2. misc-audio
  3. 149578-89202

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
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
As fate would have it the REPEAT button is often mistaken for the REFRESH button. ®️

Has it really been more than than 20 years ago the intrepid reviewer for Stereophile magazine, Shannon Dickson, opined after his coverage of CES, “most exhibitors cannot get up out of the noise floor?” I suspect that is probably true for most audiophiles, that they cannot get up out of the noise floor. History has a way of repeating itself, not refreshing itself. Take a look 👀 around. Yes, I know what you’re thinking - “My system sounds fabulous!”
clearthink
1,421 posts
 
mapman"We all have a reset button."

Speak for your self I am not a robot or computer and I do not have a "reset" button and if you do I feel very sorry for you.
hartf36's avatar
hartf36
207 posts
 

"Aside from all the psychoanalysis, there's also the fact that we all hear differently."

 

^^ This ^^

rodman99999
6,159 posts
 
Far as, "a reset button": https://news.nd.edu/news/walking-through-doorways-causes-forgetting-new-research-shows/ I was happy to have something on which to blame my forgetting-why-I-went-to-the-kitchen, when I read that, years ago. Now I need an excuse, for standing at the bottom of my stairs, wondering if I had a reason to go up, or- if I just came down. I’d always hoped, getting old would take longer!
harrylavo's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
harrylavo
346 posts
 
Go to live music, particularly unamplified concerts.  Listen, listen, listen to what real music performances sound like.  Then aim for that "same" perception with your system.  Rely on NO ears other than ones that are musically perceptive and exposed to live music.
More to discover