*There’s an Audiophiliac/Steve Guttenberg imposter scamming my viewers, There’s no FREE gifts. DON’T respond! I don't do giveaways or ask for money (except for my Patreon)*

He gets it, but "don't trust your ears" is a little misleading because it is reactionary to "just trust your ears." It is really "be skeptical of how your brain/expectations are impacting what you think your ears are telling you."

Thanks Steve for an interesting and thought provoking interview. About Mark's skepticism, I would add that on more than one occasion I have found that I bought something I thought was exactly what I wanted (and not only an audio component), but when I got it home and used it for awhile, I became progressively less enchanted with it. Sometimes the influence might have been the showroom was too different from my home, other times it may have been that the enthusiasm of the sales person had been infectious. In any case, I now appreciate the no questions asked, month or longer in home test period that on-line purchases provide, even if the cost of returning an item is not insignificant. With audio equipment in particular, immediate early impressions, especially when they are impressions guided by a second party with their own preferences and biases, can't be trusted to provide long lasting satisfaction.

Good talk. I can relate to a lot of what Mark says and his impressions of his equipment, past and present; how equipment performs in your living space can be so different than hearing it elsewhere. Also the difficulty of finding new music instead of hitting the old stuff again and again, and the revelation that even if you know the placebo effect exists, that doesn’t make you immune to it.

Best video to date!!! Loved this. Thank you. ❤❤❤

Excellent Steve! Bravo

Very fun video! Lots of good lessons, especially to not chase after the next great thing, but find ways to enjoy what we already have.

Probably your best upload ever - brilliant.

Just watching this video, So valuable , the voice of experience is priceless, thank you both.

CHILL IS RIGHT! So important. It is not that there's no difference or no possibility of improvement with small changes, new cables, etc etc. It's that those changes are small, and for that small improvement you get distracted from enjoying what you have.

Superb interview.

Fun and fascinating. Enjoyed a lot.

One of the best interviews that I have heard from you. I like and agree with his skepticism concerning his own consciousness of what his ears are delivering to his brain; not so sure about his distinction between audiophile and music lover. I think an audiophile cares about the gear for the sake of the sound quality. One can listen to music and enjoy it over pretty crappy gear- just consider the generation or two that grew up listen to music on what we used to call earphones (In Ear Microphones, IEMs). For many, music is the background of your life, having something playing is like breathing; but when you stop to listen . . . then you start the journey toward becoming an audiophile (literally, ‘lover of sound’). My 2 cents.

Listening to Mark and Steve's discussion allowed me to better understand and explain my audiophile experience. Great to hear Mark's opinion and recognition that a listening experience is influenced by inconsistent factors like adrenaline. Also, there was a lot of detail in his words that he didn't say out loud. If you take the exact, specific words that are presented by Mark you'll hear one thing, but if you listen to understand what else was there but not directly stated, you'd hear and understand something very different. Like a good mastering or recording, there was more to be detected if you listened with the right ear and certain experience. Truly an enjoyable conversation to have been able to listen to. Thank you both.

I was quite entertained listening to Mark. I enjoy hearing about how people navigate this pursuit.

Hi Steve, WOW!!! This video I enjoyed so very much. I like hearing sometimes about other people's experiences with audio. So much fun. Thanks!!! Until next time which I hope is sooner then later!!

Have the .7s and really enjoy them, and that purchase was thanks to Steve's recommendation. Great talk and thanks.

Steve, I believe that this is one of the most important videos that you have ever done. Thank you.

Excellent. Thanks for sharing your accumulated, valued wisdom as a long time audiophile! An old friend of Steve Guttenvurhis a friend of mine! I discovered I was an audiophile back in 1979, aged 16, writing what became a long 20 page detailed paper on putting together a $50,000 audiophile system, in 1979 dollars, which earned me a grade of A+ from my music teacher.

Really like this one. Thanks

Really enjoy the videos of audiophile friends alot! The common sense audiophile, wonderful. More please.

Great interview. I love the infinity speakers in late 80a to 90s when 70% of my listening tune was R&B. 👍🏽🤟🏽

Very good conversation. Two people with sometimes contradictonary views on things but a lot of respect for eachother. Sometimes I think my ears play tricks on me. Not sure if I can always trust them...

Great discussion

Placebo effect. Never heard this expression before, but so right!... never trust your first hours of 'experience' with a new element in your system. No matter the wow effect it can bring, wait it to settle in, the placebo to dissolve, ... then re assess this 'new entry' in your system. (this implies, IMO, to ALWAYS test a new device in your system at home). Thanks Steve for this exchange of views with Marc!

FYI - Don’t bring a Mercedes home either without giving the wife a heads up…

Nice video. Enjoyed the one.

Mark's back! Yay!

