"Just trust your ears." It's one of the most overused phrases in our hobby. Personally, I trust my ears and the know the sound that I like, but like to verify with the audio reviewers. I like my wines also, and have an idea which ones to order. Sure I know my regions, and sure, there are measurements (acidity, residual sugars, tannin, etc.), but then I always check with the sommelier when I am ordering at an expensive restaurant.
But for me as a audio consumer, I need at least 2 or 3 major publications to confirm what I am hearing, as I think it's important to get several perspectives on a piece of gear. These guys may try different amps with a speaker than I would (although they are usually LAZY and don't try enough different ones!) or listen to it with a greater variety of recordings than I would. Of course, opinions from many blowhards on the internet are sometimes really interesting, as they can be more honest than the experts.
For an example, take the Magico Q speaker. Jonathan Valin thinks it's the best in the history of audio. But then comes along Michael Fremer, and says it's a great speaker - as long as you don't listen to music with big bass impact. If you trusted Valin and you like death metal, your speaker would find its way to Audiogon soon! (With the egos that these guys have, Valin probably thinks that Fremmer is deaf, while Fremmer probably thinks that Valin will call anything "best" just to have the speaker for free in his home for the next 2 or 3 years so he can use it bludgeon any competing speaker.)
But ultimately it's all about opinions. How confident are you in your ability to listen to a pair of speakers or amps several times, and just write the big check (the size of luxury German sedan)? What reassurance do you need in addition to trusting your opinion of the sonic signature? Is it your friends? respectable dealers carrying it? Anything else?
But for me as a audio consumer, I need at least 2 or 3 major publications to confirm what I am hearing, as I think it's important to get several perspectives on a piece of gear. These guys may try different amps with a speaker than I would (although they are usually LAZY and don't try enough different ones!) or listen to it with a greater variety of recordings than I would. Of course, opinions from many blowhards on the internet are sometimes really interesting, as they can be more honest than the experts.
For an example, take the Magico Q speaker. Jonathan Valin thinks it's the best in the history of audio. But then comes along Michael Fremer, and says it's a great speaker - as long as you don't listen to music with big bass impact. If you trusted Valin and you like death metal, your speaker would find its way to Audiogon soon! (With the egos that these guys have, Valin probably thinks that Fremmer is deaf, while Fremmer probably thinks that Valin will call anything "best" just to have the speaker for free in his home for the next 2 or 3 years so he can use it bludgeon any competing speaker.)
But ultimately it's all about opinions. How confident are you in your ability to listen to a pair of speakers or amps several times, and just write the big check (the size of luxury German sedan)? What reassurance do you need in addition to trusting your opinion of the sonic signature? Is it your friends? respectable dealers carrying it? Anything else?
. Which is why I will not buy any piece of gear unless I have heard what it can do for myself. On a A'gon thread a while back, I was taken to task for liking my SF GH's far better than the newer GM's. Many of the flamers were GM owners who never heard the GH's. As time has gone by, the a'phile community has began to accept the fact that the GH's are superior to the GM's. I knew this from the start by listening to both speakers and hearing for myself the differences. The problem that I think is interesting is that people many times do not trust their ears and are sold on something based on price and age/status. The prevailing thinking being the higher the price and the more recent the piece the better
