Pleasurably better, not measurably better
I have created a new phrase: pleasurably better.
I am giving it to the world. Too many technophiles are concerned with measurably better, but rarely talk about what sounds better. What gives us more pleasure. The two may lie at opposite ends of the spectrum.
I use and respect measurements all the time, but I will never let any one of them dictate to me what I actually like listening to.
Yeah… @curtdr But the sound of whatever is playing should be the same.
@fleschler the photo is only a bit of a peek in from a window or doorway. |
@holmz but if one is listening to music, ears are NEVER removed from the equation. Hence the real real-world artificiality is when one depends solely on laboratory measurements that have cut the ears off. |
@holmz The list provides the room info. There's really nothing to see but the cherry plywood walls and surface treatment (can't see the HFTs). I'll try to find the Acoustic Fields video and post my room as finished. |
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.
If you prefer 2.8% distortion that's fine and dandy. But then again what if this 2.8% distortion is always audible, on all music? What if this sometimes nice distortion on some recordings then turns into nasty distortion that you can't 'hear through'? Perhaps the strongest argument for neutrality is that you get to hear the differences in different recordings rather than them all being smothered in the same sonic sauce. I recall that of the criticisms of the Linn LP12 was that it put it's own sonic signature on everything that was played upon it, as opposed to decks like the Pink Triangle which were far more neutral. This sonic signature (midbass warmth?) could sometimes suit certain types of music (jazz soul and funk?) and sometimes spoil others (piano, strings, pop, and rock?).
I was again reminded of this whilst watching the latest video from the audiophlliac himself, Steve Guttenberg, who recently changed his reference loudspeakers. One of the reasons Steve puts forward for swapping his Klipsch Cornwall's for the PureAudioProject Duet 15's is exactly this issue about neutrality. Even if the Cornwall's do other things better, the more neutral 15s allow you to hear the differences between recordings better. The problem with audible distortion is that there is no such thing as an entirely benevolent distortion in all cases..
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I've not heard Pure Audio speakers in a very long time, and certainly not these models. I am however always skeptical when someone says they switched speakers to hear more. It's usually hearing something DIFFERENT than they did before. Not saying he's wrong, but this is a claim I've seen a hundred times from a dozen reviewers and IMHO neutrality was not the reason. |
