Maybe critical listening skills are bad?


In another thread about how to A/B compare speakers for a home I was thinking to myself, maybe the skills a reviewer may use to convey pros and cons of a speaker to readers is a bad skill to use when we evaluate hardware and gear?

I'm not against science, or nuance at all.  I was just thinking to myself, do I really want to spend hours A/B testing and scoring a speaker system I want to live with?

I do not actually.  I think listening for 2 days to a pair of speakers, and doing the same to another pair I need to focus first on what made me happy.  Could I listen to them for hours?  Was I drawn to spend more time with music or was I drawn to writing  minutiae down?

And how much does precise imaging really do for my enjoyment by the way?  I prefer to have a system that seems endless.  As if I'm focusing my eyes across a valley than to have palpable lung sounds in my living room.

Anyway, just a thought that maybe we as consumers need to use a different skill set when buying than reviewers do when selling.

erik_squires

Showing 2 responses by larryi

A good reviewer has to point out areas of interest/concern so that prospective buyer can have an ear out for such matters.  That means trying to put into words qualities that are not easily described and it might mean exaggerating a bit so that the reader understands what is being described.  This might distort overall perspective.  By hearing a vast array of different speakers under differing conditions, a reviewer does develop skill in identifying a lot more subtle differences and areas of concern, and these should be part of a good review.

If you have the privilege of hearing a speaker in your own home, you can try to listen critically for the same things mentioned by the reviewer or you can just listen and judge for yourself.  The best judgment, to me, is how much enjoyment you get from the listening session and whether the speaker plays well with all sorts of music.  Listening for particular weaknesses and the minutia might help you determine what could be a source of future irritation once you own the speaker, so it doesn't hurt to do some critical listening.  But, it is the overall simple enjoyment and ability of the music to hold your attention that matters most.  For me, the biggest difference between different sets of otherwise decent sounding speakers is that ability to keep my attention and involvement in the music; too many speakers sound boring after a short time.

It is easy to get caught up in something that a speaker does that is not commonly found in such abundance and the thrill of that experience can cloud judgment; after some time, that very quality that attracted you to that speaker becomes its bane.  

There is a brand of speakers, I will not say which, that is extremely dynamic and exciting sounding, and most speakers sound comparatively lifeless, yet after a time, many listeners grow tired of its bright, etched, hyper-detailed sound.  It helps to have some experience and critical abilities to identify what may become an annoyance in the future.