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The myth of "best" in audio needs to be addressed by all of us

After spending a year and half deeply immersed in audiophilia (with so much enjoyable benefit), I've identified my tendency (seemingly share by many) to chase the fantasy of "best" in this perfectionistic hobby/pursuit.  It leads to obsessiveness, second-guessing, acrimony between audio tribes, and personal insecurity when reading these forums and all the reviews.  

But, thinking about it, how could there ever be a "best" component, cable, or speaker for listening to music.  This is a subjective experience!!! 

From a purely measurement/engineering perspective -- "best" could mean a lot of things (but they don't automatically mean more enjoyable sonics). 

In listening and enjoying music, there is no "best" -- only "favorite".  And even "favorite" can change -- it certainly has for me.  I've gone back and forth multiple times on all sorts of gear preferences. You can like what you like, you don't have to defend it, and nobody should mess with it!

Anybody else want to fight the harmful myth of "best" in audio?
redwoodaudio
yyzsantabarbara
5,008 posts
 
@redwoodaudio 
Rather than “best,” what if designers, manufacturers, and dealers were better at really describing what their products actually sound like?  Would that have to mean acknowledging imperfection in some areas?  The death of hype!  Sign me up!

Benchmark Media does this and even says some people may not like their approach. The articles with these quotes are in the APPLICATION NOTES of the BM web site.

bob540
422 posts
 
I agree, there likely is no”best”, not only because people’s preferences differ but also the advance of technologies stands to supplant today’s best with a new-and-improved best.

i tend to lean toward “best for the money”, which is still subjective but closer to achievable.  I understand that $10,000 speakers or a $5,000 DAC is likely to outperform what I have, but given that I won’t be sending at that level, it makes more sense to achieve the best I can within my budget. I leave it to others to extract those final % of improvement with their mega-systems. 
mahler123
3,457 posts
 
I think it’s a natural tendency to eye the grass elsewhere and perceive that it’s greener.  There are days when I think this can’t get any better, and then the next day playing the same recording having a niggling bit of dissatisfaction.  I also think that there addictive aspects to this hobby.  We make a change, perceive it as an improvement, appreciate aspects of recordings that we didn’t before, and get a type of buzz from that.  Like all addicts, eventually I want to feel that sensation again...
photon46
1,089 posts
 
Like others have already said, experienced listeners know there's no such thing as "best" and a component's excellence or lack thereof is partially dependent on system and room context. Our cultural media environment encourages dumbed down and simplistic views of every complicated and nuanced issue, audio isn't any different. 
audioguy85's avatar
audioguy85
2,028 posts
 
Class A, Tannoy, a tubed phono stage, and vinyl "IS" the Best! 😁
At least in my little itsy bitsy world.....
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