Interesting bilind testing of Stradivarius Violin

Great debate everyone, thanks for the responses.

Good Listening

Peter

I've heard judges at youth competitions agonize over how to score a poor kid with a poorer instrument vs a rich kid with a better one.
Anyone who does not know sound is different with your eyes closed or open is not serious about music.
Anyone who doesn't know you listen with every sense AND your memory is not there yet.
And anyone who thinks the great old instrument thing is a fallacy is a fool.

Humans are integrated beings, like a audio system every part matters.
And every"room" sounds different .

I was reading up on Stradivarius instruments on Wikipedia.

From what I read, quantifying if and why these particular instruments sound different or better than others is kind of like trying to do the same with fuses in hifi gear. Clearly part of the story here is the legacy and historical impact of these instruments which are very valuable as a result of reputation and age.

Its one of those cases where clearly there may be physical differences from other designs, but quantifying the sound quality remains elusive.

Clearly, few every day shlub musicians would play such an intrument in public or be recorded playing one, so I suspect the skills of the players overall contribute to the instrument's reputation.

I have to believe its possible to make a modern violin that is at least in the same league as one made 100s of years ago. IT might sound similar or different, maybe even better, at least in some ways to some?

I am a firm believer that time always tells though when it comes to practical assessments of value or quality. Good things last, bad things tend to run their course for the most part, but there is always something new on the horizon.

That's right!
Musicians prefer new and fresh violin sound vs. hundreds years old Stradivarius that are more collector's items.

It's far more about the fingers and the ears than the instrument. However, if two players are more or less equal then the one with the superior instrument should prevail.

Not all Strads are created equal. Some sound far better than others. Also, instruments made by Guarneri del Gesu are preferred over Strads by many top players. And Hilary Hahn uses a much more recently made instrument from the shop of a French builder (Vuillaume, 1864). She could have a Strad if she wanted, no doubt!

As for Joseph Curtin, I don't know how well he plays and didn't think he was part of the performing end of the show in question. But I'm sure he has spoken with countless top players about desirable and undesirable qualities (some of which are subjective) found in instruments. He otherwise could not have risen to the top of his field.