what percentage of us really knows sound

....and by the way, my guess is about 18.68% of us know about sound. :D

it's jaw dropping. that's all i have to say.

Juan, I agree with you. I have also been to many so called audiophile homes who's system sounded like anything but music and extremely thin. I call it the "weenie" sound because the system sounds small and light weight all in an effort to extract more detail.

High Fidelity Defined: Sound reproduction equipment that produces sound as near to the original sound as possible.

I'm sure many here remember Tandberg products. Tandberg wanted to upgrade their 3000 series products and approached their engineers with this request. The engineer's replied they were doing everything they knew to get the best sound. Tandberg was not satisfied with that and sent their engineers to "Ear Training". The engineers were required to listen to live music with someone to tell them what to listen for. Once the engineers knew what to listen for they began trying different technics and different parts to find out what sounded better. The result was the Tandberg 3000 "A" models.

Juan is right. It seems like the more expensive the system the worse it sounds. I think audiophiles should start out small and work their way up to a better system and learn as they go. In some ways it's like riding a motorcycle. Start out small and gradually work up to a bigger bike opposed to the middle aged guy that finally has enough money to buy a Harley for his first motorcycle and becomes a statistic.

I don't buy it's a matter of personal taste because I think alot of people don't know what to listen for like the Tandberg engineers. I think there are a lot of people that buy based on recommendations such as Stereophile Recommended components. They select from so called Class "A" or Class "B" lists and they get a bad match because they don't know what they are doing and think it must sound good because it was recommended by the Gods and they spent alot of money.

Besides that everyone is getting sucked into room treatment and power cords whether they need it or not. Room treatment is powerful and too much room treatment can be worse than no treatment at all and how many power cords do you have to replace before you become totally lost.

Less is more. Some of the best sounding systems I have heard are simple systems. The more complicated things get the worse it sounds.

I think Juan is overstating his case, but there is truth in what he says. Sometimes I look at people's system listed here on Audiogon and I just can't imagine how they could sound any good. Excellent equipment, at least by reputation, but what I consider really questionable setup. On the other hand I see some systems/rooms that truly do look like audio nirvana. Some people really do know what they're doing, but not everyone. Of course, everybody here is in the former group!

I believe we place different priorities on sound. Also, some people find certain inaccuracies more offensive than others.

For example, I find exaggerated image size to be particularly offensive. It is a sensitivity. I also don't like an image that is too forward. And yet, others want to listen to the music as though they are a few feet from the stage. To me, it is like I am sitting inside the saxophone or piano. For others, they feel like they are in an intimate venue. Different perspectives, but I think particular sensitivities can result in an immediate rejection because you cannot suspend belief to know you are not in front of 2 speakers.

Another problem is the severe lack of criticism in audio. I would pay for someone to come to my home to tell me what is wrong with my system. I want to learn and have different perspectives so I can increase my enjoyment. And yet, everyone fawns over every last piece of audio equipment. What if we spent so much time complementing our wives and children? I would love for a reviewer to dispense with a piece of equipment as garbage or poor value. It seems that people are way too easily offended. People get very defensive and territorial when it comes to their equipment.