Better Sounding Systems, Objectivists or Subjectivists?


When these two camps retire to their listening rooms, which school of thought tends to get better sound? Those who ultimately place their faith in measurements above actually listening to their systems? Or those of us who look at measurements, but ultimately make our decisions based on what subjectively sounds best to us?

ted_denney

Showing 1 response by rudyb

Who says ’objectivists’ don’t listen? As an electronics scientist I consider myself an ’objectivist’ in the sense that I’m not a ’believer’ in cryogenic treated fuses and super expensive cables that after a 100 hour run in time magically improve the sound. Passive components can only act as a filter. (Before someone says ’have you ever listened to them’ ... yes I have, and I did’t hear a difference. Which doesn’t mean to say no one can hear a difference, if you do and if it’s worth the money to you, that’s great.)

But that doesn’t mean I don’t listen to speakers, amplifier, source and room acoustics to decide which sound ’better’ ... with that I don’t rely on any measurements at all besides my own ears and my dB meter.