I wonder why audio people do not WORK with their playbacks. This subject always annoyed me.  Let pretend an audio person build up some kind of playback installation. It is irrelevant what would it be: a huge vintage Bell Labs system, a contemporary glossy Krell system or $500 worth a little table radio with two little speakers.  In all cases it is some kind of playback installation that has own character.

Now, the installation owner might like of do not like what his playback does, or like of do not like some specific aspects of the sound that s/he is getting. That is normal. What is not normal in my view is what happens with most audio people next.  Most of audio people do not have their mind tuned to recognize the sound that they are getting and to react upon what they hear. I mean audio people do react upon what they do not like but they typically react in accordance with some external mostly artificial logic but not in accordance to the sensations they develop from listening of their playbacks.

As the result most of the audio installations out there are vastly undeveloped. By “undeveloped” I mean that any given installation performs at a fraction of own capacity. Then the system owner, not been satisfied by something, changes the components without recognizing that the formal playback did not have problem with ingredients but had problem with system owner did not make the needed internal rearrangement in order to get the best from what was available. Then a system owner changes some elements and the new round of audio that delivers a fraction of own possible capacity starts.

So, why audio people do not work with their playbacks? Many audio people foolishly believe that knowledge in audio derives from some kind of technical or musical education or knowledge, but in reality there is nothing that can be further from the truth. I know very capable musical people absolutely inapt in the subjects of audio and I know plenty of highly knowledgeable technical experts (some of them are very prominent audio designers) who in my views absolutely dead in the subjects of audio and sound. The knowledge in audio derives from an ability of an individual to recognize own natural auditable experiences and to interpret them by the means of audio methods. This is absolutely different type of training and unfortunately most of audio people do not have it and do not spend efforts to develop it. As the result, most of the audio installations out there perform “as is” because people who own them driven by some external precompiled algorithms that were pre-developed for them and implanted in their minds instead to the actual needs of those installations…

In my estimation around 70% of audio people have purely algorithmic playbacks and their playbacks have no feedback of playback owner recognitions. Around 25% of audio people to more or less degree work on their playback, trying to get better from what they have before referring to external help of other components. I would say that only a few percents of audio people “work” with this playback up to the point where a given playback gives up all that it is able to. I think my estimation is quite accurate and it depicts a very sad stage of practice among most of audio people.