Audiophiles are not alone

There is absolutely no question about variations instrument to instrument, particularly for percussion instruments like pianos or even simple cymbals.   Two brothers, last name Zildjian, both keepers of their family's great secret formula for the world famous Turkish cymbals, split over how the alloy should be hammered.  One brother insisting on hand hammering as has been done for hundreds of years, the other insisting on switching to machine hammering.  Now there are two companies, Zildjian and Sabian, both making similar world class cymbals and apparently the two brothers do not get along.  And still no two cymbals sound alike.  Something as simple as a cymbal.  And cymbals are to pianos as a sand filled glass timer is to a fine Swiss watch.   No wonder pianos all have unique sound characteristics.  And there is no rational reason for it, but a good Steinway is hard to find. 

I have no axe to grind in this discussion one way or the other and made my principle point in the opening post.  But I must take exception to the contention that the results of the comparison do not provide useful insight.  Let me summarize my understanding of the basic argument that the results prove nothing.  First, the player is not familiar with the instrument, that it takes months and long hours of practice and familiarization to acquaint oneself with the instrument before optimal musical realization could be expected.  Second, that each instrument, even from the same maker, is unique and that some are more suited for certain musical performance than others.  In fact some are better than others even from the same maker.  Finally there are the artists themselves, and what they need or want in terms of feel and so on from their preferred instrument.  For these reasons, it is argued that simply picking up an instrument and playing it for an hour or so in comparison to another proves nothing.  Have I got that right?  If so, then it should be obvious, without need to refute the validity of any of those points, they would be equally valid for both instruments and for all participants.  That is, for both the performers and for the audience.  So, if the initial impression is that the new violins out performed to old ones in general for all concerned after only an hour or so of play, that it could be reasonably assumed that the new violins would also out perform the older ones, but by an even wider margin, after months of familiarization.

That this evaluation is subjective and not measurable is axiomatic.  Music is subjective and there is much that we don't know and can't measure at the current state of the art.  That does not mean that differences in sonics cannot be discerned by music lovers of all ages and abilities. 

Hi Jeff,
Cables and power cords for all my c-j electronics are Audio Sensitivity, Silver Statement on the cables.   Steve at Audio Sensitivity sent me a bunch of different grades of cables and cords to try with return privilege.  The owner is Steve and they are located in Ontario. Tubes for the GAT are critical and I buy them from c-j, they are Philips PCC88, but they are not ordinary PCC88s.  They are screened and matched, hand selected.  The small tubes on my ART150 are also PCC88, but they are marked, separate and cost less than the ones for the GAT.  Even though c-j charges more for tubes, in the end they last longer and are more cost effective.