Send in the Clowns

People perceive things differently and have preferences when it comes to sound.  That’s why there is no perfect speaker (or other piece of equipment).  I was reading some of the studies published on sound on the AES website and it was interesting what people perceived and preferred.  There was not 100% agreement on any one thing.  It brings me back to people trusting their ears.  Watching videos and reading comments it appears some people want validation about what they’re hearing and others want to convince others that what they believe is gospel and heaven help the person that disagrees.  We don’t all have to agree.  If you believe something sounds better because you tried this or switched to that, then it does.  Let’s all enjoy our music and our musical journey.  That’s what this hobby is all about to me.

I like measurements derived from good engineering and science, including user studies that ask critical questions about what groups of listeners perceive as better. By looking deeply at the science and how human hearing appears to operate we can get better reproduction equipment. We certainly want, at first blush, equipment that accurately reproduces the original recording which means we want exceptional fidelity that can be assessed via principled measurements. Now some folks like coloring the reproduced sound to suit their preferences. Luckily, we are in a golden age where DSP can be used to achieved almost any outcome and room treatments can compensate where DSP can’t quite deliver. At least we can measure those outcomes, though!

But I do like this hobby and the musical journey, and especially like that we have great measurement resources that can help us distinguish exceptionally engineered equipment from merely overpriced and underwhelming hype.

If it wasn't a tube amp, then it doesn't matter. It will sound the same as every other amp ever made. Clown.

" It will sound the same as every other amp ever made. Clown."
I am glad you admit that this statement is a clownish one. It has to be satire as this is completely absurd.

As a matter of interest, the head clown, whose name I still will not mention, now claims he knows more than Bruno Putzeys. Both the arrogance and self delusion are strong in this one.