Re: Back to the Basics

On Oct 22, 5:22 pm, Shhhh! I'm Listening to Reason!
<artygu...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Oct 22, 5:05 pm, JimC <avoc...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 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]

Anyone see any correlations between the characterizations of Mr. Holt
and opinions posted on rao by the anti-objectivists in recent years?

Sure. The "anti-objectivists" want to advance sound quality.

Why "advance" sound quality when everything already sounds the same?
We've hit the wall: 16-bit CDs, QSC amps and wire from Home Depot.
Audio nirvana, no sound advancement required.


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


.

Relevant Pages

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