Thank you Steve, a highly entertaining and enjoyable video! London Steve

Great interview. I recently reached out to audio science review asking where the sweet spot was between subjective and objective reviews. Amir was kind enough to give me the highlights and a link to one of his reviews where he explained the tests, data and what’s important. That and our own secret sauce should offer better purchases.

This hobby is so individual. Nobody is the same, our age, where we were born and were we live and so many things. We have to respect other oppinions. Greetings, Ludo Belgium

Enjoyment , nice to hear this

Now this is something that i wanted to see in the audiphilliac show... This!! This is a proper really complete show. In a bad review you dont have to trash anything, you just need to be like this guy. I trully apreciate this. There are pros and cons and you will chose what you like if you like... Of course if there will be a small sound sample at the end after the viewer sistem of the day then this will be a really complete treat. 😇

Maggies maggies maggies... difficult to go back to boxes and their compact drivers... 😉

Enjoyed this interview a lot! Skepticism virtuosity trumps placebo from psychoacoustics. He speaks the truth. 👍

This was very good. Mark has the correct approach when it comes to enjoying music. No analogue v digital red herrings, just enjoying the music whatever the source. I parted company with my Maggies (mg 12) as I feel they were too fussy about positioning and that feeling that 1 more inch would get me finally there. I now have Graham Audio LS6f's which both measure well (BBC esque) sound musical and are placed very near the front wall. As you said in your review Steve, the last pair of speakers you will ever buy. Lessons for you Steve in this one I would say. Nice one Mark. Thanks Steve.

In the end what makes many people happy is finding a system that duplicates the sound inside your head along with involving the emotional side of your brain and makes you want to jump up and play air guitar, a mood shifting machine.

Love your channel. With reference to this topic, the whole point is to enjoy the music, at the end of a hard day relaxing to music that you feel is what you expect from it. If you don't trust your own years (even if like me who can hear up to only about 12k) then you are going to listen to music that you don't enjoy. In my young days I used to listen to music that did not sound well because I did not want to touch the tone control of my Audiolab or any other amp. But at the end of the day I feel that you should not feel bad to tweak you system to make it sound enjoyable, right now I am enjoying my DIY OB with DSP sending the signal to Tube amps, and the OB 15" sub powered by a old Naim amp. Sound gorgeous to my ears, I trust my ears (right or wrong) ( incidently I tune my guitar by ear and when comparing with a digital tuner it is almost 99% accurate) - so thats good enough for me.

This passion is about the journey as much as it is about the lessons learned. The lessons set us on new paths that are also inexhaustible. Some chase high end but there's really only no end.

Ive been calibrating my sound system using both my ears and autocal by GLM (Genelec system). Im 15 hours into my manual calibration (using my ears) and the system is now just right because of mye manual cal. The huge difference to get everything right was to experiment with delays on every individual speaker, 0.11 ms delay made the trick between L n R in both my rooms. The system now owns the room on very low volumes, and the speakers is basicly working together rather then canceling each other out. The feed back I get from social gatherings is something like «Ive never experienced being emerced in music at such low volumes». The autocal sure helped balance the EQs though. Ive also done manuel EQ after the GLM eq.

Interesting comments on the Kef. I think the biggest problem re: their not being able to play too loud is the size of his room - way too big for those speakers. He should try the R3 Metas.

"Music lovers use their equipment to listen to their music. Audiophiles use their music to listen to their equipment". Not my quote. And yes, I felt it, all across my 5 different stereo set ups, 6 headphones, and 10+ IEMs. Addiction is real...and very pleasant :)

“Don’t trust your brain” might be a bit more precise than “don’t trust your ears.” Great work though Mark and Steve

UHF magazine which existed in Canada recommended to attend as much as possible live shows (Better acoustic ones) for tuning your hears, so you get it how music sounds and makes you feel... So that is the aim for building our music system, trust your hears and body state...

At 9:50 the tonal balance changing with tiny adjustments is something you can avoid if you're tired of it. Coaxial speakers like Kali, KEF (mentioned in the video), and Genelec The Ones solve this problem both horizontally and vertically as you or the speakers move. Something to think about if you're tired of your head being in a vice. Curious to see why he likes the Magnepans more than the KEFs, as panel speakers have really bad distortion with even midbass, and he's even talking about how the KEF speakers sound larger... Likely since they have excellent controlled and even dispersion. Curious about how similarly large KEFs would sound to him.

When he said the KEF's become distorted real fast, it makes me wonder if he was using them in conjunction with a subwoofer-- but here's the critical part-- and I believe this is true with JUST ABOUT ANY bookshelf speaker-- was he using a HIGH pass filter on the KEF's to block out the Low frequency SLAMS that cause large cone excursions and generate a lot of distortion in small drivers that cannot reproduce those frequencies. My own experience is, that using a HIGH pass filter (through my Mini DSP 2x4HD) makes a HUGE difference in sound quality.

