Subjective vs. objective? Or subjective and objective?


 

The question is explored in this 32:02 video. Though it's not for me to say, I would hope that only those who have actually watched the video respond. Thank you.

 

https://youtu.be/sS_ZIvMjStM?si=cdLNltYHlQldRaUg

 

bdp24

Objective led subjective is what I subscribe too. 

Being militant on either spectrum takes away from truly getting to the end of your search (who am I kidding, this space is just a cycle of purchase hungry addicts)

So for example, I heard the MoFi 888 last year in a less than ideal but better than normal convention space during AXPONA. Loved it so much I placed an order before ever seeing any reviews or any data set (CEA-2034 to be exact) and I am very measurements leaning but i trusted my ears and Andrew Jones.

Note: I heard many speakers that people extol here, and they were anything but balanced. Some were outright terrible, and I question people’s hearing but hey, that is what they hear.

But when I got them in my space, I used Room EQ Wizard, a measurement mic to determine how they were exciting my room modes and then planned sound acoustic solutions as a result of that. then Erin’s review even made everything I was hearing that much clearer (that was my first time actually listening to a speaker reviewer be right about things from start to finish)

So yes whilst I iterated with data, I listened to note what I like about the changes I was making. That actually saved me a lot of headache andled to me achieving my goal of a competent speaker system in my space.

On the other hand if I had just gone blindly into only listening, out hearing whilst sensitive and good is susceptible to many biases and having a guiding light can lead to you spending less and actually making the right decisions.

Long story short, subjective for how we feel about a system but through an objective lens to weed out useless fixes, unneeded fixes, wrong fixes and wrong systems @bdp24 

Interesting video. Oblective measurements can be very helpfull as he points out. I think most people would agree. I would not buy any speaker without looking at the objective measurements.

However, I'm not convinced that the sound can change that much (if at all) by using more expensive components if the values of the crossover are identical. 

Make sure you compare an apple to an apple... A blind test of two identical speakers one with expensive parts and one with lesser expensive parts. (I did not say crap/junk parts) Lets say Nichicon vs Dayton. The example Danny using the three different speakers proved nothing. Too many variables.

My bet would be if people knew in advance that there were expensive parts they would subjectively hear improved sound. This mental bias is a powerful thing. However, in a controlled blind test I doubt they could hear any difference at all.

Years ago Peter Snell would go to dealers with one cheap crossover and one with the most expensive parts. He could quickly switch crossovers by unplugging them and switch them out. He proved over and over that NO ONE could tell the difference in parts quality. Just because it cost more doesn't mean it's better.

I'd like to see Danny do the same subjective test as Snell.