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"But it sounds better at night...."

A well-traveled topic that I raise yet again.  On the "are power regenerators snake oil" question, the response that has made most sense to me is: No, if you have some material issue with the power supply coming into your home.  If you live in an area with what I will call normal modern power infrastructure, and have quality components, you will probably not notice a difference.

But I live in a city, do not suspect any power problems, and feel with a pretty high degree of certainty that my system sounds better at night.  This is a common sentiment, attributed to more activity on the electrical grid during the day.  Can these two positions be reconciled?  Why DOES the system sound better at night to me and many others?


Is our perception straight-up wrong, and the result of some bias or non-auditory reason why listening at night is a better experience?

Maybe when listening at night, one average for most people, the system will have been on longer, and therefore be more warmed up?

Is our perception real, and supports the proposition that baseline electrical system usage does materially affect many systems, and you don't need a clear power "problem" to benefit from a regenerator? 

Let's rehash it all again gentlemen!
 

mathiasmingus
jdougs's avatar
jdougs
181 posts
 

Adding a power regenerator made the background go totally silent for me.  I am a big believer in them now.  The overall quiet of night plus beer also don't hurt.

notnow0329
36 posts
 

Have you ever watched an episode of Saturday Night Live in the day time? (The old stuff with Belushi and Aykroyd)  It's not funny. Why? Because it was meant to be seen at 11:30 P.M. when people are relaxed and more open to frivolity.

Ever had a really nice bottle of wine with lunch? Good but not great. Same bottle at 9 P.M. dinner is spectacular.

I think our brain is either hard wired by nature or through conditioning to be more relaxed and open to external stimulus at night. We are in the hunter gatherer mode during the day.

There are probably some gear salesmen in here who could attest to this. They play music during the day to sell equipment and it sounds great but at night when they close the doors and put something on the TT for themself s, Bam!

The only exception to this rule is a gorgeous woman. (Or man depending on your gender and personal preference) Our brain will react to that stimulus the same, day or night, and you can still argue that nature hard wired us for that too.

 

tomcarr
1,468 posts
 

My wife says I look better at night. After a bottle of wine.

clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 

Please let's not.

yxcbandit
25 posts
 

I believe it is partly because there is less interference on the mains at night. Fewer industrial motors drawing power and causing mains feedback. But mostly it's a psychoacoustic effect caused by the lighting in your room. You eye is drawn to the brighter area and it takes your mind off the music and can even make you think the balance is off. A dark room eliminates the optical distractions and allows your brain to focus on the music. I have the ability to block out all the light in the front of my audio room with a small amount of light allowed at the rear of the room behind the main listening position I believe this light control creates the illusion that the room sounds better this way Just my opinion.

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