You called?Ron
Where is Kal, cuz here is one for him.....
I doubt it is as simple as that. While we do have different spectra of thresholds, most of the differences are matters of expectations and preferences. There have been times when I have sat with another listener (often another Stereophiler) at a show and discussed what we were hearing. In general, we could agree on what we were hearing but, often, we disagreed on how we felt about it. I believe we all have internal ideals of what we want the music to sound like, shaped more by experience than physiology. Hence, the reference/preference issue.I have often wondered if all of us have some frequency which when heard triggers the stimulus of our auditory nerves in different ways. Or as you call it, " everyone has a different flavor preference"