64.13.14.96
In Reply to: RE: On audiophile ritual, mental focus, and sonic perception posted by caspian@peak.org on September 07, 2009 at 10:41:39
If I may join you in idle speculation, I believe that some are inclined to believe in believing while others are inclined to believe in physics and engineering. I'm strongly in the latter camp so you may take my comments with a grain of salt. BUT, I believe that both camps are 'right' and that there is a continuum betwixt the two with a slushy transition region.
Even beyond the engineering/belief divide there is one with respect to ritual. For instance the very things that you trot out that form part of your love of records, the ritualistic cleaning, kissing etc, are the very things that cause me to feel frustration, disdain, and loathing of the medium. On the other hand I can say that the Sheffield Labs CD's of their direct to disk recordings don't sound nearly as good as the records. BUT, those are old transfers, I suspect that a newer transfer, especially to hi-res would. In general I taped most of my records and listened to them from R-R or on Cassette, turning the damn things over was beyond the pale as was the fussiness. To each his own. The point is don't count on all of us sharing your penchant for ritual.
At the risk of offense, I'd suggest that most audiophiles are largely clueless concerning how to go about measuring phenomena with unknown causes. Few have the knowledge, experience, test equipment or inclination to do so and often find it easy to ascribe that which they can't measure or understand to 'belief'. If there is one common denominator amongst those that believe that most tweaks are mystical (i.e. belief based) it's that they haven't really tried to measure, understand, or isolate their effects. Now I'm not saying that in my infinite wisdom I have or can do so. But at least I understand the most likely reasons I can't. The prime one is laziness but right behind is not feeling a pressing need to. If I'm not producing whatever the tweak is it's just a hobby. Also I don't currently have access to the full range of test equipment which would make discovery easier.
So there you have it, the other side heard from.
Rick
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