It’s All a Preference

[jkeny]

If we accept the Harmon speaker test as valid then I guess we accept the idea of the relative preference of playback systems (speakers in this case). And the ability to score these different systems with respect to one another. That the measurements correlate with the preferences & show that accuracy seems to be the defining preference criteria is evident.

I see no reason why accuracy wouldn't also be the selection criteria for front-end, amplifiers, whatever?

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

---Yeah, it's also about human exchanges with people who share similar hobbies.

...And the true power of Music: a Universal Language. ...And Cinema too.

Yeah, a thread over in the music>jazz forum just got my attention because it had Cassandra Wilson's name in the title. The guys over there were talking about reissues on vinyl and pressings and sonics and such. Nothing in the world wrong with all of that; that's what makes this world go 'round. But my mind wandered. I found myself thinking about another recent thread of yours, and about Cassandra's amazing cover of "Come On In My Kitchen" and I lost the plot. I'm easily distracted by beautiful women and music. Probably best if no one really trusts my critical listening abilities. I can't effectively listen to sound for more than a few seconds if the music is good. And I'm good with that.

Tim

 

[NorthStar]

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Even sounds good as a YouTube video. Thanks, Bob.

Tim

 

[NorthStar]

---I like her a lot; got almost all of her CDs.

 

[TBone]

You like SS? That’s a preference. You like tubes? That’s a preference. You prefer single-ended amps over push-pull amps? That’s a preference. You think electrostats sound better than box speakers? That’s a preference. You like digital and not analog? That’s a preference. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. All of our systems are built upon our preferences.

I'm new, and therefore playing ketchup ... speaking of preferences ... I "prefer" ketchup to mustard ... especially on a hamburger but I much prefer dijon on a hotdog. I certainly don't feel the need to justify those particular choices, just as I don't feel it necessary to pigeon hole myself into making silly distinctions based on SS vs Tube or Digital vs Analog.

In that regard, the term "preference" is too often misused as a form of personal justification. Why trade one musical criteria for another when both have been known to be just as "musical"? To be more specific, everyone seems to prefer a system that sounds "live", but "live" isn't really a meaningful preference considering we're ironically judging a reproduced system based on something it's not. Therefore, I prefer people not use live as a preference, especially when they make it sound as if they're the only ones that have heard live. I often claim that my system sounds "alive" which is kinda like live, but then again, I've heard live performances sound dead ... and I certainly don't prefer dead sounding systems ... which is I guess ... is a preference.

I prefer SS, but that's based within the confines of my particular synergistic system, not an overall preference per-say. In another system, I may just prefer tubes, without hypocrisy. I prefer lean, yet I prefer warm, and believe it or not ... it's actually possible to have many a lean and warm component work in harmony.

I generally prefer analog to digital, and yet on occasion I've much preferred digital to analog, depending on the system and it's components. I do however prefer a LC stylus with near perfect SRA, but that's more a "requirement" than a preference. Yet, my system has certain requirements/preferences all it's own, such as, it prefers superior mastering quality.

Well, perhaps that's the 1 "preference" our systems can all agree on?

tb1

 

[treitz3]

I certainly can. Hello and welcome to the forum, Tbone.

Tom

 

[TBone]

I certainly can. Hello and welcome to the forum, Tbone.

Well ... thank you ... Mr. Super Moderator ... for welcoming this "junior" forum participant into your "preferred" site.

Junior once again ...
tb1

 

[Gregadd]

Considering the notion "that there is no absolute sound and that it is all a matter of preference" O fear it leaves us precariously perched on the slope of mediocrity. Our choices dictated by advertising,distribution and corporate power.

