Discernment is bad. Self awareness is good.
Looking back along my audiophile arc, I just realized one subtle and profound change that I've experienced, and thought I'd share.
I no longer try to convince others to be discerning so much as self-aware. Hold on, don't throw your laptop, or start hitting the keys in anger, I'll explain.
When I got into audio, as my anti-fans surely remember, I was a projectionist, later I went to work for a competitor of Dolby's. During my stint as a projectionist, where dust, scratches, focus and lamp age all played a part in the quality of the experience I learned to be very discerning of these problems. Anything that could affect the experience was something I watched for constantly.
I also lost a great deal. I lost the ability to just take in a movie. Take in the action, take in the relationships forming, the betrayals, the bullets flying overhead. I'm afraid much of this carried over to my audiophile life, where I was far too critical of the equipment due to self training to listen.
Point is: Unless you make equipment, or install it, or are trying to trouble shoot discernment is BAD.
Teaching others to hear the difference in cables and power conditioners is also bad to me now. I don't think we should. I mean, OK, so, I teach another human who was otherwise perfectly happy listening to Roxy Music with plain cheap interconnects to be unhappy. How does that help anyone?
Instead now I try to figure out what people like, to listen for themselves and beware those with money to make. I try to find out what they naturally like, where they naturally gravitate to and leave them there. If they are happy, that's enough.
