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Old 5th Oct 2017, 3:26 pm   #26
David G4EBT
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Cottingham, East Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 5,737
Default Re: 'Cable Break In' - I never knew that!

Quite apart from the capabilities of even the most expensive equipment, the one component that money can't buy is a new set of ears. With age, the ability to hear higher frequencies tails off and that begins in our teens. Anyone considering parting with serious amounts of money would be well advised to have a hearing test first.

I'm in my 79th year and have worked with power tools all my life and still do - routers, table saws, bandsaws, drills, chainsaw. I've always worn ear defenders even to cut a couple of pieces of wood on a bandsaw or use the dust extractor in my workshop. Likewise, when I rode a motorbike I wore ear defenders.

Many of my friends now have to wear hearing aids and or suffer from tinnitus - an affliction that mercifully, I don't suffer from. I've just checked my hearing at the link below - not very scientific, it's true, but a reasonable guide. I'm can't hear below 30Hz and I'm OK up to 13 kHz. Interesting to note that though the amplitude is constant, some frequencies - in the speech range, 300 - 600Hz sound much louder, as I guess they should do:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...cies-hear.html

But of course, high end hi-fi equipment isn't about discernable differences between one set of equipment and another, any more than buying a Merc 'C Class' at £29k in preference to a Skoda Superb at £20k, which is more highly ranked in reviews, and overall, is the top brand for reliability based on post-purchase customer surveys. These are aspirational products and buying decisions are largely emotional rather than rational and objective.

If buyers of any goods and services are happy with the outcome and consider it money well spent, the happiness they derive is a just reward for their expenditure, and that goes for audio equipment just as much as any other equipment. I recently noted that a Mullard OC81 used but tested 'white jacketed' transistor sold for £41.00 on an auction site. I don't know what the 'white jacket' signifies, but it clearly meant something to the bidders.
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