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On 26 Jan 2004 18:53:04 GMT, (Mkuller) wrote:

Steven Sullivan wrote:
In most hobbies, claims of difference are based on
incontrovertibly visual evidence.

That's simply not true. One close to High End audio is sports cars. Everyone
has their own opinion which they prefer and a lot of it is based on 'the feel
of driving it'. I used to own a '95 Acura NSX T-top. Road and Track compared
it to the '95 Porsche Targa and '95 Ferrari F-355 convertible. 0-60mph and
skid pad specs were almost identical for the three cars. Objectivists might
say the three cars had no significant differences. Any subjectivist that drove
all three would be able to tell you the differences and which they preferred.

Actually, objectivists would point to readily measurable differences
in spring/damper rates, roll centres, steering rack gearing, engine
gearing, and exhaust note tuning, to explain how these cars feel on
public roads as opposed to test tracks. High performance cars don't
just *happen*, y'know, they are very carefully *engineered* to feel
the way they do. How do you think that BMW manage to make both
razor-sharp rorty-sounding Z4s and big wallowy 7-Series barges?

As with SNR and THD, 0-60 and lateral G are pretty useless measures
for high performance products.

snip
Your line of reasoning ends up having to assert that the audiophile hobby
isn't particularly concerned with what's true.

*Truth* has many dimensions. If you chose to look at truth through your own
filter, you may miss what's true to others...

I'm sure you'd like to think that truth is somehow able to mould
itself to your personal prejudices, but that isn't the case, the
non-existence of 'cable sound' being but one example.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering