I have two other "interests" or hobbies if you prefer: cycling & photography. All three can cost a little to a lot! The latter two are generally not so prone to foo therefore governed more by the laws of physics & mechanics by a few orders of magnitude. Hi-Fi is by far the more entertaining regarding following forums where many choose to ignore physics when it suits them but seeming to forget that science enables them to listen to music in the 1st place.
To my mind, no purveyor of foo has come close to Peter Belt, especially when it came to convincing people, even those with little interest in stereo. One very powerful argument that's difficult to counter is "believe your own ears!" I had a friend who very much took this approach. He came over to my place many years ago. I had bought some new interconnects & asked if I could swap them over to see if he could hear a difference. I solemnly told him when I'd swapped & did it a few times. He concluded that there was a big difference. He was extremely unhappy when I told him that I hadn't swapped them at all - such is the power of expectation bias. I would not recommend this strategy if you want to keep your friends. Is there life beyond existing measurements? Are there hidden variables? To me, that's more difficult to answer.
To my mind, no purveyor of foo has come close to Peter Belt, especially when it came to convincing people, even those with little interest in stereo. One very powerful argument that's difficult to counter is "believe your own ears!" I had a friend who very much took this approach. He came over to my place many years ago. I had bought some new interconnects & asked if I could swap them over to see if he could hear a difference. I solemnly told him when I'd swapped & did it a few times. He concluded that there was a big difference. He was extremely unhappy when I told him that I hadn't swapped them at all - such is the power of expectation bias. I would not recommend this strategy if you want to keep your friends. Is there life beyond existing measurements? Are there hidden variables? To me, that's more difficult to answer.
