Over time I've leaned to mitigate initial expectations, hard for reality to live up to the dream world of high expectations. In any case long term satisfaction is the goal, knowing that in advance inherently leads to mitigated initial expectation.
The Expectation Gap
So over the course of my life I have recognized the fact that in general, when I am looking to improve or upgrade audio components, there is a sense of my need to
acknowledge that if I get too hyped by own excitement, or by the salesman or
from reading “Audio Reviews”, there’s a fairly good chance that upon receiving
said piece of equipment, whether amplifier, disc player, speakers etc. Hooking it
up and during my initial listening session provides an enjoyable experience.
However, after a few days, weeks or maybe months, I feel compelled to grab the
piece I replaced and hook it up again and give it a listen. Not surprising that often
I recognize that the latest upgrade is not as significant improvement as I had
previously expected. This phenomenon was more apparent when there was a
significant price difference, where I had expected a more significant improvement over the previous older component which was much less expensive.
What I find absolutely fascinating is when I have zero expectations for a product and it’s considered an absolute bargain, and inserting it into my system and it blows me away! I Love it! Over the course of my 65 plus years of my life, this
is always a most welcome experience.
As a side note, I have had a similar experience with watching Movies that have been hyped up by friends or reviews, and upon viewing the films I just didn’t enjoy
the movies at all. Conversely, a Movie that I know nothing about, with actors I
have never heard of , and the movie is amazing.(happens fairly often)
So, I recognize that my having a traumatic brain injury, I probably don’t experience things like everyone else does, but I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this “expectation gap” With regards to High End Audio?
Just curious…
So a couple pieces of gear that actually exceeded my expectations…
Audio Alchemy (The top loader transport, DTI Pro 32) Benchmark DAC1, PS Audio (my PCA-2 Preamplifier and HCPS combo) Velodyne FSR-18, F1500
Oppo (Swiss army knife for audio/video) and my modified Marantz SA-11S2 SACD player. A bunch of amplifiers that are no longer in my possession.
How do I fill the gap? Suffice to say it starts with having a grateful mindset.
Enjoy your Music Everyone! I hope this post doesn’t create a firestorm.
It’s all about recognizing some funny quirks that I noticed about myself.
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The OP seems to be describing ’confirmation bias’. Yet, there are many variables. If a more expensive component is considerably more resolving than the one it is replacing, it’s quite possible that it is revealing ’weaknesses’ elsewhere in the audio system. Or it could simply have bad synergy with other components - or cabling. Audio Enthusiasts have different hearing, different rooms, different speakers, different everything. When they make suggestions, it’s all very subjective. There’s no silver bullet solution. Trial & error. This is why many manufacturers and dealers offer trial periods. To deternine if the product works well in your system before committing to it. |
When that poetic advertiser claims an ethernet cable change was a " night and day" difference, "made his dead petrified soul finally come alive", etc, the audiophile may have gotten giddy like a middleschooler, let his imagination run wild and raised his expectations to high heaven. It was not his fault, it was the advertiser’s poetry. Hopefully, he had a return window with a full refund everytime the poetry got him bamboozled. Everything is a "night & day" difference to the poet. |
Expectation has a very strong correlation to confirmation bias. Controlling your expectations means less chance for confirmation bias. From my younger days I recall great excitement and expectations with new purchases, my system wasn't where I wanted it to be, and always this hope the new component would put me over the top. I made many mistaken short term qualitative judgements, mere difference may be moves in regressive, lateral or progressive direction over the longer term. Wisdom finally comes from repeated experience, no longer much emotional attachment to new audio purchases and/or short term or initial listening qualitative judgements. I presume this also a function of having achieved sound quality I always dreamed of, new purchases just icing on the cake at this point. |
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