I've often wondered to what degree our mind influences what we hear from our speakers/system. For example, my 12+ year old NAD C370 integrated amp "seemed" to be humming louder than usual recently (or maybe I haven't been paying close attention). The humming wasn't coming from the speakers and could not be heard from my listening spot about 9 feet away. I touched the amp and it seemed warm, but not overly so. Yet, I was starting to feel a bit concerned that maybe something internal was going afoul. So, today I decided to open it up for the first time. Not knowing what to look for, everything seemed OK, to my naive eyes - no obvious leakage, charred marks, melted components, etc. It was a bit dusty but, surprisingly, not severely after 12 years. I proceeded to give it the best vacuuming I could without taking apart the boards or busting connections, then screwed it back together. Then, I turned it on and played a CD to make sure I didn't f$@#k it up. Now, here's the strange thing. I cued the CD to the last track I listened to the night before and....it seemed to actually sounded more life-like, like there was more presence! What!? Of course, this makes no sense and was likely only the result of feeling relief that the amp was still working plus an overexaggerated sense of accomplishment at opening and vacuuming the amp. I kind of liken this experience to washing and waxing my truck, then driving it around and feeling like it runs smoother, with less drag. Ridiculous, right. But the perception is there.
Another example. On another audio blog site, there was a breif discussion about the value of listening to youtube videos of speakers to help in auditioning, when we can't listen to them directly. My first thought was - "How could this be helpful, if I'm listening through the speakers on my laptop or desktop screen?" But, I was curious, so I viewed the video, which was of the Ascend Towers with Nrt tweets. The speakers are highly acclaimed and out of my price range, but I continued, perhaps out of envy. (BTW, I've owned the CBM 170s for 12 years; good speaker, good company). Well, the speakers were playing Dire Straits "Money for Nothing". The sound was open and spacious and I was actually impressed. Anyhow, here's the funny thing. I started to hear parts of the music that I didn't hear from my system. You often hear audio reviewers say something like "...through Brand X I heard (fill in the blank) that I never heard through Brand Y..." Well, this was actually happening to me, as I was listening through my computer screen, for crying out loud! I was hearing ethereal synthesizer notes in the intro of the song, which sounded completely new to my ears. I was already critising my own speakers for not being up to the task and, in my panicked state, flew downstairs to play my copy of the CD. I was already convinced the tweets on my speakers would fall short. Much to my relief, the synth notes were there perfectly resolved and quite obvious, weaving through the intro. I just hadn't noticed them before but, again, my mind was telling me something that wasn't true and it was shaping how I felt about my speakers.
I think it's facinating how our state of mind plays a role in what we hear, not that there aren't actual differences in audio speakers/equipment. Of course there are. But, as we tweak here and tweak there for that perfect sound, when do the "improvements" become imagined versus actual? Just a thought.
