Interesting bilind testing of Stradivarius Violin

One can't help wondering why the worlds best violinists, you know like Heifitz, of the past hundred years owned Strads, Amati or similar high end instruments for their own AND played them in concerts. Same with the less renowned but very competent violinists of the orchestra, in terms of owning and playing expensive world class violins. I'm kind of thinking they probably prefer the sound of the expensive instruments, eh? If you get Heifitz on the panel that can't hear the difference maybe then I might get on board the placebo train. Maybe.

I"If you get Heifitz on the panel that can't hear the difference maybe then I might get on board the placebo train."

With great contributions to the state of hi fi sound like teleportation tweak, flying Saucers, and clever clocks, I suspect you are way overbooked for that particular train already.

There could be any number of reasons why a working musician would prefer not to have an irreplaceable and priceless instrument as their everyday instrument. As a practical matter they are a pain in the ass to deal with in regards to travel and security. It's only a late 60s Martin, but only two people are allowed to touch Willie Nelson's guitar, Willie and his long time guitar tech. I can only imagine how a musician would feel about a Strad. As others have commented there are some excellent modern instruments available that don't bring that extra baggage.

I've read that many of the Strads used in performance are not actually owned by the musicians using them, but are loaners from wealthy collectors/benefactors. A nice case of the kindness of strangers.

Just out of curiosity, what other vintage objects are considered superior to their modern equivalents? I don't mean more desirable or valuable, but actually better at their intended task.

05-21-14: Onhwy61
Just out of curiosity, what other vintage objects are considered superior to their modern equivalents? I don't mean more desirable or valuable, but actually better at their intended task.

As a collector of such things, I can attest that any of the better AM radios from the 1930's, if in top condition and/or well restored, can way outperform any modern AM radio or receiver I have ever encountered, in terms of both sound quality and weak signal reception capability.

Also, many vintage FM tube tuners from the 1950's and 60's, if in top condition and/or well restored, would IMO certainly be competitive with and in some cases superior to the best that modern technology has to offer.

Best regards,
-- Al

Linear thought is a disease. To assume that things here and now, aka modern, are necessarily superior to other times ,places and things is a severe error.The reverse is OFTEN true.