While Strolling Through The Net Today...

[Mister Pig]

BINGO! If one dares to point out that sometimes perception is not reality, the amount of butthurt reaches "quantum tunneling" levels. When reading a post I automatically stop reading when somebody says they heard a "huge" or "big" difference when changing the smallest cable or interconnect. Even if I am sure something sounds different that actually does not make it reality. Does anybody really think (outside of the sponsors or people selling the cable) that a $5000 speaker cable gives a "better soundstage and bigger imaging" than say a $500 cable? And do people (again outside of the sponsors and people that sell them) really think a $20K cable sounds better than that $5000 cable? If somebody can point to even the most tiny actual fact proving any of that then I will believe it. But they never can, ever.

The best advice in the article is "Follow the money". Watch who buys ads in the magazines that are reviewing the item and watch who sponsors what........it is quite informative. People that have nothing riding on what is being written I tend to believe. The others? Not so much.

The flip side is that your accepted boundaries of what is to be expected will filter out what you can experience. If you automatically dismiss views that are not perfectly aligned with yours, how will you can you experience other aspectsts of the hobby? There are plenty of folks who will self limit what they can experience by saying things like tubes are the best, vinyl or high rez files are superior, solid state has far better measurements than tubes.....and so on and so forth. Yet there are many ways to build a remarkable system.

Now of course the prime example given relates to wire. While skepticism is healthy, and hyperbole exists in this hobby, but it's on both sides of the fence. Now I have experienced events where a single cable did make noticeable changes, both positively and negatively, in a system. Often it relates to source components more than amps and pre amps. But if you choose to automatically ignore others experiences you limit where this hobby can lead to and how your system might grow. As I mentioned before, everyone has different reasons they are in this hobby. But how will you grow and gain a depth of experience by self limiting what you are willing to experience? I find it odd that those who know the truth are often those who are unwilling to gain a breadth and depth of experience. The more different styles of audio I expose myself to tends to erode the certainty of what I believe is the "best way" of doing audio.

Regards
Mister Pig

 

[Johnny 007]

People sometimes spend more money just because it makes them feel better. I knew a guy like that. He wasn't into audio, but he always felt better if he bought the "best" of everything. Expensive woodwork for his house, expensive art, outrageously expensive wine. No matter what it was, he wasn't happy unless he was spending big bucks. Come to think of it, I guess I know two people like that. The second guy is Into cars. I think he has 74 of them.

 

[musichal]

Each faction has merit, and appeals to a certain group of people. The problem comes when those folks choose to be inflexible in their understanding of the hobby, lash out at those who disagree with them, or are exuberant in their evangelism, The refusal to see alternating points of view, and to degrade those who have them is a problem on most audio boards, at least from what I have seen and experienced.

I already responded to Mister Pig's post with a "well said." It was this paragraph which most struck a chord within me, and especially the sentence fragment emboldened, as it describes a core of perceptual truth impacting all sorts of human disagreement.

 

[Bubba57]

Cool I'll just dump my gear at a fire sale price and go to Goodwill and buy a $10.00 AVR.

I just knew I was being hoodwinked

You know Dan, that may be the OP point here. I want to be the first one to know about this "fire sale" and I'll GIVE.....you an AVR.

Bubba57

 

[onepixel]

Wow man... how do you guys enjoy music?

 

[DaveVoorhis]

Wow man... how do you guys enjoy music?

Music? MUSIC???

This is a music forum?

Oh, man... I'm in the wrong room; I'll get my coat and go.

 

[Dr. Morbius]

Quick question. Who here believes in the existence of alien abductions based on the personal testimony of thousands of other people, most of whom are not mentally ill and some of which can pass a lie detector?

 

[Bodyblue]

Quick question. Who here believes in the existence of alien abductions based on the personal testimony of thousands of other people, most of whom are not mentally ill and some of which can pass a lie detector?

That depends on if one believes in the burn in rate of super luminal drive. I mean if you dont believe that warp drive does not require burn in how can one have a smart conversation about the Small Mouth Greys from Roswell?

 

[Dr. Morbius]

The reason I ask is because (and I quote) "we know from research in psychology and simple empirical evidence in the history of science that the lowest form of evidence that exists in this world is eyewitness testimony."

Here's a quick video with Neil deGrasse Tyson on personal testimony vs. scientific principles.

 

[Bodyblue]

The reason I ask is because (and I quote) "we know from research in psychology and simple empirical evidence in the history of science that the lowest form of evidence that exists in this world is eyewitness testimony."

