Home Propeller Head Plaza

Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics.

[ Follow Ups ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Propeller Head Plaza ]
[ Alert Moderator ]

What do you listen for?

In your own tests, in your own system, as you described them, are you hearing a particular quality to the sound that changes, differences in specific characteristics, or what? Is there a particular point in a particular recording where you can usually hear the difference?

To me, this is really important. It's true, as JA (in the April Stereophile) and others contend, that the best way to evaluate the character and quality of a piece of equipment is to listen to it over time. But I think it's important for the credibility of our hobby that we be able to relate those qualitative changes to specific aspects of the sound that we can point to and say "see? that's different. It's the cymbals" or whatever. I'm not talking about relating it to something measured, but to something reliably and repeatably perceived. And, of course, it's important to be able to make a compelling case that we actually hear what we claim to hear--even if it's not lab-certified proof. (There's no such thing as a perfect experiment in science, and even good ones are hard to achieve. A lot of the work that moves science forward is good but imperfect, suggestive but not definitive.)

So--what do you listen for? Also, can you do this for any IC comparison? How many combinations have you tried?

Best,
Jim

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Signature Sound   [ Signature Sound Lounge ]

Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
You can not post to an archived thread.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]