Slaw, Mesch
No not all buy on our own tastes. I use my ears like everyone. However I follow professional golden ears too. My logic is that although I am confident that I have good ears, I trust MORE the equipment used for 30+ years by a multitude of golden eared professionals.
Frankly, I would suggest that many here are trusting their eyes more than anything else! I suggest that 50% or more of purchase decisions are based on looks and anecdotal reports from other hobbyists and audio magazine rave reviews (hardly unbiased as they receive advertising dollars) and a lot of marketing material - so much so that not much weight in the final decision may actually come down to pure critical listening. It is so hard not to like something that you already are predisposed to like because of reviews and aesthetics. Some beautiful expensive looking gear is actually crap inside and some ugly cheap looking stuff can be extremely good, being made of only the highest quality components; Removal of feelings, emotions, hype and visual impressions from the buying equation is hard for us all!!!
No not all buy on our own tastes. I use my ears like everyone. However I follow professional golden ears too. My logic is that although I am confident that I have good ears, I trust MORE the equipment used for 30+ years by a multitude of golden eared professionals.
Frankly, I would suggest that many here are trusting their eyes more than anything else! I suggest that 50% or more of purchase decisions are based on looks and anecdotal reports from other hobbyists and audio magazine rave reviews (hardly unbiased as they receive advertising dollars) and a lot of marketing material - so much so that not much weight in the final decision may actually come down to pure critical listening. It is so hard not to like something that you already are predisposed to like because of reviews and aesthetics. Some beautiful expensive looking gear is actually crap inside and some ugly cheap looking stuff can be extremely good, being made of only the highest quality components; Removal of feelings, emotions, hype and visual impressions from the buying equation is hard for us all!!!