Better Sounding Systems, Objectivists or Subjectivists?

I guess that makes me a moron. 
 

+1

I never chose my gear reading measurements...

Save elementary necessary one to link two components which will be compatible...

But matching compatible components by measurements specs. is NOT a factor playing a positive role in the act to BUY something... It is ONLY an important information about what you cannot buy because it did not match with what you already had...

Then chosing component with measurement specs is ridiculous...

There is so much components on the market, how do you buy an amplifier for example? For sure a compatible one with your speakers by their measured specs...

But even compatible amplifiers will be in the many hundreds among which you could make a choice...

How do you chose, especially if you cannot even hear them, and anyway an amplifier will sound differently in different rooms, with different speakers for different ears...

Then how to chose?

For me there is ONLY ONE WAY...

I chose my Sansui AU 7700 after reading ALL reviews and ALL posts in ALL audio thread for 6 months EACH day... It was a hobby obsession to pay the least possible for one of the best basic amplifier with NO negative reviews...

Complete succeess...

If i would have chosen my amplifier by measuring specs, this would have been probably a complete disaster or a deceptive choice...

Nothing replace studying through thousands of opinions through sifting analysis..

I do the same for my dac and speakers...

Before i did that kind of studies which take enormous amout of time, ALL my piece of gear were unsatisfying...

7 years after this 3 choices of dac, amplifier and speakers, i bend my mind in the only measurements that COUNT : acoustic and psycho acoustic... But i know that most people in audio had no clue about that, save AT BEST to buy costly panels and bass traps and they call that acoustic solutions... I renounced informing people about that, they are only interested by the costlier gear and their measured specs...without knowing that there exist only one necessary luxury device in audio: an acoustically dedicated room....

This is the reason why the majority of audiophiles are relatively in the upgrade game...At the mercy of the market conditioning...Snake oil are not where those who attack it think it is...Audio world is a mirror of the wide real world deceptions...

«I chose my girlfriends  by "measurements" and  my wife only  by the sound of his voice»-Groucho Marx 🤓

Someone may ask you just buy a vintage piece by existing 40 decades of reviews , but how to buy a contemporary amplifier?

Simple, same method to look for NEGATIVE reviews FIRST, after that correlating and sifting positive reviews...

But because the amplifier is contemporary i will add a feature that will separate it from all the others : S.Q/ price ratio coming from an INNOVATIVE technology and very important: an affordable price...

How many contemporary amplifiers had no negative review under 10,000 bucks and an innovative revolutionary mode of working?

I will not name it and being accused here of making hype publicity...

But i discovered one that will beat my 100 bucks Sansui and even the other more refined Sansui i had bought in my Sansui fever...

But think about a 100 bucks piece of gear upgraded by a 7,000 thousand dollars improvement...

Now the only measurement that count for me,save acoustic one, are the S.Q./price ratio....

«Even full working brain cannot replace common sense most of the time, ask Richard Feynman»-Anonymus Smith

The electricians are essential to our endeavors. Their input is incredibly valuable and important in the grand scheme. I just don't want them deciding what sound I like (or can't hear).

I guess that makes me a moron.

Yes. I agree with you

I won't even consider a component unless I can see some measurements on it. I guess that makes me a moron. 

self awareness is key to an enlightened existence 😂🤣

i agree it's not a serious question--"better sound" is in the ear of the beholder regardless of how they arrive at it, but i would think whichever of them is stoned gets the "better sound"

I once had the pleasure of listening to a sound system that this measurements guy had been hyping up like no tomorrow, a system with these new fancy electronics, a crossover system that had over 60 different drivers. Total cost 70,000 dollars...

He pressed play, and I had to do a quick turnaround to see if there were any cameras filming us, and if this was an episode of Punked, if Ashton Kutcher was going to come running out of the closet.

This system was the most distorted, garbled, piece of crap I have ever heard, I could hear every single one of these drivers, separately, distinctly, it had no coherence to speak of.

I walked away convinced that this guy was actually deaf.

He likes reviewing gear in his spare time, and has an online following......go figure.

the most distorted, garbled, piece of crap I have ever heard

Adele on a good day?

Adele on a good day?

Nothing can ever match Adele 😭 and the artistry of her supremely talented producers. 

This system was one of a kind....if he played Adele, I don't think I would have made it out of there alive. 

Pretty simple  - does it sound better to me? When I replace something or add something in my system, does it sound better (I know, crude description). The better sellers will let you return it if you don't like it. I'll normally get the opinion of whoever is selling it if it should be a good fit with my system before trying it. If they don't offer a money back guarantee, I will listen to it in their store changing out only the component in question on a similar quality system to mine. Then if I don't think it is better they get mad.

If you don't listen to it, shame on you for treating it like specs for buying a computer server.

I have heard of people who buy cars without driving them first and it makes we want to vomit. The exception is car collectors who don't drive them - they are more like investors or art collectors, and if that is what you are into, that's fine. I prefer the stock market. Long term - not day trading.