Bad news for audiophiles?

Funds that would yield better results on other components end up going into expensive cables to compensate weaknesses in the system.

Gotta agree with noromance, unless one has no budget and then one can have better components, expensive cables and also drink better tasting $90 wine.  

BTW Geoff, would you say the propensity to enjoy wine costing $90 over the same wine costing $10 is more closely related to expectation bias or placebo effect?  If the wine is served by a sommelier, then I vote placebo effect since the two wines would have no attributes that would cause the drinker to find one better than the other, except for their belief that more expensive wine must taste better.  OTOH, if the taster themselves chose the $90 wine based on their own research this would result in an expectation bias where the researcher believes their tasting supports their research.

Thanks for this discussion that reminds me the only path between two points is not a straight line....and not to buy expensive cables.

I've always liked this quote:

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."

"Hey, has this field been plowed recently?"

"Well, yeah...it seems to get done frequently.  Too much, I think.  The soil's starting to thin out, almost to bedrock."

"Let's do it again.  Looks like crap, it needs to get smoothed out."

"But...that just makes it worse..."

"You telling me I'm wrong?"

A simple analogy...there is nothing about the initial question that will ever have a resolution.  There has been, is, and will ever be the discussion of it and the difference of opinions inherent to it.

...and I've Got to stop looking at these threads....;)

oregonpapa
1,205 posts
10-15-2016 1:23am
I’ve always liked this quote:

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."

it would be nice if there was a Standard of Quality in the industry. That way there would be some way to distinguish between Poor Quality and Excellent Quality. There is no standard for dynamic range. There is no standard for polarity. There is no standard for transparency. There is no standard for anything.  As it stands I’m afraid audiophiles don’t really know what the heck they’re even listening to. 

Nor is there a standard for rating the beauty of a flower, the sensation of an embrace, or the satisfaction of a job well done.  You just know it...

Dave