Many times I have seen people get a little freaked out with my pursuit of perfection. Sometimes when writing or speaking about how to measure, setup, tune, and tweak an audio system they get crazy and start acting like I never actually sit down and enjoy the music. Why can't you do both?
Sure! Some people get all caught up in the gear, collecting, buying, upgrading, and so on. Others get carried away with the tweaking. Sometimes they get so carried away they never settle down to simply enjoy the music, but I don't think that is the norm. I believe one can pursue perfection while also fully enjoying the music - it isn't one of those either/or propositions many think it is.
I love music, it is the only reason I am into this hobby. I enjoy my favorite music on the crappiest gear out there, like the POS factory stereo in my 1998 F150 where I use a cassette adapter to plug in my mobile player and the speakers are disintegrated. But, I also want to be able to hear exactly what is on the source recordings if at all possible, because that is the pinnacle of the listening experience for me. Can't we do both?
The discussion of how to get the best possible sound is not an indication that simply listening and enjoyinh cannot be done as well. On a forum, we can discuss many things, but it is hard to discuss the spiritual high one gets from an incredible listening session. However, one can go on for a long time about how they modified their room to get considerably better sound while sharing measurements taken to show the results of the changes they made. The can discussion scientific facts and theories on getting better sound. They can get into the minutea of the physics, mechanics, electronical principles and psychology of the experience and grow and learn from one another in order to get closer to the aural bliss they desire.
Using science and facts to help guide you through the journey of this hobby is not evidence of lack of pleasure in music. It is a sign of intelligence. Why do anything to your system if you don't have some solid proof, or at least logical evidence, that it will be worth the time, effort, and/or money? Nearly all of my self-ascribed "audiophile" friends and acquaintances toss good money after foolish concepts, like upgrading their $5000 amp to a $6000 amp when their speakers and room acoustics are by far the weakest links in their systems. Look at the myriad of foolish ideas and people we mock and ridicule on this forum all the time! People who pay big dollars for speaker cables, magic blocks of inert wood, tiny little bowls made from blessed crystaline materials which they claim make a night and day difference in the acoustics of their room, people who think the orientation of their wires in relation to the magnetic poles of the Earth, those who will freeze their source components, buy upgraded gear with clock crystals bless by the Dali Lama, and so on... why waste your money like them? People mock Christians for believing in Jesus, but the blond faith in Audiophool nonsense is even more foolish to me... they might as well find a shaman to move in with them and pray over the latent energy of their stereo gear for days prior to each listening session to get better sound.
Measurements are one of the many tools we have at our disposal to get closer to the joy of our musical Shangri La. By mastering the knowledge and use of measurements, by studying what is real and what isn't, by listening with our ears to what our test gear tells us, by repeated experimentation, and by sharing and learning from others what works for them and why, we can get closer to the moment where we put on one of our favorite recordings and our spirits can float away in an out of body experience where the sound is our guide.
What's wrong with that?
