The Idea
There’s a funny thing about sound: the more time you spend chasing perfection, the less music you actually enjoy.
After 20+ years of building, repairing, and listening to audio gear, I’ve come to a simple conclusion: our brains don’t actually like perfect sound.
We like character, colour, and a touch of imperfection that makes the music feel alive.
Before the purists start throwing cables at me, hear me out.
The Myth of Perfection
In theory, the perfect audio system would reproduce the signal exactly as recorded — zero distortion, perfectly flat frequency response, no noise, no phase errors.
In practice, that kind of sound is boring. It’s analytical and cold, and after a few minutes, your brain starts wandering off.
What keeps us listening for hours isn’t clinical precision, it’s texture, warmth, dynamics, and the subtle imperfections that make the music human.
I’ve heard expensive systems that were technically flawless but emotionally empty, and modest systems that made me smile from the first note.
The Human Brain and “Pleasant Errors”
Our brains are not precision instruments. They’re pattern recognisers that constantly fill in gaps and add feeling to what we hear.
That’s why valve amplifiers, with their harmonic distortion, sound so inviting; they produce even harmonics that our brain interprets as musical warmth.
On paper, they “measure worse” than a cheap op-amp.
But to our ears? They sound better.
Think of it like photography: a perfectly noise-free digital image can feel sterile, while a slightly grainy film photo feels alive.
The Gear Side – Balance, Not Price
A good amplifier isn’t about cost... It’s about control and synergy.
You want clean, stable power with enough current to handle your speakers comfortably.
Speakers, in turn, are always a compromise. None are perfectly flat from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, the best ones simply convince your ears they are.
That’s why pairing matters more than brand names.
I’ve heard £200 systems that filled the room with joy, and £20,000 ones that sounded like lab instruments.
The Colour We Like
A little colour is what gives sound personality, a touch of warmth in the mids, a bit of sparkle up top, a mild compression from a Class A amp or tape stage.
These aren’t flaws ... they’re flavour.
Your ears like what your brain finds pleasant, and that’s different for everyone.
If you like a little extra bass or warmth, that’s not “wrong”.
It’s yours.
The Trap of the Audiophile Ego
Many of us fall into the same trap: listening to the equipment instead of the music.
The hobby turns into an upgrade loop: op-amps, DACs, cables, fuses… endless tweaking, never satisfied.
But the truth is: you’ll never reach absolute perfection, because your perception keeps changing.
Mood, fatigue, age, even humidity affect what we hear.
That’s not a failure ... it’s just how we’re wired.
Enjoy the Music
Perfect sound is a nice dream, but music isn’t meant to be perfect. It’s meant to make you feel something.
If your system makes you smile, tap your foot, or forget the time, it’s already perfect enough.
Stop chasing specs.
Trust your ears.
Add a bit of colour, and enjoy the picture.
Enjoyed this post?
If you like this sort of madness about sound, circuits and the occasional valve glow,
you can buy me a coffee to keep the experiments humming. https://ko-fi.com/tudorlala
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