For me yes, definitely. I’m not talking short-term micro-differences like the difference between two similarly measuring cables or whatever, more accurately recalling the things that you liked about a component many years ago. It has happened to me several times over the past decade, e.g. revisiting JR149s after a gap of well over 35 years, returning to idler drive turntables after a similar gap, living with a Quad 303 again etc. All were just how I remembered, but brought into better focus as I have learned so much more about system setup over that time-frame. With all of these things exactly what I loved about them was present and correct. I’m certain the exact same thing would occur with other products I have a strong mental picture of, e.g. the LP12 (of my era), Quad ESLs, Linn Kans etc. I’ve been amazed by just how strong my recollection has been, so many things sounding *exactly* as I remember even after decades.
The micro-differences less so. When deciding on cables etc I have the phrase ‘Asda difference’ in mind, i.e. if I went shopping to the local Asda down the road for half an hour would I actually be able to tell which of two was plugged into the system when I got back? Some, yes, e.g. I could tell the difference between NAC A5 and my current Mogami for sure, but mostly probably not. Though to be honest with the smaller changes I do things over a far, far longer timeframe and just remove/reverse things out if I feel less comfortable listening after a week or more. I learned a long time ago that ‘initially impressive‘ is almost always ‘worse’!
Yes I would agree there Tony.
Memory is great for the big canvas stuff, the overall impressions of how a component, system or room sounds. This goes back to something on the recent thread discussing accuracy - we all have a broad reference of what sound right and real. At that level, audio memory works just fine.
The difficulty for us is that differences can often be very small indeed - I'm thinking dacs, codecs, filters, similar topology amplifiers, cables, supports/isolation primarily. This is where it gets difficult and where some sort of controlled comparison which doesn't stress audio memory is useful - sometimes.
My take on this for, oh the past decade or so now is quite simple. I ask myself, if I left the room to make a coffee and someone swapped that amp, cable, dac, etc in use, would I notice? - are the differences material?
I often find the answer to that question is no, and that makes life so much easier since I can switch the decision making onto things like design, build quality and aesthetics, or even the ethical position of the manufacturer being attuned to my own.
By the same token, I've gradually revised my own view on blind and controlled testing.
It can be very useful in focusing the senses, professional use, and outing audio quackery, but often the differences it highlights are simply not important to most people. Why go to extreme lengths to test for ultra subtle differences which simply don't impact the ability to enjoy a particular bit of kit.
