well.
n80
2,100 posts
 
"it was reported in the New York Times"

And you can trust the Times with your life.
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