There is a commanding practical reason for making no distinctions between components of similar nature, say, for instance, amps and preamps. If they aren’t different, then the reviewer does not have to state preferences for one as opposed to another, thus providing his magazine’s ad salespeople with something bordering on paradise, a world in which all components are equal and therefore all ad space equally salable. Ugh.
HP
hpsoundings

http://www.hpsoundings.com/2012/12/high-end-audio-a-time-machine/

 

[amirm]

While the notion that there is no absolute sound and that it is all a matter of preference. i fear it leaves us precariously perched on the slope of mediocrity. Our choices dictated by advertising,distribution and corporate power.

There is a commanding practical reason for making no distinctions between components of similar nature, say, for instance, amps and preamps. If they aren’t different, then the reviewer does not have to state preferences for one as opposed to another, thus providing his magazine’s ad salespeople with something bordering on paradise, a world in which all components are equal and therefore all ad space equally salable. Ugh.
HP
hpsoundings

And.... you are saying what you quoted is correct or not?

 

[NorthStar]

-- Amir, sorry for the-off-topic, but could you please have a look to my last post from the Oppo BDP-103 and 105 BD players' thread?

* I believe that Greg agrees with HP's quote.

 

[Nightlord]

Yikes, this was a longwinded thread to catch up on. Had some notes written down on another comp to write at the end if it hadn't been resolved later, but now when I've completed the read and noticed it derailed about 30 pages ago, I don't see much reason to post them when I get back to that comp anymore. *LOL*

 

[NorthStar]

---- ...Part of any life's equation; just normal. :b

We (I try not to) don't sweat the small stuff, and it's up to us to get back on our 'own' tracks, or to not derail. :b

 

[Gregadd]

Considering the notion "that there is no absolute sound and that it is all a matter of preference" O fear it leaves us precariously perched on the slope of mediocrity. Our choices dictated by advertising,distribution and corporate power.

There is a commanding practical reason for making no distinctions between components of similar nature, say, for instance, amps and preamps. If they aren’t different, then the reviewer does not have to state preferences for one as opposed to another, thus providing his magazine’s ad salespeople with something bordering on paradise, a world in which all components are equal and therefore all ad space equally salable. Ugh.
HP
hpsoundings

http://www.hpsoundings.com/2012/12/high-end-audio-a-time-machine/

Yes it;s what I worry about.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

the term "preference" is too often misused as a form of personal justification

I'm not so sure. If used properly, I think it might be the opposite; the honest response. What we often see in the audiophile community is the positioning of personal preferences as superior, when they are not even equal by any objective standard. Vinyl, tubes, tape, very colored speakers...when people "prefer" these things, but have paid a great price to own them, some of them seem to find it very difficult to admit that the performance is compromised, but they prefer the sound anyway. Elaborate visions of greatness yet unmeasured are imagined; vocabularies of pseudo-technical terms are created. Or, on the simpler side, the preference is claimed more natural, musical, life-like.....

It is incredibly refreshing when you come across someone who admits the weaknesses of their preferred technology but says they simply prefer the sound of it anyway.

And, oddly enough, I agree with Greg. I think there is a danger of complacency in all of this, of the acceptance of mediocrity. In fact, I don't think it's a danger, I think it is a current, existing reality. It's not much of a danger, though. This is a hobby; a distraction. We should listen to what we enjoy listening to, and if every one of us embraced the same colored sound and the entire hifi industry abandoned the pursuit of higher fidelity to please us, the pro audio community would continue to chase it without us.

Tim

 

[MarinJim]

^ Life is a distraction, if you think about it.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

^ Life is a distraction, if you think about it.

That would be a very Eastern way of thinking about it, but yes, you can see it that way.

Tim

 

[FrantzM]

^ Life is a distraction, if you think about it.

Distraction from what? Honest question.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Distraction from what? Honest question.

The blissful state of non-attachment. Not that I'd know from personal experience.

Tim

 

[Gregadd]

I'll overcome the embarrassment of having Tim agree with me. Eventually. It goes without saying I encourage you to indulge your preference . That includes the person who drives by my home almost daily blasting the booming system. I just hope he was or one day will become aware of his alternatives for hardware and software.