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My system has just received the ultimate insult

The girl I have been seeing recently has shown complete indiffrence to my system. (Melos MA-333, Adcom GCD-750, Oddesy Stratus, ML SL3's) Yesterday, I brought up the subject while in my car and she mentioned that she had bought a pair of speakers for $100 that sounded the same. How I wish that were true! I mentioned that she (like others) has no ability to hear or appreciate the difference. She of course disagreed. I said, that is like saying "all people look just about alike and are equally attractive". She again could not see my logic. When we got home, I played a track for her on my $150 sat/sub with a $20 portable CD player and asked her to listen to it. I then played the same track for her on my system and to my amazement, she said it sounded noticable WORSE! She described it as sounding like a radio station that was not tuned properly with lots of static. What I am assuming is that she has never heard a system that had any kind of hi-freq extension and likened it to "static". Others have heard my system and are completely blown away with every aspect of how it sounded. We have much different tastes in the music we listen to. I have 2 questions to ask, 1) is it possible that she could enjoy listening to 'Her' stereo as much as I enjoy listening to mine? 2) may I continue to be involved with her and still have the respect of my peers?

For the record, I listened to it last night after the insult, and it sounded as wonderful and envolving as ever!
pmwoodward
centurymantra
133 posts
 
You may be faced with a situation in which you are preaching to someone who simply does not care about audio and is perhaps not even seriously 'into' music as it were. You may also be faced with some more abastract issues. Perhaps she perceives your audio-hobby as a threat to your future relationship or at the very least a 'waste of time'. Due to this, she may take every opportunity to downplay it's significance and/or audio-superiority. That aside, the very forceful presence of a good system can be a bit intimidating as it virtually commands attention. This is something which I think is unappealing to a lot of people (it isn't background music anymore and this what a lot of people relegate music to). However, referring to what is obviously a fine system as 'static' is not something I would perceive as a sincere reaction. This seems to be a very calculated response thrown out to be contrary or even combative. Generally speaking, one of the hardest things to do sometimes is change someone's mind and I would not expect a complete turnaround from one casual exposure.

I certainly wouldn't bag a relationship over something like a difference of opinion in audio, although if you find this type of attitude stretching into other issues it may give reason for pause and reflection.

Best of luck to ya'...
audiofile9
45 posts
 
There may be a scientific explanation to some of it! I have a male friend that has some type of "problem" with his ears, by his own admission. Loud sounds give him a crackly sound in his ears. Perhaps some kind of overload or something. He has repeatedly told me my system AND his start to crackle his ears after a certain volume.

Now, if this is a possibility, then add to it the fact that us males, especially audionut males, tend to crank up our system way beyond what "normal" people listen at, especially females. Add to that the extra crank of the volume knob that we subconciously turn when trying to impress someone. Add to that the amount of real energy in the high frequencies that our systems put out, compared to junk or even every day sound.

So, maybe you are just OVERLOADING her more virginal ears with too much SPL and dynamic range?
ellery911
549 posts
 
I think audiofile 9 may have nailed it on the head...at least I liked the answer given...anyhow, dont worry about the perceived insult. The real insult is when your girlfriend/sister goes out to a department store and spends $1000+ on a rack system with a dual cassette deck, million disc changer, turn table, lighted eq etc etc when a much better 2 component + speakers system could be had for the same price. Hope it all works out.
fatparrot
1,314 posts
 
Women are generally more sensitve to high frequencies acording to some scientific/anthropological studies. Women tend to notice the digital glare of many CD players more then men. Maybe this is a good excuse to try an analog turntable rig!!! Also, many people are used to drinking crap soda-pop like cheapo wines and actually think these taste great (lacking a trained pallate and the ability to deal with fine wines' complexities!) I'm sure that the same holds true for the audio world.
dbw1
173 posts
 
There is one more 'scientific' possiblity. Given your system's higher resolution than hers, she may be hearing actual static on the recording (older, poorer recordings?) that she couldn't hear on hers. As to whether she can enjoy her system as much as you enjoy yours...unanswerable question. How do you quantify enjoyment? It's impossible really, but there are some points to consider. First, which would you enjoy more - music you hate on your system, or music you love on hers? Probably the latter, right? Proper reproduction isn't everything. Some people just don't really care about that, and just love the music. If she is one of those types, I have a theory. Most mass market systems are actually quite well balanced. Not too bright, not too warm - it's an unavoidable part of their inherent suckiness. Once you have a system that has good resolution, it stands out of it's out of balance (too bright, too thin, too much mid-bass, whatever). This would probably sound worse to a person such as your girlfriend than a system which wasn't that great, but which was unobtrusive in its character. I've put cables in my system that made it just sound awful, even though each individual component is allegedly an audiophile piece of gear. Anyway, I'll refrain from giving advice about the relationship. What the hell do I know.
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