Why are people always getting into pissing matches because they think what they have is better
I think there are as many different audio systems out there as there are different sets of ears. It amazes me at how many companies are in the high end audio biz. So this argument between people is natural and is a GOOD thing. How boring would it be if there were only three choices for everyone when it came to speakers!! Matt M |
Had to look up the Dunning-Kruger Effect and glad I did. Great stuff there. Sweet quote: The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled people make poor decisions and reach erroneous conclusions, but their incompetence denies them the metacognitive ability to recognize their mistakes. The unskilled therefore suffer from illusory superiority, rating their ability as above average, much higher than it actually is, while the highly skilled underrate their own abilities, suffering from illusory inferiority. |
And in the mine is better/bigger than yours, we now have this entry: https://d1c51ih66j7l74.cloudfront.net/api/file/shoCFWV0TKSeNrejd8oe/convert?cache=true&fit=max&a... Maybe when i retire I can have a second career as a cable wrangler? |
Great post! I think it's mostly ego. And then, our relentless pursuit for a perfect system (if there is such a thing out there). I have been in this hobby for 15+ years. As part of audiophile community, all of us deserve bit of recognition for the time and effort we have vested in putting together our 'dream' system. Happy listening!!! |
Can it be that our attempts at improving our systems are the same as "repeating the same thing over and over and expecting a different result"? [url=Its a MADHOUSE! (Planet of the Apes, 1968) - Edited - YouTube] |
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Funny that I had an industry professional share this analogy with me recently . . . I don't think he'd mind me posting it: "HiEnd HiFi is mostly a male hobby and then the whole theme goes back to the cavemen, where the strongest and fittest would get the most respect and all the girls. Same with cars, watches also. One always wants the best, the most exclusive and as HiFi seldom drives on Friday nights around the block to show to everyone, one now has the internet to show how cool and ingenious one is. There isn't a problem with that if one really is, but then the logic is mostly left behind, but as most do the same stupid show, they all seem to understand each other very well and logic is left away." |
Do a little research, regarding the Dunning-Kruger Effect, for a bit of insight. Then, factor in the fact that aural acuity often varies greatly, between individuals(ie: when the argument swirls around whether things like burn-in, cable direction, fuses, etc make an audible difference). To save some time: (http://code.tutsplus.com/articles/do-you-suffer-from-the-dunning-kruger-effect--net-22227) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect) |
it depresses me when a thread devolves into argument. Seems to happen on Audio Asylum a lot. Its usually the same few guys who know it all and say there is only one way. I am relatively new to high end audio and learn plenty from these threads and truly don't understand how people can take themselves so seriously and talk so loudly and definitively about something like audio that is so subjective. I simply stay away and don't respond to those folks. jet |
This hobby has a three-tier hierarchy of audio gear that can be generalized for performance-wise as: low-fi, mid-fi, and hi-fi. Price-wise, it generally follows in lockstep. Okay ..... So what? At one time or another, most of us started in one or both of the low and mid arenas. Its all about the love of music AND the ethereal journey to OZ in this hobby.... It's enjoyment spans all three tiers equally - full stop - without any value judgements or any suggested "snobbery" by the majority of the hobbyists. The irritant IMO is that most if not all, of these "pissing matches" are actually completely avoidable. Invariably they start as just a dumb provocation by a small outrider fringe group, who somehow seem aggressively compelled (emphasis added) to assert their own personal anecdotal bias and value judgement as fact. Then comes the invariable predictable defence response to that proverbial "tossing of the gauntlet". Recent rehashed thread examples include inter alia: - cheap kit can actually match or even trump quality-build kit; and - the hobbyists who choose to quietly reside in the upper-$$ tier are somehow the misguided and arrogant to boot. Most of us old-timers disdain the very existence and f the resulting "pissing matches" [e.g another example -- the tiresome, irritating, repeated, and endless cable war threads]. This forum used to have a gentleman's honor code of conduct and posting subject matter --- it's high-time for a re-Genesis of the same . |
Probably because they are grouchy, crabby, and they don't really like to be in this hobby. They want to have the final word. They want homage given to them(I don't even know what homage means but it sounds kinda neat). It irritates them to hear that their fuses are homely and need to be replaced. Manufacturers are coming out with a new model and calling the last model incompetent or 'what was I thinking when I designed that piece of garbage'. The endless debate about the best scotch to drink when looking up Barry Manilow cd's. Some don't have warm glowing tubes to look at. Having really bad tower power maybe for some. Stressing about putting an ugly bowl in between your speakers. Opening up and looking inside a $25,000 pair of speaker cables and finding there is no special cracker jack gift there. Realizing that the Roberta Flack cd's will last forever. Losing ones memory about what comes before an amp. Do I need a pa or not? 'These are just of few of my favorite things'. |
“Pissing matches” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEsQCm9Q3pk See you at high noon, or maybe before breakfast.... |
I think the new format is going to compound that problem.No longer will comments be moderator approved before posting which means if tempers flare it will spill over into the forums.As a retiree I'm on a strict budget which means my gear is all high value low cost(re:chinese made) .I've heard the big name big $ gear & in no way can I justify spending that kind of $ when the low cost stuff sounds as good as it does. |
They think they are smarter or have more insight than others, some sort of audio satori if you will. And if this is true, then what they own is obviously better because they have selected it with the enlightenment they have achieved. Leaving the rest of us as audio fools on a lower plain of existence. I don't think it has as much to do with money as most of us want to think. Maybe Audiogon should have two "levels", one for "the enlightened" or "audio arhat" and one for the rest of us. |