stereo system evaluation--objective or subjective

Kijanki,

Yes, well, by the time the "Live Sound" in the concert hall reaches the listeners in the audience the high frequencies are definitely rolled off. And they are rolled off more in some concert halls than others... so which concert hall (or amount of hf roll-off would you pick?).

Kijanki, I guarantee that if you try to EQ your system so that it's flat out to 20kHz at your listening position it will sound VERY BRIGHT and you won't like it...

Don't believe me? Simply try it and see...

Great answers, save for the first.

I wouldn't dream of reinterpreting the great answers so far but would like to second the thought that objectivity is oh, so subjective. As in other fields of art, one can only judge based on experience, tastes and biases.

What I used to do when younger, when possible, was to glean as much info and tastes of a reviewer and compare it to what I heard, in a general way (much the same way as movie reviewers who I came to trust). Granted, it was much, much harder to audition the same components but aural clues figured large in listening appreciation as I learned the path to this hobby.

In the end it was every man for himself as I learned that what I liked, others didn't. What I disliked, others did. Consensus was akin to herding cats.

All the best,
Nonoise

Say what??

"Herding Cats," yes Nonoise, that's an excellent analogy and I dare say, "poetic" as it applies to audiophilia.