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Personal vs. Market Values

Take truffle oil. Or truffles. The mushrooms, not the confection.
Honestly I can’t taste it. I’ve ordered all sorts of dishes with "truffle oil" which commanded a premium and if there is any difference at all in the taste I could not tell you even after being told about it.

The point of this is that truffle oil holds no personal value to me. I’m not trading in it or running a restaurant or buying it in bulk. If I did that I’d feel and be willing to spend quite differently than I do now.

The point to this and how this matters in audio is that you should be true to your own ears. Use friends, reviews (cough) and other sources as guides. You may also evaluate a brand based on re-sale value. That’s reasonable as the resale could have a material impact on you in the future.

But if you can’t hear a difference or prefer a speaker/cable/amp no one else does then serve only yourself and your loved ones. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the market value of a particular product has value for you or that it is a display of relative merit. It may not. Our hobby is filled with charlatans selling invisible clothes.

Those who say they can't taste the truffle oil or see invisible clothes spend less and are far happier I think.

Happy listening,

E
erik_squires

Showing 2 responses by elizabeth

elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
Never had truffle anything except truffle flavored ice cream.As for stereo equipment and what it "REALLY" is worth?One of my favorite persional experiences is about Audio Research SP-10 I bought locally, cheap. Curiously I bought a ARC Sp-15 about the same time. So I had both. The SP-15 crushed the SP-10. Totally, soundwise. But the SP-15 got a ’damning with faint praise’ review at TAS back when TAS was King. (I think it really was about the price being kind of a big jump up $6K) Anway to this day, the SP-10 has a ’following and is ’legendary’ and no one gives a fig for a SP-15. I sold the SP-10 for way more than I paid (and I still did not ask the going price $3K, but only $2,300), in fact it got me the SP-15 for FREE. But still the Sp-10 is considered a little ’treasure’ and the SP-15 I still own and love is unknown and unwanted, EVEN THOUGH IT IS BETTER SOUNDING than the SP-10.
That is my experience.I still use the Sp-15 but just as for it’s three tube phono box for my Kuzma Stabi Stogi S TT.
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
An interesting point.. Besides personal value vs market value, there is the reason personal values are different than the masses. We each may find different 'parts' of the whole to be more or less important.  For example:                                          
To others, the weight and feel of the bass is critical, but to me, it just doesn't  matter. yeah I like a bass viol to have some weight to the sound, but the thud thud thud (gut massage bass) of some music just leaves me cold. And I have no need for it in my space. So I can easily overlook a 'lack of bass' in equipment, and in fact may LOOK for equipment which has some lack in that department. (Since I do not want to disturb my neighbors while playing music.)             
On the other hand treble is very important to me. needs to be clean clear, and precise. But for the gut massage bass lover, it may be far less important, just so it 'doesn't screech' is all they want.Then prat, and all those other little things some love, and some wonder what it is?     
I think some if this is why one's own values and the market's values may differ... or coincide.
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