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Personal vs. Market Values

Take truffle oil. Or truffles. The mushrooms, not the confection.
Honestly I can’t taste it. I’ve ordered all sorts of dishes with "truffle oil" which commanded a premium and if there is any difference at all in the taste I could not tell you even after being told about it.

The point of this is that truffle oil holds no personal value to me. I’m not trading in it or running a restaurant or buying it in bulk. If I did that I’d feel and be willing to spend quite differently than I do now.

The point to this and how this matters in audio is that you should be true to your own ears. Use friends, reviews (cough) and other sources as guides. You may also evaluate a brand based on re-sale value. That’s reasonable as the resale could have a material impact on you in the future.

But if you can’t hear a difference or prefer a speaker/cable/amp no one else does then serve only yourself and your loved ones. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the market value of a particular product has value for you or that it is a display of relative merit. It may not. Our hobby is filled with charlatans selling invisible clothes.

Those who say they can't taste the truffle oil or see invisible clothes spend less and are far happier I think.

Happy listening,

E
erik_squires
pratorious
124 posts
 
So... are you saying you cannot tell the difference between one truffle oil and another? This would not surprise me. But if you are suggesting you cannot tell the difference between WITH truffle oil and WITHOUT... I would find that shocking.

I am not sure the analogy holds up with designed, engineered and manufactured audio equipment, but I get your point, and will not disagree. Yet, I have a friend that claims he cannot recognize the difference (or chooses not to care) between his Two Buck Chuck wine and more expensive wines. I find this shocking as well but I still get much pleasure pouring him the best wine I have... currently open.
erik_squires OP
15,682 posts
 
I cannot tell the difference between things that have truffle oil and don’t. Obviously, if a recipe calls for oil for browning, that’s something different. But cook it with extra virgin olive oil or truffle oil and I could not tell. At best I might like the olive oil better. :)

My point is, sometimes there is a difference for you and sometimes there is not. If you cannot hear a difference, don’t pay for it. :)

Also, my own personal goals are different. I’m not out to spend as much as I can. I’m out to spend as little as I can for the same value. So for me, finding a $20-$40 bottle of wine that brings me as much pleasure as a $300 bottle of wine is a win.

When it comes to whiskey, finding one I'll drink, at all, is hard. Whatever my whiskey drinking friends are fascinated by I usually can't drink them at all. So sure, some fancy Japanese whiskey may be worth $100 on the market, but for me, it is worth $0.

Best,
E
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three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
Funny you should bring this up.  I often think about the concept of "Supertasters" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster and apply it to the world of audiophiles.  I suspect there are also "superlisteners" who can discern sound at a much more refined level than others, and I don't just mean hearing soft tones (i.e. hearing test) or wider frequency range but also sense the structure of sound on a more granular level.  Some of us may fall into this category.
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