Why is science just a starting point and not an end point?

@ted_denney  “Because you cannot ascertain by looking at a spreadsheet which of two amplifiers you will prefer. The only way to know what anything sounds like is to listen to it....”


Very nicely put!

Until I hear something, I don't know what it sounds like. No one knows what anything sounds like until they have heard it. 

I still maintain there are things going on with audio signals that we can not measure. This is not the same as grabbing a 12v battery, grabbing some "whatever" wire to run the DC through where the only thing you care about is the resistance of the wire so you can figure out how bright the light that is 200' away will be. There is a lot more going on in a system than simply lighting a bulb, and yet soooooo many here keep harping on these very basic functions of electricity to be the complete answer for anything electrical.

Capacitance and inductance have a dynamic effect on frequencies as we all know. The audio signal as it's passing through a wire to the component is not a simple 60hz wave. It's a complicated cacophony of frequencies happing all around and on top of each other. There will be phase shifts - think crossover - isolation of frequencies - again, think crossover. Thats just as the signal is on its way to the component. Then, it gets "processed" by each component over and over again until it arrives at our ears.

Beyond the specifications of any given component (Which have been derived at by measurements, I know...), until I hear it, I don't know if I like it or not. Too many variables in the "unknown" to be able to make that kind of determination.

Broad strokes as to how something "might" sound? Sure. Specifics and if it will be liked? Not a chance in hell.

Because you cannot ascertain by looking at a spreadsheet which of two amplifiers you will prefer. The only way to know what anything sounds like is to listen to it....”

I can get close enough with measurements that if I take 2 amps with specs pretty close I could never differentiate which is which listening....blind..with my ears and not my eyes.

@djones    



Is that because of the gear being the same, or your inability to differentiate between the two?

Can we get a test of your hearing done so we can know what you are hearing?

And if we could have a scan of the electrical impulses in your brain while you are listening so we can all know exactly what you are experiencing while listening?

It's because listening blind I've controlled for my bias. Amps that measure fairly close it's almost impossible to tell them apart. One could even be a tube amp as long as it's measurements are close to the SS amp. One reason is speaker distortion swamps amps unless they are garbage amps. You'll hear the speaker and room not the amps.