Can you draw frequency response charts in your head from listening?

[CN211276]

I was probably unclear.
My wife loves music. Absolutely loves it. At least as much as I do.
And, she says she can’t tell the difference between the sound direct from the tiny speakers in her iPhone and my system.
She loves music equally, through whichever it’s replayed.
I guarantee the frequency response charts for each would be different.
I envy her inability to hear that.

Edit…obviously she’d be worse than useless as a speaker designer.

You are not alone. As I posted recently that my wife thinks I have exceptional ears. When I try to explain frequency response, dynamics, sample rates etc, she just switches off. When I expressed concerns about a new rug affecting the sound she thought I was losing it.

[karatestu]

I suppose there are many like your wife Doc, my wife included. If I had to have a small Bluetooth speaker and nothing else then I don't think I would mind too much. I don't find myself analysing it like I possibly would with something bigger and more expensive especially if I had designed and built it myself.

[CN211276]

I was probably unclear.
My wife loves music. Absolutely loves it. At least as much as I do.
And, she says she can’t tell the difference between the sound direct from the tiny speakers in her iPhone and my system.
She loves music equally, through whichever it’s replayed.
I guarantee the frequency response charts for each would be different.
I envy her inability to hear that.

Edit…obviously she’d be worse than useless as a speaker designer.

Have you ever played "Hi-fi Shop" with her? It's a game that any number of people can play.

Get the same piece of music at roughly the same volume in the same room. Play it on her iPhone. Then play it on your system. If it's a track that's more than 3 minutes long, just play the first couple of minutes on each system. You could even cheat a bit by playing a better mastered version on your system, because 1 of the advantages of your system is a better choice of masters.

See if she has a preference. Maybe she will, maybe she won't. It's also possible that she'd prefer the sound of her iPhone.

I've been in bake-offs where non-hi-fi people have expressed a preference for the inferior sounding system. Usually picking whatever they're used to listening to.

It's a cliche of mine that the psychology behind hi-fi is more interesting than the equipment itself.

My wife has no interest in hi-fi. She makes jokes about me being mentally unwell whenever I buy any hi-fi components. She is relatively good at detecting when a system sounds good and when it sounds poor to mediocre. Her friends are the same. My wife wouldn't be confident in her ability to mentally draw a frequency response curve. She could describe musical differences. Or maybe just say which she preferred without articulating why.

[Vinyl-ant]

My wife can tell if ive changed something, she just doesnt care that i have.
She does insist that her turntable is set up properly and tracks properly though so she can play the rare cure records she has without worrying that they are going to get damaged by a worn stylus.
Other than that she doesnt give a stuff how it sounds

[CN211276]

The thing that got me into audio was hearing John Peel on my mate's 'ghettoblaster' rather than on my tiny ear radio. Basically, Jello Biafra, Steve Ignorant, Jake Burns etc all sounded way more scary.

At some point, though, I started analysing the sound rather than digging the music. That's when I became an upgrade chaser (Linn and Naim) and then a box swapper (too many to list).

Finding NVA and people here (and at Audio Talk) got me listening to the music first, again. I can understand the appeal of going back to basics...a sort of pallette cleaner? But, for me, when I sit down to really get lost in it, I know I want a deeper emotional connection than a Bluetooth speaker can ever provide.

[CN211276]

I first got into hifi when I had a listen to a friends headphones through a cassette deck. I think it was JVC. It sounded so much better than my music centre. For the next five years I did a bit of box swapping but not above budget level. I lost interest when I heard the LP12 thinking that all "high end" components were a waste of money. If I had heard something better I might of thought otherwise, but the opinions repetedly expressed in the magazines influenced me. It took thirty years and the Internet for my interest to resurface. I soon discovered NVA and with it substantial sonic benefits could be achieved by spending more money on carefully chosen components. The transparancy of my NVA amps, cubes and cables, not to mention BMU, turned my attention to the source and what the emerging science of high resolution streaming is capable of with upsampling, filtering and good power supplies. I am very happy with the sound of my system, but that is not to say I can't enjoy music through Bluetooth and my DAB radio in the right environment, eg in the bathroom, garden or on holiday.

[Lindsayt]

If I were to draw a frequency response chart of my old LP12 played through my Bozak Symphonies, I'd draw the area below 150hz in pencil, then go over it with my thumb to smudge it. As my graphical representation of what I was hearing.