Obviously, my comments originate from 'the nickel seats', so everyone can apply the grain-of-salt factor easily.
In years past, I studied psychoacoustics partly as a hobby, and partly to aid in supplying sound for live gigs. I came to the realization that, despite factual evidence, oftentimes people preferred sound that was not quite the best that could be offered. Their judgement of 'great sound' was mostly subjective and that was that.
Without beating a dead horse, or denigrating anyone's hearing ability, I become amused at the microscopic hair-splitting that arises over tubes vs rods; both of which are an order of dimension smaller than I could ever hear the difference. My personal preference is Beryllium with a Line Contact stylus, i.e. the ATN155lc. I recently acquired an AT150mlx and an AT150sa within a few weeks' time. "Now, I can have a shoot-off between the TOTL AT carts from 3 different eras", I told myself. Current results: The AT155lc is still my favorite, but the other 2 are simply different, not better or worse. Add to that, due to my small listening room, my 3-way column speakers are only 8 feet from my ears, which essentially provide a near-field environment, like a sound studio. Auditioning new components or vinyl is also dependent on what part of the day it's done in. Personally, I also have to factor in whether or not I've eaten recently and the effect low blood sugar has on my ability to process information.
I love facts and information and charts just as much as the rest of you 'audioholics', but I need to remind myself frequently that my musical enjoyment is not a laboratory pursuit, rather a respite from a day in a life.
YRMV
In years past, I studied psychoacoustics partly as a hobby, and partly to aid in supplying sound for live gigs. I came to the realization that, despite factual evidence, oftentimes people preferred sound that was not quite the best that could be offered. Their judgement of 'great sound' was mostly subjective and that was that.
Without beating a dead horse, or denigrating anyone's hearing ability, I become amused at the microscopic hair-splitting that arises over tubes vs rods; both of which are an order of dimension smaller than I could ever hear the difference. My personal preference is Beryllium with a Line Contact stylus, i.e. the ATN155lc. I recently acquired an AT150mlx and an AT150sa within a few weeks' time. "Now, I can have a shoot-off between the TOTL AT carts from 3 different eras", I told myself. Current results: The AT155lc is still my favorite, but the other 2 are simply different, not better or worse. Add to that, due to my small listening room, my 3-way column speakers are only 8 feet from my ears, which essentially provide a near-field environment, like a sound studio. Auditioning new components or vinyl is also dependent on what part of the day it's done in. Personally, I also have to factor in whether or not I've eaten recently and the effect low blood sugar has on my ability to process information.
I love facts and information and charts just as much as the rest of you 'audioholics', but I need to remind myself frequently that my musical enjoyment is not a laboratory pursuit, rather a respite from a day in a life.
YRMV