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In Whose Ears Do You Trust Most?

Ok, so I've been an audiophile for 30 years or so, I've heard a lot of equipment, and I think I can analyze sounds and express what I hear in words pretty well, but still, when it comes down to it, I don't feel 100% about what I think I'm hearing till my non-audiophile, equipment agnostic, music loving significant other tells me what she hears, how it compares, etc. I'm always a tiny bit afraid that I hear what I think I will hear (I think Roger Modjeski called it the Heathrow Effect) - don't know if you had that feeling. I trust her her naive, indifferent assesment of equipment to keep me honest. You?
pubul57
vicdamone
850 posts
 
I agonized for months with speaker placement. I was fortunate that a friend of mine actually knows a designer/manufacture and within ten minutes he moved my speakers about four inches further apart and flattened the toe in about 3/8" and the difference was stunning.

I've been buying gear since the mid sixties but it was obvious I was four inches from being an audiophile. I was advised that the key is to have heard a familiar piece of music through a properly set up system and memorizing some of the staging cues.

Vic
satch
329 posts
 
I only trust my own ears. After all, I'm the one that has to listen to the sound my equipment makes, however flawed or corrupted that sound may be. What good is it to have a system that creates a 'picture perfect' sound if you don't like that sound?
detlof
1,899 posts
 
Pubul57,
you make a very good point I feel. I've been in this hobby even longer than you and I still feel the same as you describe it. My better half plays the violin, I the piano, we have musician friends and other afficionados. When I try out something new I call the "committee", as Mr. T has called it, for lenghty sessions full of lively discussions. Of course I tend to trust my own ears most, but now and again committee or better half will leave me convinced, that in first exitement about something my ears had lead me astray. In our hobby it is as with all things human, if you get too emotional about something, be it positive or negative, it is good to listen to others, who are not in the same state of arousal as you are and try to let sink in what they have to say. It is wisdom, but it ain't always easy to adhere to.
rayden1972
22 posts
 
@Pubul57

I used to have the same approach as yourself but since a year or so I have changed. Now I have learnt to be as direct and merciless as my wife when critiquing my system. If there is one bit I don't like about my system I tell that to my AV consultant straight away. I don't get wowed by name or think I would come to like it over time etc etc.
Luckily my consultant is competent and is always able to deliver the sound I like just by tweaking the system.

Music to me is an affair of heart so if you don't like the sound of your system why bother having one in the first place :-)

Cheers,
-Rayden
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