Here's a quick video with Neil deGrasse Tyson on personal testimony vs. scientific principles.

As someone that has worked in law enforcement, that is completely true. Human beings lie, are mistaken and forget.

 

[Mac Lessig]

Ah the pro's and Con's of listening to Audio. I like to read threads like this because it brings me back to something I was told to by a member here back when I first discovered AK. We were discussing the pros and cons of different gear and he told me what you need to remember is that you are the only one your gear needs to please. I thought about that statement for a long time and realized after a while just what he ment and I'm very pleased with my audio gear.........

 

[Bubba57]

Ah the pro's and Con's of listening to Audio. I like to read threads like this because it brings me back to something I was told to by a member here back when I first discovered AK. We were discussing the pros and cons of different gear and he told me what you need to remember is that you are the only one your gear needs to please. I thought about that statement for a long time and realized after a while just what he ment and I'm very pleased with my audio gear.........

It is fun to see or read people get worked up about this ain't it? But you are right, the only one you have to please is yourself. No matter what your comparing, somebody is always gonna knock it. I like my gear whether it sounds good to you or not. You might not like my house but I worked hard, paid good money for it and love it. I'm sure you wouldn't like the furniture placement either. "Choosy mothers choose Jif". Peanut butter is peanut butter to me. I love my 94 S10 p/u. It would not compare to your new Mustang or your new Camaro in the quarter mile but you know what, I'm proud to drive it. The stereo sounds great, the A/C is cold and there is a hole worn in the drivers seat that fits my butt perfectly. Some of yall prolly wouldn't want to be seen in it, and that's fine. I didn't buy it for you anyway.

Now, how's that for 3 cents? Each to his/her own, but it's still fun to read and argue about this stuff ain't it? All music is good no matter what the genre? Beauty is in the eye of the be-holder. Great music is in the ear of anyone be-listening to their Vintage "PIONEER".

I just had to do it. Forgive me mods but I was trying to jump start the thread.

Bubba57

 

[Hawkeye83]

I have a scientist/skeptic mindset by nature, but I also like to try things myself, "just to be sure." I haven't owned a lot of gear, but haven't heard HUGE differences in anything beyond speakers. I'm a 100% believer in speaker/amp matching...the amp has to be able to handle the load of the speakers. Tubes, to me, sound warmer, sometimes "timbre" sounds more "right" to me...must be that distortion they're talking about. I haven't messed much with cables but would like to try some Morrow cables on my Quads after reports from another AK'er that they did make a big difference. My Quad speakers do seem to respond more to changes in gear than my KEF's.

It's all in fun. I'm at the point where I'm not really obsessed about eeking out every last inch of performance. I just want gear that I like and that sounds good. Getting back to a point where it's more about the music than the gear. And that's a really good thing, because I'm going to be broke for the forseeable future, with my wife taking a $8/hour paycut (voluntarily, to go to a new job)...but it's one of those deals where she's taking 1 step back to take 5 steps forward...her next job after this will more than double her income and also be rewarding for her, so I'll see you all in 5 years when I have money again (For any interested, she is going from working medical units in hospitals as a registered nurse, into the mental health field...in a few years she will be a psychiatric nurse practitioner). Maybe then I will figure out what I want to do when I grow up.

 

[just dave]

Quick question. Who here believes in the existence of alien abductions based on the personal testimony of thousands of other people, most of whom are not mentally ill and some of which can pass a lie detector?

I would have to say I do, obviously not all of the claims are true but there are some very interesting cases.

 

[Bubba57]

This thread bounces back and forth from stereos to aliens. I wonder, among other things:

Why do these aliens seem to have a thang for us southerners? Maybe, just maybe us southerners are considered to be the higher species in the alien world. Might be something to this huh?

Reckon what kind of stereo system these space cadets listen to anyhow?

If I ever get gathered up by aliens the first thing I'll look at is their stereo. Right after the drop my off at the 7-11 store down there, I'll report back to y'all on this. Stay tuned.

Bubba57
Southern by the grace of God.

 

[just dave]

The reason I ask is because (and I quote) "we know from research in psychology and simple empirical evidence in the history of science that the lowest form of evidence that exists in this world is eyewitness testimony."

Here's a quick video with Neil deGrasse Tyson on personal testimony vs. scientific principles.

I wish Neal would run for president.

 

[just dave]

People sometimes spend more money just because it makes them feel better.

That's funny,I feel better when I spend less.

 

[hugo454]