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This is the subject that keeps bothering me over the years and I have no idea why I never have written about it within my site. The subject of this article will be a completely irrational, located at the boundary of idiocy, behavioral pattern of the absolutely dominating majority of audio people: their incapacity to deal with critiques of audio that they own or they care about.

Really, try to meet any manufacturer and engage with him/her (let talk about him from now and on) in a conversation about the specific performance weaknesses of their audio. Try to visit a dealer or a distributor and point out the sonic absurdness of some decisions that he took in organization of his demonstration or to question performance of specific configuration. Try to visit a listening room of a private audio person and point out to him the very specific and very tangible unconstructive moments of sound reproduction of his system… In all those and many other cases you will face with open hostilely and with a situation when people feel severely personably insulted and behave as you hurt them. What the bunch of Morons!

That always puzzled me and frankly speaking turned me off a lot in my desire to socialize with audio community. How more idiotic a person should be that he accepts purely audio critiques as evidence of ANYTHING ELSE BESIDES JUTS AUDIO CRITIQUES! How fool people should be that they avoid using somebody else’s interpretations of audio efforts for MUTUAL EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES? Isn’t it the reasons why we demonstrate our playbacks to each other: to learn?

I’m seen it all. I have seen manufactures who scrammed to me that I’m idiot because I was no impressed with the sound that they did. I have seen privet parties who proudly invited me to audition their playback and who literally tossed me out of their homes, as soon I did not express enthusiasm about the Sound that I heard. I do not remember that I EVER expressed dissatisfaction with Sound without referring to the very specific and very EXPLICIT FACTS of my auditable experiences. I’m also always very open to negotiate and to discusses those facts or to correlate our observations about the moments that we liked or disliked. The reason for my willingness is because I use any my trips to listen somebody else’s systems, as well as visits of any person in my listening room for nothing else beside SELF EDUCATIONS.  However, the average audio people are not equipped to do use audio critiques for education. They use audio for ego boosting of what whatever else reasons… but only not for advancing of ourselves in audio understanding. That makes them very very boring…

Year after year I receive those idiotic phone calls form friends of mine: “Romy, I was in “X-city” and went to listening room of “Mr. Y”. The system performed very badly, with the following problems: A, B, C, D, E, F… Of course I did not tell him about it and said that it sounded Great” I always question this behavior: why do a person if he has a rational judgment should not share this judgment with another person who in fact DO EXPECT someone’s opinion? You do not say that somebody kids look ugly you juts point out the very specific, objective, mutually notable facts of sound reprodaction. It is it!!! Why you, the audio people, have built for yourself this completely idiotic communication protocol according to which you participate in mutual flattering of own stupid egos?  You, the audio people, for whatever damn reasons, project your personal attachment to whatever doing on in your listening rooms, isn’t it stupid? It would be fine if you demonstrate personal attachments to Results but unfortunately you demonstrate those attachments to Methods and to the empty Marketing Inflictions.

It is not secret that in some cases a playback system builder, designer or the owner has more evolved comprehending of the REASONS of cons or pros of his installation/components and can interpret them more deeply. But this is exactly what it is: get a different perspective on the subject (if criticizing person is wiling and capable (happen hardly ever) to demonstrate HIS REASONS) and expose the subject to the diversity of exposures. When I have audio people in my home I ALWAYS ask them what it wrong with Sound in my listening room. I might agree or disagree with the opinions. I might or might not know what made my visitor to feel good or bad and what made them disagree with my assessments. However, I find it always, ALWAYS (!!!)educational to hear people if they express their NATIVE PERCEPTION to what they feel. (Instead just hearing how they quote for me in my room the paragraphs from an audio reviews that they have read. Although I try to do bring Audio Morons ™ in my listening room but sometimes I let them to break through).

What the point of this article? The point is to suggest you, the audio freaks, to loose the fear of yourself and start to accept Sound in your listening rooms like nothing else then JUTS SOUND IN YOUR LISTENING ROOMS. I have great interest to audio people who NOT JUST DO AUDIO but have an INTEREST OF DOING AUDIO. I have great respect to manufactures (regardless the results they produces) who now juts support their status quo but wiling to see themselves in the EVERLASTING CONTINUATION OF AUDIO EDUCATION, who stays behind what they do USING THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND THE RESULTS AS A REFERENCES POINTS INSTEAD OF THEIR EGOS.

I always say that Audio is not a purpose but juts a tool. Unfortunately many audio Morons ™ use audio as a tool FOR WRONG PURPOSE. I was very far from suggesting that audio is a tool for improving sense of self, or patting own ego. I juts wish more Audio people able to discover that OTHER MEANING OF AUDIO PURPOSE… Perhaps then, criticizing other’s Audio efforts we would be able to find nobler objectives and might allow themselves to become more attentive listeners of each other… Just little bit more honesty and little bit less fear…

Amen!
Romy the Cat

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