Art or science?
I am often asked whether high-end audio is an art or a science. Of course, the convenient answer is both.
Maybe a better question would be the degree to which the two are divided.
At PS Audio, the balance between art and science varies depending on the project’s phase.
When we first dream of a new product it’s almost purely art: dream about what we would like to have in our own systems without any concern for the technological hurdles.
The next phase is where we roll up our proverbial sleeves and generate schematics specific to the various systems that will be required: experience from prior art coupled with a lot of science.
Phase 3 is a 50/50 mix of art and science: how does it sound and what should we change to maximize performance? It is often necessary to think outside the box.
Phase 4 is all science: test, measure, test again.
But that’s just us. Other manufacturers bounce around from zero art and all engineering science to a myriad of other combinations.
When products become personal you know there’s a good blend of both art and science.
Imposters
At some level, we’re all imposters. We fear our projected self-worth—the way we present ourselves or the way we believe others see us—doesn’t live up to expectations.
In my 74 years, I haven’t met anyone that doesn’t to some extent suffer from what is commonly known as Imposter Syndrome. Maybe it’s a fear that our HiFi systems aren’t as good sounding as we believe, or maybe it’s what holds us back from offering advice and opinions (despite the wealth of knowledge we each hold in reserve).
The outward image we project is almost always a combination of guarded talents and knowledge depth sprinkled with a smidge of hopeful confidence. We don’t want to set expectations too high for fear of embarrassing failure yet we don’t want to go too low and be ignored.
It’s probably not as bad as you might suspect.
When it comes to our HiFi systems and how good they sound, I suspect they are far better than most of us inwardly fear.
In fact, if you’re reading this blog post you are most likely one of the few experts on audio systems in the world (relative to the other 7 billion of us). You know more about sound and high-performance audio than just about anyone on this planet.
And that is quite an accomplishment.
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