Do you really think they sound the same?
(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)Sophisticated baby boomers and Gen Xers pride themselves on their ability to appreciate the finer things in life. They're wine snobs, crave gourmet food, drive exotic cars, buy 1080p high definition TVs, but for some bizarre reason think low-end speakers are just dandy. At a New Year's Eve party I polled perfect strangers about their hi-fi systems, and the three men and one woman all said that, sure, music was once really important, but now it's mere background. And they now owned very small systems, because "I can't hear the difference anymore."
Hmmm, I sold audio from the early 1980s to the late 1990s and personally demonstrated hi-fi to thousands of people over the years. Folks in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and more than a few seniors, and I was able to demonstrate a "difference" to well over 80% of them. Many walked in doubting their ears, convinced that "they all sound the same," but once I asked them to focus on the sound they easily discerned even fine subtleties. It's not so different than learning about wines or food. The details become more significant as you become engaged in the subject at hand.
Once I asked my customers, for example, to listen closely to the believability of Eric Clapton vocal, they started to notice differences. Over one speaker Eric seemed to emerge from a box, and over another speaker he all but materialized between the stereo speakers. There was a three dimensional quality to the voice, he was more human. You could hear the body attached to the voice. Once you know what to listen for, the differences aren't at all subtle.
The same listening awareness can be applied to the sound of instruments, do the drums sound like bees buzzing inside a small table radio or can you feel the sticks beating skins, do you catch the bass drum's thump in your chest? Does the rhythm make you want to get up and dance? These aren't small things, and can make a gigantic difference in the way you emotionally connect with the music. Like I said, most people, when presented with bona-fide, better sounding speakers definitely can hear the difference. Sure, whether they want to spend the extra cash, or live with larger speakers is something else. But if you really love music, try to search out a high-end audio store and listen to some of your favorite tunes.
But once you've settled for "good enough" sound, well, who's foolin' who. You're missing out on something good.
A reader wrote asking the age old question--Do all amplifiers sound alike? "Mr. Guttenberg, I've been enjoying what you write about since I am a budding audiophile. A guy I know claims that amplifiers do not alter the quality of the sound and pointed me to a web site with a $10,000 challenge by Richard Clark that states that the human ear cannot discern the differences between amplifiers. What are your feelings on the subject and do you think there is any merit to this man's challenge?"
Well, I do believe that there are important differences between the sound of amplifiers. To my ears the better tube amps sound warmer and more like the sound of live music than solid state amps, but really good solid-state amps sound more detailed and have better defined bass than tube designs. Cheap amps can sound hard and crude--they tend to add an aggressive edge to the sound of music that high-end designs do not. More objectively, better designs are more powerful and have an easier time driving "difficult' speakers or "low" impedance speakers.
I definitely hear differences, but I'm not all that interested in proving that to non-believers--hell, some people argue about whether they can taste the difference between Coke and Pepsi. I've heard some folks can't taste the difference between chocolate and vanilla in blind tests. Some have a hard time differentiating between Bud and Miller and Coors and Michelob and Pabst beers. Talk about people who have too much time on their hands.
Back to audio and blind testing, I find the stress of being put on the spot to prove my ears skews the results. Please understand, I've heard countless "sighted" comparisons and sure, many amps really do sound similar. Actually, the least effective way to evaluate electronics is to switch back and forth between two designs; I much prefer to just live with the unknown amp for a while, say a week, get used to it, and then return to the original familiar amp. That approach can really highlight the sonic differences between amps.
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