Yes. It's an amazing realization, really. And the more I think about it and listen to it the more I realize it's true, and that it's an important truth for us audiophiles. For example: it's amazing at how bad stuff sounds at shows. Everybody blames the rooms, but maybe it's because everyoone is playing their gear too loud in a subconscious effort to force impressions. In the end, you walk away thinking the gear sounds bad.
Bang on with this observation. The last hifi show I visited in the UK was almost too much, especially with the Home Cinema setups competing with the pure hifi listening demonstrations:blink: . It was very telling that the demos I enjoyed most were the Naim ones, located on the 12th (top) floor of the hotel the show was staged in, where the main show was located on floors 1 to 3.
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"There are worlds of experience beyond the world of the aggressive man, beyond history, and beyond science. The moods and qualities of nature and the revelations of great art are equally difficult to define; we can grasp them only in the depths of our perceptive spirit." - Ansel Adams
"Perhaps we cannot raise the winds. But each of us can put up the sail, so that when the wind comes we can catch it." - E. F. Schumacher
I feel the same way about concerts. I just don't go to rock concerts any more because they are too loud and don't sound good. Looking back on it, the sound was never that good in rock concerts that I went to. I find myself going to the symphony, opera, and chamber recitals more and more. Small jazz venues are nice too.
Tyll's article was so helpful and full of sound wisdom (no pun intended). Before, I came across it, it never occurred to me that I invested so much time and money in equipment and yet wasn't protecting the very thing that all of it fed into, namely: ears.
All of this is so true. Lately I've found that my HD650s actually sound... better when I listen at a slightly lower level. I know it goes against conventional Head-fi wisdom, but it's true! Everything is clearer and easier to understand, and not so jumbled.
Linear Mode
