Audio snobbery


I cannot emphasize this enough, I was an audio snob for most of my life, and am not sure what combinations of things transformed my perspective but I do not attribute it to my own doing. That’s important because it means that I am in no way superior to others. I didn’t pull myself up by my bootstraps. I am not then sitting in judgment but am offering an opinion for consideration. I’m not going to delve into psychology. This isn’t really about personality because we all have shortcomings there. Everyone thinks that they are right, and they are. Music is personal, musical preferences are therefore all right. So...

Shortcomings of A/B testing, and reviews. IMO listeners fall into three broad categories. You have those who enjoy background music, those who enjoy warm music, and those wanting authenticity. The problem with broad categories is that of spectrum. Some who love warm also want a soundstage while others may find that frustrating, etc, etc.

Therefore if you are dealing with A/B testing, or reviews and ignore these predilections your results are meaningless. If you don’t rate items on a multitude of traits the results are seriously lacking. Without this information if you are a critical listener you really don’t know how a reviewed item will fit in your system.I’m not here to tell you what’s best. I’m here to encourage reviewers to describe what each component does well, where it falls short, the trade-offs it makes, and—just as importantly—their own listening priorities and preferences as clearly as possible, while also helping readers understand why audio equipment so often fails to live up to the hype. Only then can readers determine whether a component truly aligns with their own priorities and expectations.
A more complete review is not one that tells you what to buy. It is one that gives readers enough meaningful information to make that decision for themselves.
No component is perfect. Every design is a series of compromises, and every listener values those compromises differently. A reviewer’s responsibility is not to declare universal winners, but to describe those compromises honestly and explain the perspective from which they are being evaluated. The more transparent reviewers are about their own listening priorities, the more valuable their reviews become—even to readers whose priorities differ from their own.
The goal is not to persuade you to share my preferences. It is to provide enough information that you can determine whether a component is likely to satisfy yours.I’m not here to tell you what’s best. I’m here to encourage reviewers to describe what each component does well, where it falls short, the trade-offs it makes, and—just as importantly—their own listening priorities and preferences as clearly as possible, while also helping readers understand why audio equipment so often fails to live up to the hype. Only then can readers determine whether a component truly aligns with their own priorities and expectations.

A more complete review is not one that tells you what to buy. It is one that gives readers enough meaningful information to make that decision for themselves.

No component is perfect. Every design is a series of compromises, and every listener values those compromises differently. A reviewer’s responsibility is not to declare universal winners, but to describe those compromises honestly and explain the perspective from which they are being evaluated. The more transparent reviewers are about their own listening priorities, the more valuable their reviews become—even to readers whose priorities differ from their own.

The goal is not to persuade you to share my musical preferences. It is to provide enough information that you can determine whether review of a component is likely to truly inform you as to your preferences.

 

lous

I looked at the original post and thought this was going to be a complicated read. Instead, it contained a couple of simple, reasonable points buried in a lot of repetition.

You make the actual argument — reviewers should describe trade-offs and their own priorities instead of declaring winners, which is a good if obvious point — four separate times in slightly different words, and then the last four paragraphs are literally pasted twice. Same sentences, word for word, down to "I'm not here to tell you what's best." That's not emphasis, that's an editing pass that didn't happen.

The "I'm not judging" disclaimer alone shows up six or seven times: "I'm not superior," "I didn't pull myself up by my bootstraps," "I'm not sitting in judgment but am offering an opinion for consideration," "Everyone thinks that they are right, and they are," "Music is personal, musical preferences are therefore all right," "I'm not here to tell you what's best" (twice, once in each copy of the duplicated block).

And look -- you are telling people what's best. Otherwise, the post has a lot of insistence on neutrality when it actually isn't neutral. You say reviewers should rate on multiple traits, should disclose their priorities, should describe trade-offs rather than declare winners — that's prescriptive, not a shrug. And "your results are meaningless" if reviewers skip the listener categories isn't a preference, it's a flat verdict on existing review practice.

So you're not ranking gear, but you are ranking reviewers and review methods, pretty confidently. The disclaimer covers more ground than it earns — worth dropping it, or narrowing it to what's actually true: you're not telling people what to buy, but you are telling them how to review. An honest reviewer might say, "If you can tell us how to review, we can tell readers what sounds best."

perspective of the late Harry Pearson:  the "Absolute Sound" was live music, and all systems and components should be compared to that.  Also, the ideal system does not approach  the above, the perfect system is the same as a live experience

I gave up on the OP about halfway through due to the repetition.  He seems passionate about whatever his point is, but repeating a point several times in the course of a post does not lend that point increased validity.

  He then seems to want to break audio listeners into 3 distinct groups.  Personally I don’t seem to fall into any of them, but whatever floats his boat.

what I really didn’t get was whatever point he was trying to make about audio snobbery 

  

As a reviewer, since my species is being put under the microscope here, I offer my book, The Audiophile Laws, tthe culmination of 20 years of reviewing. In it I discuss my habitus as a hobbyist and my reviewing methods, and offer many practical (i.e., real world, proven through system building) principles that advance audio systems efficiently with a goal of improving listening satisfaction. 

Frankly, all the philosophizing in the industry and community doesn't mean much to me. My lifetime goal is to enjoy as many audio systems of different genres as possible and to see how good I can make them all sound. In the process, I have learned what works and what doesn't work when seeking to bring the rig to the point where I have complete satisfaction as a listener. I care little about the politics and machinations of the audiophile world. 

If anyone wishes to see the adventure I have just begun, that will find a spot in an anticipated  second edition of the book, take a look on the Miscellaneous forum at the thread entitled "Battery Power at a Price Point", where I put my Audiophile Laws to work once again in actual system building, with great benefit! That is not to sidetrack the discussion, but to offer an example of how I draw up system building principles. Within a span of a couple weeks, I dove into the topic, vetted it, and used several iterations, including three systems, to discover its benefit. 

While some of my Audiophile Laws may seem mundane to seasoned hobbyists, they are enlightening to anyone who is newer to the game, and I have revelations that will surprise even long time audiophiles. Those who have closed minds will continue to make mistakes, to build worse systems, and those who have open minds, who are willing to reconsider the received wisdom of the community, will claim a better listening experience.

The discussions of attitudes, relationships, nostalgia, and the politics of the industry don't help build a better rig and attain better sound. My principles based on real world system building do so. I took a break from participating here for perhaps three years while I was writing the book. When I returned, the same worn topics were rehashed and I thought, "I didn't miss much."