No, this is not a Minneapolis Airport question.
After reading decade of reviews and "listened around" alot, I'm starting to have my own theory about Hi Fi gear that may get me flamed, but here goes...
Wine is also a hobby of mine, and there is a definite "bottle to bottle" variation that can occur. Bottles from different barrels maybe, or with cork from different trees, one bottle got left on the store rack in the light while the other stayed lower in the dark, one bottle was exposed to different temperatures, etc...
Well, I'm starting to think is may be more common in Hi Fi than I thought.
First, we see a surprising number of review units that are either deemed by the reviewer (if he is astute enough) to sound inferior to expectation, or found by JA on measurement to deviate enough from expected parameters that he gets curious. Then, sure enough, the manufacturer usually tosses together a story about pre-production units, or damage in transport, or some other reason that they were unable to deliver a "proper" unit to the leading Hi Fi review publication...
Second, when looking at parts, like capacitors or resistors, we often see, even for the "good stuff," as much as 10-20% tolerance or variation from part to part. Even cherry picking parts to match yields variability to the degree that finished units could vary considerably from each other.
Speaker drivers can differ from each other, as well. Then add the fact that crossovers contain electronic parts, and, whoa, Nellie, things can get complicated.
Next, shipping seems to be a big bugaboo - with "normal" consumers who lack testing equipment faced with trying to decide if their units sound "about right." If Mike Fremer can be fooled by broken gear, then imagine how often this could happen to a regular old consumer!
Put all that together and it's a miracle that we can talk about the same models sounding the same at your house vs. my house.
Back in the day, a girlfriend and I bought the same set of headphones, got home, and though they both sounded "good," one was obviously different from the other - even on the same system. We decided one was bass heavy, and returned it, and the new one sounded different, as well. We hung out at the Hi Fi store in L.A. with the staff all listening to different headphones of the same model - with pretty impressive variability. We didn't think to try other brands, we were all just boggling at the variability of this one model...and none were "broken," per se.
I've noticed this with three units of a recent CD player from a well regarded manufacturer. Each sounded reliably "different" in the same system, but none sounded "broken."
At this point, deep down, I feel like I'm playing a game of craps whenever I buy a component, hoping to get a "good one."
Have any of you all thought you noticed this variability?
I can't recall the subject coming up in the Hi Fi journals, but maybe it has.
You know that guy who sells "hot stampers" of LP's? I wonder if this phenomenon happens with our gear!
No, this is not a Minneapolis Airport question.
After reading decade of reviews and "listened around" alot, I'm starting to have my own theory about Hi Fi gear that may get me flamed, but here goes...
Wine is also a hobby of mine, and there is a definite "bottle to bottle" variation that can occur. Bottles from different barrels maybe, or with cork from different trees, one bottle got left on the store rack in the light while the other stayed lower in the dark, one bottle was exposed to different temperatures, etc...
Well, I'm starting to think is may be more common in Hi Fi than I thought.
First, we see a surprising number of review units that are either deemed by the reviewer (if he is astute enough) to sound inferior to expectation, or found by JA on measurement to deviate enough from expected parameters that he gets curious. Then, sure enough, the manufacturer usually tosses together a story about pre-production units, or damage in transport, or some other reason that they were unable to deliver a "proper" unit to the leading Hi Fi review publication...
Second, when looking at parts, like capacitors or resistors, we often see, even for the "good stuff," as much as 10-20% tolerance or variation from part to part. Even cherry picking parts to match yields variability to the degree that finished units could vary considerably from each other.
Speaker drivers can differ from each other, as well. Then add the fact that crossovers contain electronic parts, and, whoa, Nellie, things can get complicated.
Next, shipping seems to be a big bugaboo - with "normal" consumers who lack testing equipment faced with trying to decide if their units sound "about right." If Mike Fremer can be fooled by broken gear, then imagine how often this could happen to a regular old consumer!
Put all that together and it's a miracle that we can talk about the same models sounding the same at your house vs. my house.
Back in the day, a girlfriend and I bought the same set of headphones, got home, and though they both sounded "good," one was obviously different from the other - even on the same system. We decided one was bass heavy, and returned it, and the new one sounded different, as well. We hung out at the Hi Fi store in L.A. with the staff all listening to different headphones of the same model - with pretty impressive variability. We didn't think to try other brands, we were all just boggling at the variability of this one model...and none were "broken," per se.
I've noticed this with three units of a recent CD player from a well regarded manufacturer. Each sounded reliably "different" in the same system, but none sounded "broken."
At this point, deep down, I feel like I'm playing a game of craps whenever I buy a component, hoping to get a "good one."
Have any of you all thought you noticed this variability?
I can't recall the subject coming up in the Hi Fi journals, but maybe it has.
You know that guy who sells "hot stampers" of LP's? I wonder if this phenomenon happens with our gear!