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In Whose Ears Do You Trust Most?

Ok, so I've been an audiophile for 30 years or so, I've heard a lot of equipment, and I think I can analyze sounds and express what I hear in words pretty well, but still, when it comes down to it, I don't feel 100% about what I think I'm hearing till my non-audiophile, equipment agnostic, music loving significant other tells me what she hears, how it compares, etc. I'm always a tiny bit afraid that I hear what I think I will hear (I think Roger Modjeski called it the Heathrow Effect) - don't know if you had that feeling. I trust her her naive, indifferent assesment of equipment to keep me honest. You?
pubul57
rayden1972
22 posts
 
@Pubul57

I used to have the same approach as yourself but since a year or so I have changed. Now I have learnt to be as direct and merciless as my wife when critiquing my system. If there is one bit I don't like about my system I tell that to my AV consultant straight away. I don't get wowed by name or think I would come to like it over time etc etc.
Luckily my consultant is competent and is always able to deliver the sound I like just by tweaking the system.

Music to me is an affair of heart so if you don't like the sound of your system why bother having one in the first place :-)

Cheers,
-Rayden
usblues
1,216 posts
 
A Merlin owner who doesn't trust his ears?Whats the planet Earth coming to?Chocolate grasshoppers? 9 year old Olympic athletes?20M$ space rides?Whatever happened to the good old bad days like.................you fill in the blank...I need to know more about this Heathrow Effect you mention,excuse me,or as Mozart would say"I'll be Bach".....
brf
1,699 posts
 
We all seek validation it is a human trait. You could have the best sounding system in the world until one day someone tells you it sounds like crap, then you start second guessing your own ears until the next person validates your opinion.

It is like your wife asking if her ass looks fat in her new jeans, all she is looking for is validation and sometimes we tell a white lie to save her feelings. Trust your own ears, because your opinion is the only one that matters.
pacific_island_audio
49 posts
 
I trust my ears, but only to a point. We all must trust our own ears, yet it is far too easy to lose objectivity—we need external validation from other disinterested ears, and from empirical measurements. Both are important to confirm or disconfirm what we believe we are hearing, and to help us learn the connections between what we hear, what we think, how other perceive it, and how it all correlates with the measurements.
santanaali
78 posts
 
Good thread! I often wondered if my approach was on the right track and not having anyone to critique my system one way or the other. My partner in a new business venture is actually a professional touring musician with the folk group
The Limeliters. We played their new CD on my system and he had the most uncanny response. He said he felt he was both on stage and in the audience at the same time. He thought the sound was the same as the recording session only better. It sured eased my mind!

Cheers
Vernon
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