Perception


I’ve been very happy with my system lately, since I added new speakers and a new amplifier.  I felt it was totally balanced and almost anything I played on it sounded good.  Then a friend came over who had greatly admired my previous system configuration.  This friend owns decidedly mid fi audio equipment  and listens mostly on headphones.
 In short, he didn’t like my current system.
Now, I’m starting to listen to my system through HIS ears and have wondered if it was a mistake to upgrade.
I don’t know if this is a question of perception or weak-mindedness.
So much of the enjoyment of our rigs is in our head.  The system didn’t change.  My perception of it did.
 I now have to fight off his perception and get back to my own.
 I don’t think I’m a unique case. So much of what we perceive in audio is controlled by our psyches.



128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xrvpiano
Great topic/thread... Surprising someone has not poisoned it yet... 

To me... Besides education... This is what the forum should be. 
I, at one time, had someone very close to me who has spent 80 years of her life worrying about what other people think. I still cannot understand why. 

Frank
I  know for myself and my ears only what is musicality in my audio system...After experimenting this superlative quality, after years of experiments, with a low cost audio system, and with all the relative qualities of the sound that this implied,i feel happy with my music and cannot stop listening anything...All the rest is personal preferences bias, side grade, not always for the best, or upgrade at a very high cost (for example I dreamed to buy a Berning amplifier to replace my already marvellous Sansui AU 7700). But I am happy now with what I have and nobody can influence me and saying that my system is bad...For the price my system deliver music to my ears and they are King and Queen of their Kingdom … At the end trust only your sense of pleasure with music, if all your files gives to you love waves it is because your system is near the peak of the audio mountain...

I hang with musicians, most of whom couldn't care less about hi-fi. Evan John's system was a boom box. Lots listen to music on their computer's speakers, any disposable money they get goes to buying another instrument. Unlike hi-fi components, vintage instruments increase in value over time.

The one audiophile musician I've known (a real good drummer, he's lately been in Albert Lee's band) had stacked Quads for speakers. One thing musicians and singers recognize instantly is correct timbre, at which Quads excel.