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Am I Bad Listener?

Let me say from the outset that I love audio gear and I love the sound of mid-high end audio. But here's the thing ...

The only part of a system that I can hear a real difference in is speakers. In my system over the past few months I have tested three different amps (a 30W tube, a 150W SS integrated and a 200W SS amp plus a bi-amp configuration), a tube preamp, no preamp (direct to amp via DAC with volume control) and most recently a bunch of different speaker wires (my original Audience Maestros, a DIY Home Depot 10 gauge concoction, Anticables and two other sets of very expensive wires borrowed from a local dealer - some bi-wired & some single with jumpers). Oh, and a series of different IC's.

With the possible exception of the insertion of the tube preamp, I can't really tell much of a difference regardless of what I do. I have had similar experiences at dealers. But switching back and forth between different speakers I can hear huge differences.

I think my system sounds really good but is modest by comparison to many on A'gon - Olive Musica, Benchmark DAC, Minimax Preamp, Meridian G57 amp (sometimes switched for a Classe or Prima Luna) - so maybe that's it. In a modest system the effect of switching components or wires just won't yield huge sound changes. Or maybe I just don't hear in a very detailed manner.

I spend a fair amount of time reading posts here and people claim to have genuine sonic revelations by switching an interconnect or a tube or piece of speaker wire. I love buying the new stuff and giving it a try but I just don't seem to ever hear a sonic revelation and end up re-selling it.

Does anyone share my experience or is there something this sad, pathetic audiophile is missing?
itball

Showing 1 response by ozzy62

ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
3,292 posts
 
If you are playing the "switching game", where you listen to snippets of music, then swap in the new component, you are in for severe frustration. That is why triple blindfolded, hands-over-eyes, no peek-a-boo testing is crap. It's the long term listening that yields the important differences.

Listen to component "A" for a day or two while trying to relax with your favorite music, stuff that you are intimately familiar with. Then do the same thing for component "B". Which one moves you? Which one sounds more like what YOU like? It'll come to you. And don't waste time with audiophile approved dreck while listening for chair squeaks and conductor farts. Listen to what you would normally, and listen with the intent of enjoying the music, not dissecting it. You might find that there are more differences than you thought imagineable.

Oz
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