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Subjective versus objective listening and the warmth of Marantz.

Posted by HamBone77 (A) on April 30, 2007 at 08:05:03

The first time a week ago or so that I sat down and listened to the Marantz 2330B I've recently hooked up I was somewhat underwhelmed. This past weekend all is well. The marantz and advents mate very well together and the subtly of improvements have impressed me. I have a theory as to why this happens to me when I listen to a new or different piece of equipment whether it be cartridge, receiver, etc.

I think it might have to do with habituation and extinction. Habituation is the phenomenon where you don't notice your sight is going bad due to cataracts because your brain compensates. Then your in the eye doctors office and you go, "What the hell?" when your trying to read the eye chart.

Extinction is where you walk into a really smelly room that almost makes you retch but soon (smell is the quickest sense to extinguish) you become accustomed to the smell and it is tolerable.

I think that with equipment you become habituated to the sound and flaws become extincted. In other words your ears become use to the tone of your system and in some ways you hear what you expect to hear. Extinction eliminates troublesome clicks and pops, surface noise, etc... on vinyl.

When I recently hooked up my marantz my expectations were for the dramatic. And, the changes were subtle. My ears were still accustomed to the little Technics SA 200 I had switched out. But, the Marantz was much better at accurately reproducing what was on the vinyl and all those flaws that had previously become extinct were now back.

The moral of the story: I don't think you can judge any piece of equipment in just an afternoon's listening. And, the more I listen to the Marantz the more I am impressed. Almost brought to tears listening to Dire Straits and Steely Dan this weekend. And, that doesn't happen often. The soundstage is wide, high and deep. And, I'm picking up small small nuances in the music that was not there with the Technics. As I said, all is well with the 2330B. With a big grin, "I think its a keeper."

Wondering if anyone else experiences listening to new or different gear in a similar manner.

Regards,
HB

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