The ONLY thing I trust is my ears. Maybe it's the old punk rocker in me - but if it sounds good, it is good. Now, the cool thing about audio is that you can be any sort of audiophile and still enjoy it (analog, digital, records, CD's, measurements, no measurements, etc). It's a big enough world for us all to enjoy our music and gear in the way we want. Which reminds me - I need to pack up my polite Spendor speakers and haul out my Cerwin Vega's and rock out!

Great video. Personally Ive abandoned tape measures and marking tape on the floor 30 years ago. Ive resolved to temporarily taping a small mirror between the tweeter and larger cone. Like a pocket mirror on the sweet spot of your speakers. And if you can see your eyes similarly from where you sit on both sides. BAM you got center. Trick I learned from working with George Augsberger back in the 90's

Many a great point/explanation in there. I like hearing about experienced audiophiles that are using digital RIAA. I have been using it for a while. I often get the suggestion that I should really get a "proper" analog phono pre. Nope!

A lot of what he said resonated with me enough to make me smile.... Thankyou to the pair of you... Regards Antony Warrington Cheshire England..

Good and relevant conversation. Enjoyed the content covered. Mark’s definition of an audiophile vs. a music lover is spot on but I will add that being a music lover can be a less expensive hobby vs. a audiophile.

I have MAGNEPAN ,7s with dual SVS SB-16 Ultra subwoofers.

Don't trust your own ears, and don't trust audiophiles who think they have golden ears.

I found this discussion of psycho-acoustics and the placebo effect very stimulating. I would love more videos exploring this side of audiophilia

Great interview Steve. Always fun to hear how others have made their journey. Your guest contradicts himself a number of times regarding believing his ears or not but that’s ok. None of us are perfect. 😂

I really enjoyed this interview and his point of view, and I love his T-shirt of the Venezia Football club (my city).

I liked the comment from an electrical engineer I read here a while back... "measurements tell you if something is broken or not"

Twisting the toe in slightly inward makes the sound stage rise up. Distance between them establishes the mids field and lows. Pulling them out into the room makes them boom more and get tigher in the mids. Back more tightens up the bass. I look at my 1.7i more as drivers and the room is the cabinet. Finding the best location to energy the room as opposed to throwing sound at you like a box does.

This was a very good video. I can relate to this guy a lot and mostly agree with what he had to say.

As a person that has worked as a heavy equipment and truck mechanic for far too long, when I change my set up, I bring in other people to help. I mark where it works for me and mark in general where it works for all the family and friends.

Mr Mark is on the mark. I really like his explanations.

It MAY not all sound good, but the fact is that it CAN all sound good, which is why I agree with Mark. I like analog AND digital sources, it’s really the appropriate attitude.

Interesting views and most are applicable to the past and current audio gear world. I'm of similar age and what I've learned over decades with audio and home theater is that not listening to conventional wisdom from some dealers/reviewers is a big leap forward. Go your own way, break the rules, follow the paradigm sound in your own head. Use streaming music to discover more genres and artists and be more open minded. What sounds great should supersede what sounds OK and familiar. The one thing I hoped would have happened since I started on this audio road in the late 1960's was that there would eventually be universal connectors for audio and home theater gear. It's starting to happen but it's way too slow, still too fragmented and overtly profit oriented. Cheers!

He’s perfectly right. And let’s not forget listening fatigue...

this video is great. i actually feel like i might align pretty closely with mark's views, as an owner of LRS's (and also someone who has started thinking i might need a good 'comparison' speaker to set beside them)

good point of having 2 sets of speakers for reference

Respect, Some Guys are Wise Guys!! Well, your Guest appears to be a Wise Man!! Kudos for « Comfort Food « !! Bill from Northeastern France

I think exactly like this gentleman does.

I think of my self as an audiophile, but I am definitely a music lover. I stream, I play records and cd's. Streaming mostly, because it is so convenient. I gravitate toward equipment that makes the music sound natural to me. Currently I have a Willsenton R300 tube amp and Zu DW speakers. This is a wonderful pairing to me. Smooth beautiful sound and plenty of volume! I do trust my ears. In the sense that, if it sounds good to me, that's all that matters. I like these kind of interviews, with real people describing what they like about their own gear and music they listen to.

If you want to hear into the recording as he mentions, then buy a pair of studio monitors in the near field, or use headphones, if you want to fill a room with lush, warm, enjoyable music then get a pair of hifi speakers, as large as your room will take, sit back and enjoy the music without analysis.

Trust your ears, not your wallet. DIY it as much as possible. Get the family involved (my 7-year old daughter helped me build my Altec A7s). Crazy power not necessary. Above all, enjoy the music!

Ordinary speakers create artificial "point source" imagery. Maggies propel faithfully produced waveforms with exceptional phase-fidelity. It's applied physics. Maggies are tricky when it comes to the "sweet spot," but the sweet spot is much sweeter than the other speakers.

