Jenn wrote:
Due to the several people displaying questionable reading ability
and/or simply lying about my statements (thereby showing that they have
a weak argument), I'll clairfy my position on the issue of "hearing".

I don't claim, nor have I ever claimed (as Chung noticed - I wonder
when Vlad will show up with his supposed evidence about this LOL) that
I have better hearing than anyone else. I don't. My hearing is just
above average for a person of my age, as shown by an audiometer test
from two years ago.

I claim that a person trained as I've been trained and who has the live
music experience that I have, will be a better judge of the sound of an
audio system AS IT COMPARES TO LIVE MUSIC than does the average person.
To deny that quanity matters in the judgement of how closely a system
matches the sound of acoustic is, it seems to me, silly. I hear this
music virtually every day, both from an up close perspective, and from
an audience seat. OF COURSE the amount of exposure matters. Who is
more qualified to judge the sound of a system vs. the sound of live
acoustic music: the person who has heard the live music twice, or the
person who has heard it 100 times?

In addition, my formal training and my daily expereince is, in part,
about listening to very small differences in frequency, articulation,
balance, and so forth. Are these matters not part of the audio world?

NONE of this comes as bragging, as some try, lamely, to claim. I don't
consider it to be bragging when a plumber knows how to fix my sink.
He/she is trained and more experienced in that area. I don't consider
it to be bragging when one can measure THD better than I can. Other
people are trained and experienced in that area, where I am not. And
yet, some try to claim that I'm "bragging" or "talking down to mere
mortals" when I mention my experience. Curious.

I only bring my experience and training up when someone tries to claim
that I don't know, for example, what a violin sounds like.

Thanks for allowing me to clarify.

I consider myself fortunate to have a real--life professional
musician grace these too often moronic pages. As far as I know
you're one of the very few to take interest.
I think Von Karajan took some interest But obviously not enough- look
what a mess DG made of the best of his music...
On the other hand... (Can't help being argumentative) most
musicians I met couldn't care less about hifi. The symphony violinists
I met always wanted it louder "bacause I can't hear my violin"..
And can I indulge in the "debating trade" and say that I'd rather
listen
to Klemperer conducting stone- deaf than to the thinkers
like Sullivan, Chung, NYOB et al, perfect hearing and all,
all together or separately.
Not to bring Beethoven down
from the Olympus as a material witness that "good hearing" is not
all that this is about. Nor is money.Nor is pop acceptance,
How about something elusive,
not in audio textbooks, not quantifiable by "testing, not bought
with $$$. Can't think of any better name for it than-- good taste.
I suppose that musicians feel (with reason) that the best hi fi is
still
so far from live that one may just as well listen to the mantel radio
for
the leitmotif and have done.
Anyway non illegitimi carborundum.and fight the good
battle..
Ludovic Mirabel