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Personal vs. Market Values

Take truffle oil. Or truffles. The mushrooms, not the confection.
Honestly I can’t taste it. I’ve ordered all sorts of dishes with "truffle oil" which commanded a premium and if there is any difference at all in the taste I could not tell you even after being told about it.

The point of this is that truffle oil holds no personal value to me. I’m not trading in it or running a restaurant or buying it in bulk. If I did that I’d feel and be willing to spend quite differently than I do now.

The point to this and how this matters in audio is that you should be true to your own ears. Use friends, reviews (cough) and other sources as guides. You may also evaluate a brand based on re-sale value. That’s reasonable as the resale could have a material impact on you in the future.

But if you can’t hear a difference or prefer a speaker/cable/amp no one else does then serve only yourself and your loved ones. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the market value of a particular product has value for you or that it is a display of relative merit. It may not. Our hobby is filled with charlatans selling invisible clothes.

Those who say they can't taste the truffle oil or see invisible clothes spend less and are far happier I think.

Happy listening,

E
erik_squires
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
979 posts
 
I think I’m some ways this is really simple. Trust your ears. Trust yourself. Act accordingly. 
jburidan
803 posts
 
So, I'll try a little truffle oil on my interconnects and speaker cables. Perhaps they will sound or taste better :)
erik_squires OP
16,056 posts
 
So, I'll try a little truffle oil on my interconnects and speaker cables. Perhaps they will sound or taste better :)


Some one can make money on that idea, might as well be you. :)
E

john1
114 posts
 
To answer eric_squires concerns,  The first quote refers to people selling for reasons they do not themselves fully understand & become arbitrary about it & therefore unreasonable about the price they ask for & insist upon. They know they've had enough of that component, speaker or whatever in their life & need to sell it. That part is often very rational. It is the best reason to sell anything.

It starts to get negatively complicated when they then develop control issues concerning price. Much of the time when something is no longer satisfying your unconscious pleasure centers (what enjoyable listening fundamentally is) it is time to let it go & find something more appropriate that does (If you need the money for something else, that's another matter).  Control issues are always a sign of those feeling out of control of their own unresolved emotional issues & seeking to "control" exterior events & people to compensate. It never can of course.
As for the second quote, such people in order to feel more powerful, masculine etc. pick a high price in an attempt to persuade themselves both are somehow strengthened. They rationalize it is fair, market value with often dubious evidence. The economic sense of it is very often zero (not always but too often) as they waste so much of the time, effort & energy money represents in trying to do so.  It's common on AG (a recent thread was devoted to it & sent out as a forum topic in the AG newsletter) & bringing it up (& hopefully diluting it) makes AG a better place.  It's certainly at the heart of how personal & market values interact on AG.
rodman99999
6,131 posts
 
Gustatory perception varies as much as aural acuity.   If YOU can't taste or hear it(whatever,"it" may be), there's little doubt, it wouldn't be of value TO YOU.   
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