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RE: hearing is illusionary

BC, I haven't read enough of your posts to know if this one is typical or not. I do know that, of what I have read, I usually find what you post to be pretty articulate and generally well-reasoned.But I think you're off-base here, at least as relates to my own experience.

"Thinking the way the brain processes hearing is universal"

This is where I believe you are absolutely, 100% dead wrong, my friend. The building of new neural pathways in the brain by means of periods of focused attention is a concept well known and accepted in the sciences. Audio freaks, pretty much by definition, spend long periods of time in focused attention listening to their audio systems, those of their friends, and/or live music. The variety of kinds of music listened to, however, are unique, as are the volume levels, listening environments and general circumstances, therefore the neural networks by which we process sound are likewise unique. The means by which we hear music may be universal, but the means by which our brains process that sensory input sure as hell are not.

I had this principle graphically illustrated when visiting a fairly high-end salon with a friend, and listening to a $30K set of Vienna Acoustics speakers. My friend was blown away, and I remember trying to figure out what so impressed him, because to me they sounded like boxes. By that point in my life, my home system used large stats. Now I run horns for the same reasons. At HiFi 99 in Chicago, I listened to an $80K set of Dynaudios. Nope. Not for me at any price, much less $80K.

After moving to my cabin year-round, I had more available income to devote to audio, so I was able to bring my setup to a far higher level of resolution than I ever thought would be available to me. Cable differences became more apparent with every improvement. Installing a new and potentially expensive cable often took me in the wrong direction, and I couldn't rip it out fast enough. As far as I can tell, the efficacy of power cables especially lies largely in their ability to prevent ambient noise from being introduced into a component. I found this to be particularly true when I installed a Synergistic Research pc with active shield on a Von Gaylord LAD-L2. I had sent a pc back to the mfr because I was clear that its substantial price tag was unjustifiable, but when I installed the SR on the preamp, a layer of grunge was removed that I hadn't even known was there.

As far as I can tell, good cabling is largely about keeping noise out of the system. In my experience, some cables do it a whole lot better than others.


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  • RE: hearing is illusionary - Todd A. 17:39:28 10/22/21 (0)

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