Pleasurably better, not measurably better

@erik_squires 

"I'm buying gear that makes me feel good."

So presumably is everyone else here, though not necessarily by the same route.

Different strokes for different folks.

'At best I can achieve a system that sounds good with a wide variety of source materials.'

And just how do you intend to achieve this without measurements and data?

By ear alone?  Without any data whatsoever?

Good luck with that one!

Everybody's ears are different... So, if something measures "flat," that's not necessarily how my ear hears it; so, for my pleasure factor, I may prefer speakers that rise in the high frequencies to somewhat offset my ears' drop in highs, as a simple example.

The point about Bose is well-taken.  It depends on the audience and the application.  While not my primary listening speakers, I have a pair of original 301 v1, refoamed woofer of course, hanging by wires under my porch awning.  We play poker out there.  Everybody including me loves the sound, in that application.  We're not critically listening, and it doesn't matter: we like it.

A speaker series that defies the "measure flat = great" metric is of course the Klipsch Heritage series.  The sort of "it ain't perfect but it doesn't even matter because it sounds so very engaging" experience that many people, most critics included, adore.  Even the Heresy IV have moved me to tears on occasion, and I "grew up" as a neutral leaning sort of guy.  They're like a gateway drug... it's hard to go back to more laid back sound, once you get used to 'em... and the problem is, they have me jones-ing for more:  Forte IV, here I come???  

"I'm buying gear that makes me feel good."

 

So presumably is everyone else here, though not necessarily by the same route.

Different strokes for different folks.

@cd318 

The difference is that I am consciously declaring it my primary motivator.  Some make "neutrality" or "accuracy" their declared motivator. 

'At best I can achieve a system that sounds good with a wide variety of source materials.'

And just how do you intend to achieve this without measurements and data?

By ear alone?  Without any data whatsoever?

If you read any of my posts you would know I do not make this argument either.  Rather, I declare that my experience trumps engineering standards.  Take a measurement like THD+N.  The argument has been made by many that below a certain level it is not perceivable. So, for instance, for them 0.0001 and 0.01 distortion perform the same way, yet for the spec chaser 0.0001 is "better."

What if I like 2.8% distortion?  Sure, we can measure it, but the engineering goal of lower is not the same as my personal listening goal of making things that sound good to me. 

Gone through a little bit of this with power cables...at some point it was sounding "too perfect" and the musical presentation was a little sterile,lost its musicality?.So the search has bought me to think that too much of one thing Ofc/occ ?...rhodium/gold...?.

I love the “ Pleasurably Better”! That’s what enjoying music is all about. How we all get there when not actually attending a live performance is what this forum is all about.

Whatever makes you happy is great regardless of how something might measure. There are no units of measure to define pleasure, happiness, relaxation, peace etc. 

I generally grade a component or system of components by how long I want to keep enjoying it. If listening sets in quickly something is wrong, at least for me regardless of the apparent frequency extension, imaging, dynamics etc. until maybe the past 5 or so years, digitally produced sound fell into this category & I couldn’t listen & really enjoy it for more than a song or two. That is no longer the case for me & hi rez streaming w/ a good DAC is really close to good analogue. 
 

That said, while tube amps ( pre or power)generally measure worse than comparably priced solid state, I seem to almost always enjoy them more & sound more like live music. Tubed equipment is probably the prime example of “ Pleasurably Better”.