But a sound that is better to my ears than anything i ever listen to in the past and better than many 5 or 6 figure system in bad room on youtube...post up your measurements. Prove it
Visual Confirmation Bias
Nice term, Paul. Very impressive. Very scientific.
And original. Well, at least I’ve never seen it before so I’m going to claim it as my own.
Visual Confirmation Bias (VCB) is a variation on confirmation bias that postulates that your brain causes audio gear, particularly speakers, to sound the way they look.
I came up with this idea a week ago when I got my new (used) KEF LS50s. (Note: I’m sure that dozens of people have been talking about VCB for a hundred years. I’m not particularly interested in who preceded me but raising points like that is one of the reasons that this forum exists.)
I had read lots about the speaker and I was expecting accuracy and soundstage precision. Their rich, full sound surprised me. These were not adjectives that were usually attached to these speakers.
I’ve been obsessed with these speakers for the past week, reading about them constantly. I find myself most in agreement with The Absolute Sound, which described the speakers—just after they were released—as possessing a “prevailing sweetness, a harmonic saturation that lends it a dark, velvety overall character, and a bloom that is so pleasing that I began affectionately dubbing it the butterscotch sundae of small monitors.”
But in the years that followed, listener after listener reported a “hard” “bright” sound. And when I look at the speaker, those words make complete sense. A tiny metallic driver in a small box? They look tinny and bright so no wonder some people hear that.
My own strongest experience with VCB: Many years ago, on the pretense of looking for a CD player, I walked into Sound By Singer at its old 16th St. location. After just enough feigned interest, I asked the salesman to listen to something “really pornographic.”
Surprisingly, he was happy to take me into one of the listening rooms. The only specific piece of equipment I remember was a pair of Wilson Speakers. I don’t know which model but they were white and just over six feet tall. Each the size of a restaurant-grade refrigerator. They were somewhere in the neighborhood of $250,000.
Then I settled into the listening chair as the salesman started turning stuff on. Preamp, monoblock, monoblock, God knows what else. I just remember him throwing switch after switch. I have to believe all that gear equaled the price of the speakers.
If ever a system should have disappeared, it was this one. If ever the music should have been revealed to me, it was now. But even with my eyes closed, all I could see—and all I could hear—were these huge speakers looming over me. They could not have been more present in my listening experience.
Visual confirmation bias kept me from enjoying the finest pair of speakers that I’ll probably ever hear. The phenomenon is not to be underestimated.
And original. Well, at least I’ve never seen it before so I’m going to claim it as my own.
Visual Confirmation Bias (VCB) is a variation on confirmation bias that postulates that your brain causes audio gear, particularly speakers, to sound the way they look.
I came up with this idea a week ago when I got my new (used) KEF LS50s. (Note: I’m sure that dozens of people have been talking about VCB for a hundred years. I’m not particularly interested in who preceded me but raising points like that is one of the reasons that this forum exists.)
I had read lots about the speaker and I was expecting accuracy and soundstage precision. Their rich, full sound surprised me. These were not adjectives that were usually attached to these speakers.
I’ve been obsessed with these speakers for the past week, reading about them constantly. I find myself most in agreement with The Absolute Sound, which described the speakers—just after they were released—as possessing a “prevailing sweetness, a harmonic saturation that lends it a dark, velvety overall character, and a bloom that is so pleasing that I began affectionately dubbing it the butterscotch sundae of small monitors.”
But in the years that followed, listener after listener reported a “hard” “bright” sound. And when I look at the speaker, those words make complete sense. A tiny metallic driver in a small box? They look tinny and bright so no wonder some people hear that.
My own strongest experience with VCB: Many years ago, on the pretense of looking for a CD player, I walked into Sound By Singer at its old 16th St. location. After just enough feigned interest, I asked the salesman to listen to something “really pornographic.”
Surprisingly, he was happy to take me into one of the listening rooms. The only specific piece of equipment I remember was a pair of Wilson Speakers. I don’t know which model but they were white and just over six feet tall. Each the size of a restaurant-grade refrigerator. They were somewhere in the neighborhood of $250,000.
Then I settled into the listening chair as the salesman started turning stuff on. Preamp, monoblock, monoblock, God knows what else. I just remember him throwing switch after switch. I have to believe all that gear equaled the price of the speakers.
If ever a system should have disappeared, it was this one. If ever the music should have been revealed to me, it was now. But even with my eyes closed, all I could see—and all I could hear—were these huge speakers looming over me. They could not have been more present in my listening experience.
Visual confirmation bias kept me from enjoying the finest pair of speakers that I’ll probably ever hear. The phenomenon is not to be underestimated.
- ...
- 48 posts total
Visual confirmation bias kept me from enjoying the finest pair of speakers that I’ll probably ever hear. The phenomenon is not to be underestimated. If you say so. https://youtu.be/ilG8mzbHNNI?t=88 Not to cast doubt on your experience. If you say what you hear is so affected by what you see, happy to take your word for it. You’re not that good a listener. Fine. Don’t seem to be the only one. No argument here. Been saying that myself. For years. But the phenomenon that should not be underestimated is projection. That is when you assume whatever you think or feel must be what is going on with everyone else. Nothing could be further from the truth. |
Humans are not laboratory instruments. We do not hear or see like microphones and cameras. Electrical and/or mechanical impulses are routed into the brain, which is a veritable fun house of biases, pre-conceptions and distortions. That's why anorexics look in the mirror and think they are fat. Drummers will look at a particular drumkit and pronounce the sound as warm or fat or hard based on what they see before they ever play a note. But as to the Wilsons, I had the very same experience as you did. Probably about 15 years ago, I had the opportunity to listen to one of the top models set up with the best electronics and cables in the store and it was not for me. I thought the vocals were not as natural as my Harbeths and the speakers did not disappear at all. So maybe you didn't cheat yourself out of the greatest hifi experience of your life. |
The most deceptive pair of speakers I've tried are Fritz's Carbon 7. They look like his other speakers -- like a simple box. But they disappeared unlike any other speaker I've tried. I like the tonality and character of my Salks better, but they don't disappear the way Fritz's did. They were very unusual in that regard. |
- 48 posts total