2. misc-audio
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Audio Diversity - What is it?

I've noticed that there are always alot of threads put up about "this vs that", tubes vs transistors, analog vs digital, cone vs electrostat, high price vs high value, cables make no difference, etc, etc. It seems that there is a wide variety of opinions as to what actually sounds good or better than the rest. Sometimes this elicits very strong opinions.

My question is why is it, that there is so much difference of opinion on this subject? Doesn't everyone hear the same music? Is it something to do with some other factor like, whether they never really heard many other things, or this was all their dealer had so they think it's best, is it listening skills, or what? Or is it ego, pride of ownership, and protecting resale value of their equipment, that is coming into question here? If that is the case, then are people lying about it to support their self-esteem or bank account, by exaggerating the quality of their systems to others? Do people who can only afford low-fi state that there is no difference in gear, only to make themselves feel better that they have just as good gear as the guy who paid $50k? Or are we all just imagining differences? Or perhaps, some of us don't want to get "closer to the music", but would rather have certain "airbrushed" qualities to it that they like, but take it further away from truth? Personal preferences? I don't know.

It seems to me that if 2 people listen to the same system in the same room at the same time, there should be some consensus about whether it is better or worse than some other system they compare it to. But yet, we seem to not be able to agree on this. There is always this and that getting in the way. But I say it's either closer to the music or further away. It should be easily determined. When 2 people look at a red car, they both know it's red. Nobody has to measure the reflected wavelengths to know that. One may like red better than the other, but there is no doubt that the car is red. Can't do that with audio systems. When 2 people listen, one says better, another says worse. Why?

What I would like to know is, what you think is the reason for such large differences in opinion about what sounds right and what doesn't. I don't want to start an issue about one particular type of equipment vs another, but I want to focus on why we don't seem to hear things the same.

I think this is at the root of alot of our discussions here on this forum, and I'd like to hear some opinions on it, which will likely be just as diverse.
twl

Showing 1 response by newbee

newbee
4,093 posts
 
You have set forth most all of the reasons why people find differences in the equipment they discuss. I'm sure there may even be a few more. But, I'm not at all sure that I can make a connection with your statement that to refine your music reproduction system allows you to "get closer to the music". To the contrary, all that you accomplish is to enable yourself to hear what the engineer's put on the recording, which I feel has little to do with music in a pure sense, unless you consider the engineer an artist who suceeds the original composer. IMHO music is an art form, much as painting. One does not need a loupe to appreciate a great painting unless one is assessing the technique of the artists use of the brush and paints. Art is meant to be viewed at a distance. In my view so is music. Its meant to be heard live in an appropriate venue. It does not need electronic reproduction to survive and in fact there is no model for the recording and reproduction of music by which anyone can judge correctness. You may enjoy hearing a piano concerto with the microphone in the piano - you sure will hear all of the sounds from the vibrating wires - but you will not hear what the composer intended.

In my view the more familiar one is with a piece of music the less important it is to hear all of the detail you feel is important to "get closer to the music". Thats why Bose and MP3 are successful outside of this hobby - those folks just need clues, not detail and, interestingly, we denegrate them for their choices. Hum, I wonder who's really better off, us or them? Something to think about as you worry about which cartridge or wire "sounds" better.
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