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Is positive reinforcement why things are sounding better?

So I buy a nice amplifier and later I buy a nice preamplifier and then later I buy Nice speaker cables and each time things seem to improve nicely.

And then I buy telefunken 12ax7 nos tubes for a tube amplifier, and improved tonality, clarity and  a tighter sound is what I get and it's very engaging (tubes are only a few days old). The cymbals seem to come through with more openness.

Things seem to be sounding pretty good and I'm saying to myself is it real or is it just positive reinforcement playing with my head? And the devil is telling me oh let's buy more NOS tubes for the rest of the amplifier. The effects of positive reinforcement can be very expensive. 

Just curious if positive reinforcement experiences have occurred for others, and how can you really tell?

 

emergingsoul
mashif
108 posts
 

+1 @baylinor 

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
12,749 posts
 

thanks! your testimony is very clear!

You said it better than me and with few words...😊

 

This will help those who think that "tasting " the gear is the key...

Or those who think that measuring the gear specs anew is the key ...

We dont lack deluded people thinking acoustics concepts and parameters are secondary to gear price tags ...

 

+1 @mahgister

Before I built a properly soundproof listening room and then spending a couple years finding the proper acoustic treatments for it to sound good to my ears, no way was I able to accurately assess the values, positive or negative, of any piece of equipment.

jl35
3,936 posts
 

if done right,  better equipment will sound better..and certainly changing tubes can make a significant difference...

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,819 posts
 

confirmation bias does not last very long.  over the longer run is where you tell if an upgrade really is an upgrade.

Well said. I tried to lie to myself about Be tweeters until I just...couldn't...take it.

Those of us who practice this hobby have a pre determined idea of how we want our system to sound

That's not true for me. I don't actually know. I have a hold of a few preferences, but one of my experiences with hearing new systems is getting a new idea of how something can hang together beautifully.

In this sense, hearing new audio systems is like traveling to new places -- you just can't conceive it until you go there.

immatthewj
1,266 posts
 

I have a hold of a few preferences, but one of my experiences with hearing new systems is getting a new idea of how something can hang together beautifully

+1.

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