Have you ever hated the sound of your system one day, and loved it the next?

stevizzy
Last evening the world outside my home was silent with 12” of freshly fallen heavy snow. It was so quiet 🤫 I could hear my breath freezing. The evening was audio magic so I stayed up until 3:00AM listening to recordings that never sounded so good.

>>>>>OK, The snow has stopped and melted most places. Did the audio magic disappear with the snow? Did you psych yourself out? You could hear your breath freezing? Were you sitting outside?

If you have trouble or pain in your ears on airplane flights, as I do, it may be you. (Us?)
Sometimes my tiny Eustachian tubes close up and my auditory system is transformed from bass reflex to acoustic reflex. Things sound indistinct. Sometimes I can clear it up by swallowing hard a few times. 

But I imagine I am in the minority.

Long answer short - at times my system amazes me, once in a while it sounds a bit blah, mostly it is very, very good.

2channel8,

 I think you have something there about Eustachian tubes,
I have problems on airplane flights too. When my set sounds unbalanced, I pinch my nose and blow, and it clears up the imbalance.  This tip was given to me by my ear doctor.

I completely agree with  onhwy61, there are may factors that influence our ability to hear, especially after 45/50, just an extra glass of wine may make a noticeable difference...

You may want to read Winter Blues for some of the reasons why properly function system can vary. Home HiFi is way more variable than most think.

An additional variable people seldom consider is the playback level. Some program has a level at which it is just right. A db or two either side and it's not. I've been noting optimum level on the jacket for a very long time.