Ears. The ultimate handicap.

'Many issues back in Stereophile, Sam Tellig talked about a device he wore over his ears which gave greater focus to the sound and increased his listening enjoyment.'

Shhhh not so loud. This could lead a zillion posts on ear thingys. Power cords for ear thingys. Green paint for ear thinys. tube ear thingys, Isolation devices etc.........

There may be a "cryoed" version by now, I'm signing off.

Have you ever been slouched in your chair with your legs crossed? Then you uncross your legs to hear an amazing difference in sound because your knee was blocking the sound.

Here's another one for you - you listen to the world upside down ! That is because your eyes set your mind- map up and THEY invert the image your visual cortex receives. Don't believe me, then try this experiment: take a small bright flashlight into a light- tight room. Turn the flashlight on and the room lights off, and stick the flashlight in your mouth, turned on. Close your eyes and look for the red glow. You will perceive it ABOVE your head, not below it.

Bottom line, for ultimate fidelity, you need to listen inverted.

Everyone has different shaped ears. Who would know if someone would have an ear that is shaped the way you could say theirs doesn't cause a change? Are medium sized ears more neutral? What about the internal parts of everyone's ears? I'd imagine they're all different too.

I think the important part would be that everyone needs to use live music for a reference. If their ear shape makes it sound bright/colored (that is being assumed here) ,it still would be normal for them. When they hear that same music on a system, their ear shape will still most likely be able to know if the reproduction matches that live music.

If anyone else with any ear shape/size does that same test, they're going to hear those changes too.

I think they can recognize a bright, or dark colored system, since they still will know it's different from the live source itself.

So I would say it shouldn't matter. Using the source for a reference is what is important in my opinion.