HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

We use technical measurements when designing and building our products, mostly to check electrical compatibility and safety, but we do not publish a long list of technical specifications. Most specifications are meaningless when it comes to giving you anything like a true understanding of how a component will perform in your system. Unfortunately, extensive specification lists have become 'the be-all and end-all' to some customers. This is usually because they have been spoon fed 'BS' by the manufacturer marketing departments, who are always looking for the next 'angle'.

To illustrate the above...we were recently contacted by an enthusiast who used one of our interconnect cables. They told us that they thought it was the best cable they had owned, even though it was cheaper than the ones they owned before. They were poised to buy another of the same cable but wanted us to tell them the capacitance measurement. We told them that we do not publish technical specifications and they do not need to know them; the cable is suitable for the intended purpose. Despite our explanations...not only did they not buy a second cable but they also told us that they would sell the first cable. So, the cable that was 'the best they heard' had to be removed from their system because it did not come supplied with technical data. You couldn't make it up...could you?

We must all remember that the reproduction of music is a SUBJECTIVE experience. All you need are your ears and your 'pleasure nerves'.

If your mouth drops open, your eyebrows raise involuntarily, and you can no longer have a conversation while the music is playing...it measures good.

If you feel a frisson, if you want to 'get your freak-on'...it measures good.

If it sounds like the lead guitarist just took a line of coke and jumped on top of the PA stack...it measures good.

If you pick up your air guitar and jump off the sofa...it measures good.

If the rhythm section are now playing 'together'...it measures good.

If it sounds like the orchestra is now playing for a better conductor...it measures good.

If it's one 'o' clock in the morning and you're surrounded by a pile of LPs / Cds...it measures good.

Add your own...whatever works for you.

When you know this, you can stop chasing your tail. When your hi-fi equipment gets out of the way of your music, then you will be able to get out of your own way.

BUT...

...there is a caveat. It is easy to be 'impressed' in the short term by many systems. How many of us, in the past, have heard a system at a dealer's showroom (or hi-fi show) sound 'amazing' and then been disappointed at home after a week or so? You need to live with a new system / component for at least a couple of weeks. What initially sounded impressive may soon become an irritation. It is no accident that as we become more experienced we become better listeners (Richard had 'golden ears', without a doubt). We learn to know when the hi-fi system is getting in the the way of our music and we learn to appreciate when the system is simply letting the music flow. When it is the latter, we stop talking about the technicalities of 'the sound' and start to enthuse about the music itself. Most importantly, we relax and we enjoy our music more, and more often.

Discuss...

Never been bothered by specs- rarely bought hifi based on them- reviews and experience are the best specs

Well said SP, never bothered with "specs" wouldn't understand them even if I saw them! Only ever purchased things I liked that played music, even at the cost of "hifi" would rather listen just to the music and if that didn't work then it wasn't for me. So keep doing what ur doing and hopefully one day I'll be able to hear more music

Nice post Savvy. I don't understand measurements so I'm sure I've never purchased hifi on that basis. I'm sure ones ears are far better to judge sq and that's what I've always used.

Although measurements do make sense to me i dont usually take any notice because they are too vague and meaningless. In an amplifier i want to know how big the transformer is, what value the voltage rails run at, how many independent psu's there are, what transistors and caps it uses, is it filtered. Speakers - i want to know the size of the drivers, how many of them there are, what the f3 frequency is, what the xover consists of, how the bass is loaded, what direction the drivers fire in.

Listening is all that counts for me. Low distortion is good, dynamics, detail, tone, how it compares to the last band rehearsal i had.

The scenerio described in the OP does not surprise me. There are so many self appointed experts on forums, providing links to charts and graphs, convinced that specs are the be all and end all, some are bound to be taken in by the they spout, believing that their ears are deceiving them.

I am of the opinion that our ears, and how the brain precieves music, takes into account far more than can be measured. I have also come round to believing that this varies from individual to individual. Hence the divergence of opinions about hifi, and what sounds good, and vinyl still going strong inspite of its poor measurements. Coupled with this is the interaction between components in a system, the effect of the room and the type of music listened to.

When you put a new component in your system and it sounds better and 2 weeks later when you put the old one back in and it sounds worse then the new one is better not just different.

It's a subjective forum and the brand take the same viewpoint. That's fine, but theres a whole chunk of the market who want measurable fidelity, if you're happy to accept that a marketing stance is sufficient reason not to provide what they require as part of their purchasing decision, then so be it.

If you had the good numbers to show, youd show them, because it doesnt detract from the sound quality or value on offer. If you haven't, then you have to take the ' they're not important stance'.

Any business wants the largest possible customer pool to sell into, unless they're stupid.

keepitsimplestupid wrote: ↑Sun Dec 29, 2019 12:19 am Any business wants the largest possible customer pool to sell into, unless they're stupid.

You are, of course, referring to the 'quantity over quality' box-stuffers.

A small company in a niche market like Audiophile Hifi will be looking at selling to those who already know what they want and appreciate the product for what it is - and not what it claims to be.

Any business wants the largest possible customer pool to sell into, unless they're stupid.

That assumes fully informed and rational behaviour on the part of all parties. I don't publish numbers for the power supplies I make for the same reason as NVA, In reality the numbers are good enough, but whatever number I publish there will always be a smaller or larger one that can be produced (even if its not measured in the same condition, or just made up). People buy them because they get good reviews if they agree they keep them, if not they send them back. We don't get many back. The reality is the ones that ask for numbers are not going to buy anyway, they just want something to argue about on forums.