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Well maybe it IS my hearing

Hi everyone,
Lately I've gotten into some lively debates. One thing which I'm afraid we don't take into account enough is our own personal hearing. Truth is there's now way I can hear like I did when I was 20 something. So, quite likely I hear very differently than other A'goners. Just because I personally can't hear a difference in a power cable / tweak doesn't mean you don't. I don't make that claim. 

However I think it is also unfair to accuse me of having an agenda if I can't.


Lastly, if I can't hear a difference, the financial value I place on a more expensive tweak = zero. That's just the way my wallet operates. I'm not buying to impress others. My stereo is not my Mistress whom I must serve with more and more expensive shoes.  I just made her a very pretty red and carbon fiber and aluminum power and she's going to have to be happy with that.


I do take exception to over broad, fact less claims of performance however, or people working very hard to explain to me how wrong a person I must be if I can't hear a difference.


I think this is good for you as well. Buy what your ears tell you have value, and don't be swayed by crowds.


Best,
E
erik_squires
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 
@jrpride did I what I see happening all the time in social media: taking a comment from another and mischaracterizing it to mean something that was neither stated nor even implied. To see what I'm talking about, read my original comment above, then his reaction to it. I once again prove to myself that my expectations are too high.
dwhess's avatar
dwhess
72 posts
 
lhasaguy,  I enjoyed your post regarding your hearing. We have a few things in common. I'll be 70 next month, flew helicopters in the Air Force, spent 21 years in law enforcement and have a touch of tinnitus. My hearing is actually still good but I'm probably not able to appreciate some sounds like most folks. I heard a pair of speakers recently that sell for $16K. It sounded great but not night and day from my system, probably my hearing limitation. I've benefited greatly from some of the posts here and that has made my listening very enjoyable.  Doug
michaelgreenaudio's avatar
michaelgreenaudio
1,019 posts
 

Reading the posts so far is one of the reasons I design variably tunable systems. No one should have to be fatigued to the point of not being able to enjoy their favorite music.

Michael Green

gillatgh's avatar
gillatgh
381 posts
 
Great posts and a very appropriate thread.  Thanks erik, I hope more of us will post their views. 66 and still rocking rarely loud anymore, somewhere around 85 dB but it depends on the music. Hearing loss due to jet engines, parties, concerts and racing. For myself I think I can discern a change in cabling if it is quite dramatic but otherwise no I cannot hear a difference. I have achieved a system that makes me smile and sounds superior to me but that of course is subjective. Ears are like fingerprints, none are the same.
Music rocks my world
n80
2,116 posts
 
@erik_squires :  "Do I really want to be the person who can taste a difference in $300 bottles of wine, or one who enjoys $30 every week?

We do that to ourselves a little too much."

Well that's just it isn't it? But that's exactly what this whole audiophile business is about for quite a few people here, if not most of us. And you would have to include yourself in that group too right?

And to be honest, if someone were to offer me the ability to hear the differences in power cables, between what type of wood my pre-amp was sitting on or the effect that the position of throw pillows in my listening room has on SQ...............I would decline. Such levels of perception (real or imagined) seem primarily to drive discontentment. And discontentment drives the audio industry.....and the rest of our economy as well.
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