Protect this man at all costs, great interview

That made me smarter. Thanks

I only trust my ears when I do my speaker placement, always. Looking at speakers adds bias. This guy is right. Just moving speakers a millimeter changes the sound. Especially toe-in.

I don't trust my ears when I listen to music either. I ask my friends to listen for me or use measuring instruments.

Agreed, mostly. New music on Qobuz is the first thing I check out daily. Liked Mark's description of music lover vs audiophile listening - I have a foot firmly in both camps! I believe I'm on my final speakers with the Magnepan LRS and Kef LS50 with stereo REL subs. (2 systems in 13x20ft rooms). The kefs are even magical with FM static, which they present as a 3D soundfield. 🎶🎶 🎵☺️🎵 🎶🎶

The tragedy of Steve 🤔 .. 🤣 Mark’s a little nutty, too!😉 Pots & kettles…

Back in the early 80's I listened yo a pair of large speakers from England. With the stands that one pit sand into for the Bass they were perhaps 7 feet tall and perhaps 5 inches deep and about 3 + feet wide. Very expensive they were at the time over $10,000 CAN. Very impressive they were especially the sound stage with the near 3D imaging. Kinda too expensive for me though. But very very impressive they were

Nice. I love my maggies and 2 SVS subs also.

I love this man. Great attitude. Almost enlightened…… wink wink.

Hey... Yoy shouldn't have written off the aliens! 👍

As far as the wife is concerned, headphones are a man's best friend

I have two copies of the same record and want to get rid of one. This morning I listened to both to decide which one sounded better, going back and forth between the two. Unfortunately, the best sounding pressing kept changing.

I used to have a pair of LRS. I got rid of them and have since rearranged my room, added a second sub and acquired a more powerful amp. I wish I still had them :(

Yeah, I like this dude.

"Doesn't trust his ears." I believe what Mark means is that he doesn't let his ears determine his preference. He wants to get close to what the instruments and voices actually sound like in their environment, as opposed to what he as a listener finds to be the most pleasing sound. (I'm happy with the latter myself.) I reckon he ignores the advertising blurbs that go on about "warmth" and "smoothness" and such.

Be skeptical..for sure.Taste change...if your personal taste change frequently..don't jump to the new flavors of the day.Its expensive. I'm not married. All of my former girlfriends liked my music..and after we broke up I helped them by their first stereo system. Thank you for this post greatly appreciated Steve Guttenberg 🙏.

Your ears are the most important tool when it comes to music obviously! Liking how the music sounds is what it's all about, certainly trust your ears! What you shouldn't trust is "spectrographs" (did I spell that correctly? )and other visual tools, for they have nothing to do with hearing! If an artist sounds like their right in front of you, what more do you need! Not trusting your ears for something that requires your ears is just ludicrous and ridiculous! And that's NOT my opinion, that's TRUTH!!

that was really good picture in the magazine :), I was buying new amplifier for my kef ls50 metas being electrocompanient at the end, but in the shop we have tried marantz 40n, they did have very good space around them, in my house inpossible to do and the soundstage was big in all dimensions. I have very little experience with hifi however after this video I am even more happy with the chice of speakers, I did have little trouble to find out what I really want and if it is ok to want to hear in stead of "only" enjoy the music, great interview! thank you,....chill :),

I only trust my ears. Great video.

🥂Skepticism is appropriate!👍👨🏻 I like your friend Steve..😉

I'd rather have speakers that colour all music into sounding musically great than something that isn't half as enjoyable and shows me, what, the defects and noise of the equipment it was recorded with? I come to realise I prefer whatever brings me closer to the melodies and emotions within a song than something that pulls me away from focusing on the music and rather on the audio.

Great stuff!* I can't imagine only having 1 pair of speakers at a time. This concept of, "then I _replaced_ them with..." is not one I can do. *(...though not sure how I feel about standing during long interviews 😆)

I find it hard to believe that people are still talking about these kef LS50s. They are speakers that do nothing for me, but not everyone has to like what I like.

Smart, funny, and wise.

On streaming: The great thing about record collecting these days is you can check before you buy! And unfortunately I keep liking new stuff too much not to buy it on vinyl (if I can find it).

Now I want a pair of ($300) LS50 meta for my desk. Btw, for anyone curious about Kef sound, go to your local BestBuy listen to the Kef Blades. That's something.

When they sound horrible, you know you've found the perfect speaker

Couldn't agree more. After whole many years I discovered the same - it is the emotion at first, not celebrated perfection which is also very pleasant . I do not care so much if sysem giveme or not give me the comfort of full detail -. system should be capable to pass equally moody music in very natural moody way and very annoying and aggresive i the same natural way as I enjouyed it in past. My colege calls it "yapping" aro "high pitched din" but if it feels my expectation and lifts my soul I want it.