mlsstl wrote: > I'm a firm believer that blind testing is an excellent way to separate > out the subjective non-audio influences that often affect what people > hear. (An excellent general book on the subject is Cordelia Fine's "A > Mind Of Its Own", it's an entertaining read that clearly shows how > susceptible all humans are to subjective influences, though the book > isn't about the audio hobby.) > > However, at some point, the blinders come off, so to speak, and the > listener is back to using the equipment with full knowledge of what's > there. Even if there is no true audible difference, many people may > prefer one item over another because of the non-audio subjectivities. > It's kind of like eating a meal in a restaurant -- the general > atmosphere and actions of the staff can enhance or detract from the > experience no matter how good the food by itself. The same is true of > audio. In my book, if fat wires, a thick faceplate and obscure exclusive > brand names bring a little extra joy to the listening experience, go for > it! > > I use a tube amp, not because it sounds better, but because I like tube > equipment for aesthetic reasons -- a fondness from building and working > on tube gear over 40 years ago. > > The great irony with most subjectivists is they just can't admit to > themselves, much less anyone else, that subjective factors affect their > judgement. So, you end up with bizarre denials about blind testing, wild > theories about exotic factors affecting sound, and a smug self-assurance > that their golden ears and superior knowledge place them well above the > hoi-polloi when it comes to audio choices.
Enjoy your vacuum tube gear for what it is :) is it some kind of classic design ? I get cranky when the type of " golden ear " you describe invoke very far fetched ideas that their DHT or other tube gear somehow "resolves" stuff that SS gear can't resolve at all ? and sound more true to the source ? When in fact in you can show the absolute opposite is true . Just admitt that you like the sound despite that it migth not be correct to the source . Sadly , there is anew breed of tube design that differ very much from the classical stuff ,who at its hayday was the pinnacle of engineering McIntosh and Quad , Marantz etc they did it scientifically and as good as they could as tubes was what they got . The new retro tube stuff may sometimes be designed in ways that would baffle the designers of old ? It usually has a very large quantity of other audiophile lore built in and is very expensive , I especially loathe Audio Note in any form *urgh* I think they even have managed to broke the very essential I/V converter that many DAC's uses with some very nonlinear silver coil passive design , but I'll stop there . There are to many weird tweaks done to some tube gear to mention ,sometimes they have the full spectrum of all things gone bad the last 30 years in one package , almost a showcase of how not to do ? -------------------------------------------------------------------- Main hifi: Touch + CIA PS +MeridianG68J MeridianHD621 MeridianG98DH 2 x MeridianDSP5200 MeridianDSP5200HC 2 xMeridianDSP3100 +Rel Stadium 3 sub. Bedroom/Office: Boom Kitchen: Touch + powered Fostex PM0.4 Misc use: Radio (with battery) iPad1 with iPengHD & SqueezePad (in storage SB3, reciever ,controller ) server HP proliant micro server N36L with ClearOS Linux http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mnyb's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4143 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=101342 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
