Do non audiophiles recognize great sound when they hear it?

A more relevant question would be; 'Do "audiophiles " recognize great sound when they hear it?'

I'd love to see a study of whether audiophiles can recognize "great sound" in a double-blind test. My guess is that most can't. The mere fact that $1000 interconnect cables even exist is a pretty good indication that at least a good portion of the audiophile market is based purely on placebo effect.

Most audiophiles don't listen to music, they listen the audio system.

Steve has such a lovely speaking style and is so knowledgeable - could listen to him for hours!

Took my gf to a hifi store while on vacation (there are none where we live) played her favorite artist sade, watched her reaction as she looked around the room from her seat and couldn't figure out what speakers played . After the song I asked her what she thought and she attempted to describe the Soundstage and Image (no primer was given on what to expect) very happy moment for me, until she asked how much it cost lol.

You have to play their favorite songs, don't care if it's despacito or anything, that's how you introduce high end audio to new comer.

There comes a point, and it comes fast, where no matter how much money you spend on a system, the room becomes the most important factor in quality sound.

I'm 20 now and the reason I started to become an audiophile is because since I was very young my Dad plays his high-end system at home all the time. Later when I started to appreciate those music he played and started to listen to them on other average systems, I finally realized how good my Dad's system is. I also realized how good those vintage high end audio products are that the modern ones could hardly reach that level.

So many people don't care about audio. I set up my mothers TV to go through her 2 x 20w stereo. It's not high end, not "loud", but 100 times better than the tinny TV speakers as you could hear bass, hear the voices on TV without it being so loud. All my mother and sister, her bf (who lived with them) needed to do was hit one button turn on the stereo and have decent sound when watching TV or bluray's. Whenever I went there they were watching TV and didn't turn it on. 6 months later I see the stereo is unplugged and covered in dust. EDIT 2 years later. A happy story to balance it out. My grandmother is 86 and I noticed she always has her TV turned up to the max. I got her a newer TV with an HDMI ARC port. I learned from the experience with my mother. I bought a Yamaha soundbar (my grandmother likes Yamaha keyboards, she used to play at church) and I tested that even with total black out, unplugging TV and soundbar from the wall, that it all came back automatically when powered on with ARC. No extra buttons or remote, fool proof! My grandmother immediately noticed and loved it. She actually comments on the improved sound even 6 months later, says how much better it is. She even watches "Songs of Praise" on TV on Sunday and goes and sits at her old piano and plays along, which she said she has only been able do with the new soundbar.

"Great sound" is the sound you like. I love the sound of vintage 70s audio,especially Sansui stereo systems. I have a Sansui 881,SE9 compu equalizer,3060 turntable and four SP2000 speakers. That is my current set up and i have a spare bedroom full of top end 70s stereos. This has been my hobby for the last twenty years. Bought most of these at the local flea market at a steal.

I had a vintage Allied 490 receiver in the ‘70s. I had an audio oscilloscope that was calibrated for 8 ohms. The receiver would clip at exactly 100 watts. A sine wave would square up right at the 100 watt line and never exceed that point. Anyway, my friend had a Sound Design all in one system. We put the two systems side by side and compared them. I turned mine up to the point where the signal would start to distort by clipping. My friend then turned his on and cranked it up until it was painful to listen to due to severe distortion, and said his was louder. I corrected him and told him his was more distorted, but not louder. He didn’t believe me, so I told him to turn his up again and leave it on. I turned mine on to about 50% which drowned out his distorted amp and it wasn’t painful to listen to. Again as you pointed out loud isn’t better, but better could be louder. He was confusing loudness with distortion.

"Bose: Better Sound Through Marketing" They don't need to sound better, they just need you to think they do. Same with Beats.

It's like being impressed by the brightest TV that's most blinding...

They don’t and that’s ok. From my experience, non-audiophiles love Bose sound. I’m not advocating Bose, it’s the truth. In my family room I have a set of Bose 701 plugged into a cheap $300 Yamaha theatre receiver. Also a Dayton Audio sub. This is a $1,500 system and it wows my neighbors, friends, and family. In my listening room, I have a $10k system: Magnepan 1.6, Parasound amp/pre, dual Sunfire Subs, Chorus DAC, Project Audio phono... etc. As Steve says in the video, they don’t get it. I personally don’t force or judge non-audiophiles because they don’t have the disease of wanting perfect audio... it’s a disease that I haven’t found a cure.

Steve you’re spot on! This is why I am subscribed to your channel. Thank you sir for all you do.

One of your best vids Steve. It is hard to get people to challenge “what they know” and actually listen.

Took my friend to a hi-end hifi store. He was blown by the sound and the prices. Never got into it. However, a 2nd friend of mine listened to my B&w, Rega RP8 + Rega Aria set-up and was amazed. He asked what he can get for 1k €. I've hooked him up with some Dali Zensor 3 + stands...a Rega RP1 and a Marantz integrated..all for around 1200 € ! he's been buying records like crazy ever since!

My way to convert normal people to high end audio is to give them something nice to listen to on their own for at least a week. I converted almost all my friends like that. I started with headphones and portable Dac/amp. Landing them a fiio q1 m2 with a Sennheiser hd 600 for a week. When the time comes to give me back my equipment they get it and if they have the means they all buy the same thing. After that they're hooked up. I land them an ifi idsd nano black to go further and later a mojo with a little bear b4 (a baby tube amp)😁. Generally if they have the money it's an instant update. From there we start talking speaker systems to match their new found experience.

I want to show this video to so many people!!! It perfectly encapsulates everything I’ve been trying to explain to tell them for years but with no results. Cheers Steve.

I just came across your channel and I love it. Very interesting and right up my alley. I have always been into music and stereo systems since I was a small boy.