what percentage of us really knows sound


Hi,been in audio preatty much all my live,play a few instruments myself, and it is chocking to me how many people in this hobbie, because they have a few Hi end gear
think that they can discern sonic diferences,or that their system sounds amazing, when 80% of time when I' listen to those fellows system, the sound is horrible, I'm talking about systems in the upper $50000, and this people come out, talking about soundstage, inner detail, and layers of sound cascading thru a huge soundscape, another thing is that, I'thought all this audiophile people where a group of well to do business people, that had money to speare,
when the truth is that most of audiophile people are broked
and dont' have their priorities toghether, been at many many, audiophile people's house, and it is sad, people with, high end systems, and no furniture,just bought a pair of speakers, $11000 retail and an Aiwa,component has more BASS THAN this speakers, affter spending more than $2500, on cables,think someone is taking advantage of the audiophile community
juancgenao

Showing 1 response by edgejazz


Juan, to answer your topic question (What percentage...?), I believe there's a large percentage of people that really know about sound, i.e. what sounds good and what doesn't. Most people can tell the difference between excellent and poor sound. For example, a first-time listener to a high-end system usually reacts with delight, pleasure, surprise, and appreciation.

However, because this hobby (like most hobbies) is driven by perception and experience - including the economics side of the hobby - you can conclude there's going to be a wide range of perception and experience as to what aspects of the sound are more important, especially for people like musicians. Perception and experience are as varied and unique as our fingerprints.

Nevertheless, while it may be almost impossible to create a definite standard acceptable to everyone, we can still agree on many commonalities in determining what generally sounds good as well as differences in sound quality.

With regards to the other issue you raised about personal financial capacity, all I can say is it's just a matter of choice - once again, based on perception and experience.