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How much can be measured -- and how much cannot?

There has been a lot of discussion over the years on Audiogon regarding the measurement of components and other audio products. Some people claim everything is either measurable now or will one day become measurable with more sophisticated measuring equipment. But others say there are things in high end audio that will never me measurable and that measurements are really not that important.

Here is a typical example -- a quote taken from the Stereophile forum regarding their review of the Playback Designs MPS-5:

"JA 2/17/10 Review Measurements of Playback Designs MPS-5
Posted: April 13, 2011 - 8:42am

John Atkinson's 2/17/10 review measurements of the Playback Designs MPS-5 revealed less than stellar technical performance even though Michael Fremer really liked the player. I've included JA's closing measurement remarks below followed by the manufacturer's comments.

To my knowledge there was never any followup in Stereophile regarding the manufacturers reply the MPS-5 could not be adequately measured with traditional measurement techniques.

I believe Stereophile should respond to this reply in the interests of its own measurements credibility.

Len"

How important do you think measurements are? Are the ears really the only true arbiter?
sabai
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,069 posts
 
"How important do you think measurements are?"

Important, but do not tell the whole story. Not likely that they ever will in the foreseeable future.

"Are the ears really the only true arbiter?"

In the end, for the end user, yes. No two ears along with the rest of the human auditory sensing system behind them are exactly the same, just like stereo gear. What else could possibly take their place?

Specs and measurements are most useful to help determine what gear might/should play well together up front during the decision making process, but its all you and your ears from there.
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
I second Mapman's comments. As I see it the main usefulness of measurements, and also specifications, is that they allow one to identify and RULE OUT candidates for purchase that would be poor matches to either the rest of the system (e.g., impedance incompatibilities, gain and sensitivity mismatches, etc.) or to the user's requirements (e.g., maximum volume capability, deep bass extension, etc.).

Also, they can facilitate diagnosis of issues that may exist with components that have already been purchased, but that may not be optimally matched to the rest of the system.

The number of times that I and many others have referred to John Atkinson's measurements in helping Audiogon members to make purchase decisions or to diagnose problems is practically countless.

A secondary benefit is that measurements and specifications can help to provide a better understanding of the design concepts and approaches that underlie a product, which is something that I always prefer to have.

Regards,
-- Al
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uru975
684 posts
 
Measurements are a beginning but they are not the end of the journey. It gives an idea of what the piece will do or can do then you have to figure out how that works with what you have and or are willing to acquire to make it work for you.
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
Emotions and logic are two different contexts. Perhaps both are needed to fully evaluate and appreciate equipment and systems. For music, the final evaluation is how much is emotionally moving to the listener. One can ask, "do I hear detail, staging, extension, depth and evenness of frequency response," but in the end, whether any of these characteristics is emotionally involving is the ultimate question and challenge, and for that, to my knowledge, no quantitative measurement has been, so far, predictive.
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