Do you believe in Magic?

01-26-12: Sonicbeauty
"This whole discussion exemplifies everything I have come to understand about the truth AND destiny of this hobby: The MUSIC taking a backseat to the never-ending analysis of SOUND, and the countless hours wasting on getting that little one last drop of improvement."

I suspect it's actually quite common for the anti tweak segment of the hobby to believe, or at least employ the argument, that there's not much to be gained by attention to detail and trying to progress in this hobby. And that only a measly 3%, that one last drop, can be achieved. Boomboxes start to look like a real alternative to anti audiophile mossbacks, no offense to Sonicbeauty personally.

Point taken & understood Byron.

Sometimes speedily expressing ones self in these little boxes can lead to points that with a little closer inspection could have been worded better.

Much as I enjoy these online communities there is nothing like talking to someone in the flesh. I am sure all the above comments over a beer or tea would result in much less abrasion.

All that to say I can sense sonicbeauty's frustration.

04-20-12: Nonoise
The operative word seems to be 'share'.

This is exactly right, IMO. Sharing, as simple as it sounds, is regrettably difficult for some people. It's something all children are taught but many adults forget.

It's easy to mistake talking for sharing. They are not the same. With sharing, the intention is to GIVE. There are people on A'gon who give so selflessly it is just remarkable. They give information, advice, support, humor, etc.. Some of those people have participated in this thread.

I don't regard myself as a paragon of giving, though I certainly make it a goal. That may strike some as dubious, since I've done more than my share of arguing on this thread, which is the antithesis of sharing. For six years in graduate school I was trained to argue, so I can easily lapse into it. But I seldom enjoy it and usually regret it.

Having said all that, I believe that there are times when arguing is exactly what is appropriate. Two scenarios come to mind: to challenge utter nonsense and to stop bullying. But even arguing can be done with a certain amount of restraint, the value of which is that We're trying to have a civilization here.

Bryon

04-21-12: Chadeffect
Sometimes speedily expressing ones self in these little boxes can lead to points that with a little closer inspection could have been worded better.

Much as I enjoy these online communities there is nothing like talking to someone in the flesh. I am sure all the above comments over a beer or tea would result in much less abrasion.

I agree, Chad, that a certain amount of conflict is attributable to unfortunate wording that leads to false impressions. Sometimes people who appear contrary, or even belligerent, don't really mean that much by what they say.

As I mentioned in my last post, I believe that getting along with people is more about a person's intentions than it is their expressions. But inferring intentions from expressions isn't always easy, as this thread has illustrated several times. So I completely agree with you that written conversations sometimes CONCEAL people's real thoughts and feelings.

Having said that, it's worth pointing out that written conversations can also REVEAL people's real thoughts and feelings. An obvious reason is that the safety provided by "virtual" conversations emboldens people to act in ways they might not otherwise. Virtual conversations are like drunk conversations... inhibitions are lowered and the truth comes out, and sometimes the truth is ugly.

Another reason why written conversations can reveal people's real thoughts and feelings is that, unlike spoken conversations, there is a LATENCY and a RECORD. So when something doesn't feel quite right, you can take your time to really think about what a person has said, which is difficult to do in real time during a spoken conversation.

My wife is a clinical psychologist. This conversation is reminding me of conversations with her (in a good way). Maybe in addition to Amps, Speakers, Tech Talk, etc., Audiogon should have a category for Group Therapy. We could all use it from time to time.

bc

Bryon and Chad, you are both spot on with how the written word can sometimes not really convey what ones true feelings and intentions are. Bryon, I particularly enjoy your posting style. Even though you often present many thoughts, they are each clear and concise. I wish I could put my thoughts and feelings into words that well. I am like you in that I usually end up regretting having arguments. It is not any fun. I feel like in several of them that the other person was much closer to my opinion than not and I just could not get my point across. Very frustrating. It is part of the reason I don't post that much.

As for the subject of the original post, yes I do believe in magic. I have tried several of the tweaks mentioned including ERS paper and Bybee products. I tried 3 different versions of Bybees wanting to really like them. I found that they changed the sound, but I personally did not care for the effect of either. I also believe that cables can and do make a difference. The technical reasons have been explained many times on this site by those that know far more about it than I do. It is one of those things that I don't care if I ever fully understand technically. I recently went through a cost cutting period and went on the search to find cables that approached the musicality of some of the more expensive cables in my rig. I was able to find interconnects and speaker cables that came close enough that I did not feel bad about having them in my system. But when it came to my power cords, I bought several budget cables that I wanted to like as much as the higher dollar ones. I didn't find any of them to come close enough to what I had to make me feel good about selling the more expensive ones. I still have the more expensive ones. The less expensive ones were the same gauge, length, etc. Do the more expensive cords have magic? Sure, they make my system sound more like music and not notes.