Skunk;194292 Wrote: > There is also the subjectivist camp, but I guess they're not really > audiophiles. What would you call someone who believes getting a great > sounding system is a worthwhile endeavor, yet has skepticism of nearly > all things audiophile?
Are you refering to "objectivists" here? If by "scepticism of nearly all things audiophile" you mean disbelief in fancy cables, magic rocks, "quantum" power conditioners, and other things for which there is no scientific explanation, those folks are generally called objectivists. Subjectivists are folks who, if they think they hear an improvement in their system from putting a jar of expensive rocks in the corner of their room, buy the rocks. I've been fooling with audio for over 35 years. I recognize both that there are plenty of phenomina in the physical world that we can't yet explain, and that it's awfully easy for humans to fool themselves about what their senses perceive. I tend to figure that, if there's controversey about whether some audio product has any effect on the sound, whatever effect it does have must be pretty small. I'd rather put my audio money into things which unquestionably make a difference in the sound, like speakers. That's not to say that I insist that amplifiers and CD players all sound the same, just that the sonic differences between them (amps run within their design limits) are pretty subtle. Still, I recently upgraded my main system from a Bryston amp to a McIntosh MC352. I think I'm getting better sound, but I couldn't swear to it. For the cost of the amp upgrade, I could have gotten a bigger sonic improvement by trading in my speakers for better ones. But the Mac was still worth it to me, for the build quality (the amp should outlive me), and because I'm a sucker for the blue meters. I tend to view myself as much more in the objectivist camp. I stopped reading Stereofool years ago, since they seem to like any stupidly priced product, as long as the manufacturer buys enough ads. I even used to belong to an audio society run by Tom Nousine, one of the most well known and vocal "objectivists" there is. But if an "audiophile" is a person who strives for good sound in their home, I definately qualify, as does Tom. You can do so by trying to understand what matters in achiveing this goal, and what is hype, as much as by believing everything you read in "audiophile" magazines or on the web. -- bobschneider ------------------------------------------------------------------------ bobschneider's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=10074 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34379 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
