Pleasure, or Accuracy? Part Two

Quote of the day:
"For a country to have a great writer is like having a second government. That is why no regime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones."
--Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Several years ago people walking along a European city street were asked to participate in a listening test. The subjects were seated in a room and asked to listen to several excerpts of recorded music.

The testers switched between three different sound systems--one using tubes, one that was all solid-state, and one that was “hybrid”--both solid-state and tube. Neither the subjects nor the testers knew which system was on at any time (for those in the research business, a double-blind test). The music was widely varied, as were the subjects.

The test went on for several months, and statistically-significant results were obtained.

The two questions that were most illuminating were these: “which system do you believe to be the most accurate?” and “which system did you most enjoy listening to?”

You can guess the results. Solid-state won out on the first question, tubes on the second. When asked for comments, many subjects spoke of how the tube system was more involving and pleasurable.

So that’s the essential choice--accuracy, or pleasure? For news and documentaries, I want accuracy. For music and art, I want pleasure.