[jet_dee]

I think I might just be paranoid, but I worry about the perceptibility of my ears when listening to music from different sources/outputs. I own a pair of Grado SR-60's, which do sound beautiful playing nearly all music I own, out of any source (portable cd player, separate cd player, computer sound card). The problem for me is, my Creative Soundworks 5.1 speakers, and my Dad's in-car speaker system, both sound damn good to me as well, which makes me worry whether I can actually hear any real difference in audio quality at all.

I'm building myself a Cmoy in a few days, hopefully as I don't know much electronics, but after realising listening to the 1st audioslave album how clear instruments and vocals sound from my DeskTop Theatre 2200's. Alright, I "think" the bass is lacking a little, and that's with a subwoofer. It also sounds a little tinny maybe... but these are monkey's audio and I usually thought tinnyness was a result of compression, not differences in speakers.

Was anyone else subject to this whole dilemma when first starting out on the path to audiophilia? The Grado's are the first real step I've taken into high-end audio, as I've been making do with Sony MDR-V250's for a while now (I think they were £30 to £40, a big step to the Grado's).

I want to justify my purchases so far, that's all, and if I can't notice the difference very well from basic headphones and speakers up to Grado's, that worries me. Maybe I need to do more blind listening tests, for a long enough period of time, or something.

 

[gpalmer]

Being able to tell the difference between good and bad sound is partly a learned thing. You have to listen to better gear. After you've gotten used to it then you can go back to lower end gear and hear the faults. Of course, you'll save a lot of money if you never learn this art...

 

[geardoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpalmer Being able to tell the difference between good and bad sound is partly a learned thing. You have to listen to better gear. ...

I wish I knew this when I started out. I would have just bought the higher end stuff to start with. But, back then, nobody could have convinced me, I guess. I hope I don't have to spend any more money.

My advice on the Grado SR60's is just to keep listening. After a while it will come. The cheap speaker sound will eventually become apparent. It doesn't happen overnight but takes days, maybe weeks or a few months. But, then one day, after listening to the Grados, you'll try the speakers and they'll sound inferior in some way. Well, thats the beginning of economic collapse...