Opinion and Science
John Atkinson makes the same mistake Art Dudley does, he thinks we should dismiss science for his opinions. Being a writer, critic or even an audio engineer for 45, or 145 years for that matter, has no bearing on the truth, it is not a product of time, background or popularity. The closest we can get to the truth is through the observation and measurement of data. An apple falls from a tree and we make an observation. As more data is observed we refine our hypothesis, or guess, and when we have a hypothesis that holds up to significant data we call it a theory, The Quantum Theory for example. That's the best we can do.
Audio magazine 'experts' are no better than audio 'experts' anywhere else that don't use science to evaluate products. I understand this is dangerous territory for magazines that rate products in neatly recommended categories filled with opinions and statements such as "these are John's favorite….". Audio is big business and advertisers pay handsomely for space but as I've said before many reviews are just another variation of the Kings New Clothes and I've read some statements by audio journalists that simply defy science.
So what is scientific? Human hearing diminishes with age, so the worst thing an audio 'expert' should proclaim is how long he or she has been evaluating equipment! When I was in my twenties my hearing was tested to almost 19Khz, many of my friends back then peaked at 16 and 17Khz. I could go into busy stores and astonish owners by telling them that they forgot to shut off their alarm system. I have some pretty sophisticated equipment and testing my hearing today I found that it peaks at around 13 to 14Khz and I didn't spend my life in rock concerts. Audiophiles should test their own hearing to verify this for themselves, that's science and it's the result of collected data.
Audio critics should publish a graph of their hearing spectrum. It's just common sense that someone expounding the minute nuances of highs between two pieces of equipment should actually be able to hear them!
Double blind tests are science, proclaiming expertise is not. Linus Pauling received a Nobel Prize for his work in genetics. When he ventured away from science proclaiming the extraordinary benefits of vitamin 'C' people started ingesting it in massive amounts. We found out years later that it caused more problems than it cured. If you feel double blind tests are less than perfect don't dismiss them completely improve them scientifically, that's how science works!
There is another sound scientific tool for evaluating two pieces of equipment, it is called the AB subtractive test. The two outputs are subtractively compared and a null indicates that, regardless of human opinion, two capacitors, resistors or pieces of equipment sound exactly the same.
To recap the three things now missing from the audio 'expert':
1. The hearing spectrum.
2. The double blind test.
3. The AB subtractive test.
John Atkinson listened to two pieces of equipment in a blind test and, finding no difference, bought the cheaper one only to pine for the one he didn't buy so he exchanged the two .... then he was happy. What? That's not proof that he's hearing subtle differences, it's proof that his subjectivity is psychologically biasing his hearing! You can't simply dismiss science for your subjective opinion and then reverse build a fragile foundation around it. We listen to a piece of music and love it one day but hate it the next. The recording didn't change, something within us changed. What we have to stop doing is transferring the subjective joy of listening to the science of evaluating. Sure, buy equipment because it looks great or your Aunt Tilly loves it but accept that subjectivity for what it is.
Audio is out of control today. I asked a company that sells stands to keep wires off the floor for the scientific proof for the stands. I got a list of credentials and what the 'expert' could hear. If we want audio to have any credence than it's time to tell these 'experts' to clean up their act or go back to selling snake oil out of horse drawn carts. Listeners owe it to themselves to use science as an evaluating tool, not only will they find products that better fit their listening preferences but they'll probably do it much more economically.
Robert Dee
Delhi, NY
April 2015