How do you 'calibrate' your hearing when you listen to hifi?
After the recent thread where some members took exception to the popularity of a certain brand of speaker, I started thinking why one would prefer the sound of a specific speaker above another?
Back in the mid 90's as I started assembling my first system I 'benchmarked' my listening tests to the best quality I had reasonable access to - a pair of Sennheiser headphones (HD535). This represented the 'ideal' in my mind what 'hifi' should sound like... Rightly or wrongly. From that point I chose amplifier and speaker combos that brought me closest to my 'ideal' as possible... This lead me to buy a specific speaker (in days before they were 'popular') - it was this particular speaker that sounded most 'alike' to my chosen headphones in terms of warmth, tonal character (less bright) and 'dryness' of bass extension... After spending hundreds of hours listening to my original system over decades now, I guess this 'recalibrated' my listening to represent what I find pleasing, and today I instantly pick up a system that deviates markedly from my mental 'ideal', and makes me gravitate to certain equipment still today.
Same with amps, although debatable how much they influence the 'sound' (they should amplify not modify the signal), but somehow I always gravitate to amps with a warmer, smoother presentation (dare I say 'NAD-like' sound quality) - I grew up with my dad's 3020B and once again I think these early experiences shaped how I perceive what 'hifi' should sound like...
Anyway, what do forum members use as reference to calibrate the way they judge a system's potential and 'likability'? (I guess ultimately live music is the best reference, but the abstraction we call 'recorded music' is often so heavily 'processed' that perhaps the comparison to 'live' music is meaningless?)
After the recent thread where some members took exception to the popularity of a certain brand of speaker, I started thinking why one would prefer the sound of a specific speaker above another?
Back in the mid 90's as I started assembling my first system I 'benchmarked' my listening tests to the best quality I had reasonable access to - a pair of Sennheiser headphones (HD535). This represented the 'ideal' in my mind what 'hifi' should sound like... Rightly or wrongly. From that point I chose amplifier and speaker combos that brought me closest to my 'ideal' as possible... This lead me to buy a specific speaker (in days before they were 'popular') - it was this particular speaker that sounded most 'alike' to my chosen headphones in terms of warmth, tonal character (less bright) and 'dryness' of bass extension... After spending hundreds of hours listening to my original system over decades now, I guess this 'recalibrated' my listening to represent what I find pleasing, and today I instantly pick up a system that deviates markedly from my mental 'ideal', and makes me gravitate to certain equipment still today.
Same with amps, although debatable how much they influence the 'sound' (they should amplify not modify the signal), but somehow I always gravitate to amps with a warmer, smoother presentation (dare I say 'NAD-like' sound quality) - I grew up with my dad's 3020B and once again I think these early experiences shaped how I perceive what 'hifi' should sound like...
Anyway, what do forum members use as reference to calibrate the way they judge a system's potential and 'likability'? (I guess ultimately live music is the best reference, but the abstraction we call 'recorded music' is often so heavily 'processed' that perhaps the comparison to 'live' music is meaningless?)
