Quote Originally Posted by E-Stat
Evidently, that is where we differ. The active pursuit of hearing subtle differences (if one is so inclined) requires training, experience, and exercising lots of neurons. When I was much younger, I confess that I did not hear quite a few things that my older and more experienced (in music) reviewer friends were consistently observing.


Right, few corners to set up the weight balance.


In the parlor games sense that David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear.


Bad example. So, how many labels release mono recordings today? The answer is clearly economics - which also accounts for the success with MP3s.

rw
...some parallel lines, but they aren't quite parallel to each other...you can build a vehicle that will be use-specific...as I recall, midget cars and some of their open-wheel, bigger brethren were built with body offsets and canted axles/chassis to take advantage of the oval tracks' banking...Mechanical lockers or the homebrew variant of "Lincoln lockers" can eliminate differential action for those motorsports that require it...long-travel suspensions are part and parcel for vehicles competing in Baja-type events...each option is actively chosen relative to the ends anticipated...different skill sets are required in the choice of parts, the fabrication of the vehicle and ultimately the use of said vehicle...That to me is active participation...you are goverend by the laws of physics and simple, quantifiable mechanical constraints...You can shave off some weight using modern metalurgy and alloys, adjust C of G, do almost anything within the governing body's guidelines, but you don't take a AA fuel dragster to Le Mans...There are objective parameters involved...You wouldn't de-tune an engine to make it "sound cool", which would be are a purely subjective, and most likely foolhardy, thing to do...

Very little, beyond specs, is particularly objective in nature relevant to this hobby...Starting with speakers, personal preference holds sway...At the other end, the software is mostly contrived; there is little or no sonic reality contained in the bits and bites or the groove walls, it's all approximation, close but no cigar...And even if one were to opt for a few least-contaminated examples of the recordists' art, few, if any, have the electronics, transducers or listening environment that existed and aided in the final sessions. We take a best guess approach.

Re: Parlor games...well, I think we all know such buffoonery to be what it is, impossible...Carver's demonstration was based on objective measurements and probably had something to do with subjectve perceptions, however fooling the ear is a distinct possibility...I'd venture a guess that if similar sonic manipulation supported a golden-eared precept, the flags would wave and the crowd (such as it is ) would roar it's approval.

Mono recordings? I'd take a guess nearly every record company sells mono stuff...any one who sells CDs of pre-stereo sessions does so...and there are certainly specialty labels such as Smithsonian Folkways who rely heavily on pre-stereo field recordings...Too small a niche-market you say...Well, that's what I would say about tubed electronics...

jimHJJ(...MP3s?...really bad example...)