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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
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.
three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
211 posts
 
Funny you should bring this up.  I often think about the concept of "Supertasters" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster and apply it to the world of audiophiles.  I suspect there are also "superlisteners" who can discern sound at a much more refined level than others, and I don't just mean hearing soft tones (i.e. hearing test) or wider frequency range but also sense the structure of sound on a more granular level.  Some of us may fall into this category.
jond's avatar
jond
3,400 posts
 
Truffle oil is for drizzling and finishing not for cooking. I am a bit surprised you can't taste it the flavor is very strong and distinct. Have you ever tried it just on its own to get an idea what it tastes like?
erik_squires OP
5,268 posts
 
Yes, there probably are supertasters in audiophile land, but what good are we? :)
I mean, if we could discern between 20 different amplifiers, are you enjoying music more, or did you just train some set of neurons to discriminate without an end goal?

jperry
1,408 posts
 
Get some truffle potato chips or almonds from Trader Joe’s and compare them to regular. I would be very surprised if you did not notice a difference.
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