[Shhhh! I'm Listening to Reason!]

On Oct 23, 5:27 pm, Bret Ludwig wrote:
On Oct 23, 4:23 pm, Shhhh! I'm Listening to Reason!

wrote:
On Oct 23, 7:17 am, "Arny Krueger" wrote:

"Bret Ludwig" wrote in message
On Oct 22, 5:22 pm, Shhhh! I'm Listening to Reason!
wrote:
On Oct 22, 5:05 pm, JimC wrote:
As discussed by Gordon Holt in some interesting quotes published in the
December Stereophile, audio developments in recent years, which have
entailed the discarding of objective standards such as blind listening
comparisons, have in some respects reduced what used to be "high
fidelity" to voodoo science. As stated by Mr.Holt:

"... "good" audio is now often defined as "whatever one likes."
And
since the only measure of sound quality is that the listener likes it,
that has pretty well put an end to audio advancement, because different
people rarely agree about sound quality. - Abandoning the acoustical
instrument standard, and the mindless acceptance of voodoo science,
were
not a parts of my [Holt's] original vision."

Further:
"As far as the real world is concerned, high-end audio lost its
credibility during the 1980's when it flatly refused to submit to the
kind of BASIC HONESTY CONTROLS (double blind blind testing, for
example)
that had legitimized every other serious scientific endeavor since
Pascal. .." [emphasis added]

Outside of the ego-centric world of high end audio, the key to progress is
comparison of relevant performance measures to objective standards.

In any endeavor, especially one beyond the basic survival needs, ego
is involved. I have a friend who at one point owned both a Lamborghini
and a Ferrari. I asked which one he liked better. His wife jumped in.
"Lamborghini thinks everybody's ass is twelve inches wide!" Her
husband preferred the Ferrari as well. They both *perform* well. Their
decision was not based on MPG, 0-60 times, skid pad tests, or any
other *objective* measurement.

Aren't they stupid?

Not necessarily. But they have a lot of specific excess wealth. And
it is a fact the Ferrari and Lamborghini are not very good cars in
some ways. Traditionally reliability of both was poor.

I think that was more back in the days when a Ferrari had twelve
single-throated carburetors. Fuel injection and other advances have
made even exotic cars reliable. Not that maintaining a car like that
is cheap, but you know that going in.

But the point is, they should have bought a 1984 Ford Escort. Better
fuel efficiency, and as much performance as they really needed. They
chose their cars for different reasons, and they could afford that
choice, so what business of it is mine? He had a Gulfstream, too, the
idiot.

Maybe you could come up with a FAQ: Here is what is OK, here is what
makes you an idiot.

Everyone knows the best speaker cable is bought at vacuum cleaner
stores, not Home Depot. You silly goose.

Actually the best speaker cable REALLY IS found at vac places
ofttimes.

I don't doubt that at all.