The final word on CD players

Is it the look of the console? I kind of agree that while the PS3 and other consoles look fine as game consoles, they're so against the grain lookswise compared to other components.

Would you feel the same way about a blu-ray player that looks like most CD players, though?

You are making a joke, right?
You do realize a blind/double blind test doesn't mean listening with your eyes covered, right?

There can be no conflict if an audiophile says they subjectively prefer A over B, for whatever non-objective reason. None.
The only possibility for conflict to arise, is if objective reasoning is given as to why. It cost $7000 and thus has "better parts". It uses the latest XDAC with "10x lower distortion" or "10x lower jitter", etc, etc. Your player is cheap, uses this XDAC and thus inferior and you are deaf, etc, etc.


Exactly. No one listens blind at home in everyday casual listening. So all of the above does affect the "sound". Be cognizant of that fact, stay away from objective reasoning as to why you prefer A over B, no conflict. Make it clear to all when you tell them that A "sounds" better than B to you, all of the above affecting the "sound" is involved and is thus purely your subjective perception, not an unerring representation of reality, but rather, subject to human perceptual error.


The PS is regarded by some for its sound, not specs.


None of us are immune to bias (well, except "audiophiles", who have transcended humanity). Some of us are simply far more affected by it than others. And some of us are cognizant of these facts, others ignorant or simply in self denial (full blown audiophile disorder). YMMV.

cheers,

AJ

I'm not quite sure why it would be considered a disorder to get pleasure from well-reproduced music. I certainly do, and I have no intention of admitting that it is any kind of disorder.

As far as the reproducing equipment is concerned, I simply listen and decide if the sounds I hear are close enough to the sound of a live performance to satisfy me and make listening a pleasurable experience.

If not, then I may seek out different equipment and decide if it sounds better to me than what I already have. If it does, and the price is within my means, then I may purchase it and use it.

If any of that meets someone's definition of an "audiophile", then that is their frame of reference, not mine. Seeking a means to personal pleasure seems like a very ordinary mode of behavior to me.

To put labels on people and then try to ridicule them based on that labeling does not seem like mature behavior to me, so I will just do my best to ignore it.

LOL. So, if he is visually blind and listens to a double-blind test, he is doubly blinded?

If you worry about sound, then start with your speakers and your room, they are far more responsible for the actual sound of the entire system tehn any electronics and cableing combined.

I just finished a pair of Three Pi kits from Wayne Parnham (he's in the DIY speaker forum). They make the old Harmon Kardon towers they replaced seem mundane. I managed to have an A/V room that is a rectangle about 14' by 20' which has truly symmetrical features. No intrusive doors or structures.
I think it makes a huge difference.

Floyd

Sure it does, so is how the speakers are located in the room in relations to the listener, the shape of the room, the furniture, the texture of the wall and ceiling all contribute to the final sound of the system/room and not always favorably. People are too lazy to to investigate these issues and think they can just change a cable or the source device and voila all is good.
Congrats on your new speakers.

I agree totally. Reflective surfaces like windows, and ones that absorb like curtains. Here is a question that you might be able to answer for me:
Do you know of any material that is good at absorbing low bass frequencies that can radiate outward and disturb neighbors? Maybe something that could be placed in a wall. I've never seen any reference to something like that.

I love the Three Pi speakers. They have to be placed in corners at a 45 degree angle. They also require flanking subwoofers that are not too close to the Pi speakers. The idea is to distribute the bass evenly, since they form the third part of a three way system. Because the subs need to pick up around 110 Hz, they become directional and one won't do.

Floyd

Have you tried this yet?

LOL! Can I get one with more tubes? How about an accompanying stone turntable?

Floyd

Heh, reminds me of a TVRO company in the 1980s: Chicken Wire Antenna Products, or CWAP for short. Good ol' Chris Johnson. RIP.

I just drool all over my keyboard 'cause I couldn't close my mouth from laughing

Come on. A game player sitting along side fine gear is an eye sore. Maybe a veil in the form of a curtain?

Yeah, I want one with the cool 50 lb stone platter too. It keeps the unwanted vibrational resonances down.

Actually, there used to be a turntable with a round granite platter years ago.

A poor guy made a mistake and bought the wrong model and took it home, and boy was he disappointed when he found his was plastic!

That will teach him to take things for granite.

I'm sorry, but you can't have the last word on anything; my wife has an exclusive international concession on last words.

Oh, these are almost pricelss

Was his name Fred Flintstone?