Tear meter

We often hear the debate about measurements vs. listening. So far the two camps are entrenched in their worldviews: if it can't be measured, it doesn't exist vs. if the differences can be heard, they do exist. I doubt I'll be able to add anything of significance in this post. But I am perplexed. One of the BHK Beta testers posted a great bit of feedback here. In it he suggested a track played on his existing amplifier (which has exceptional measurements) sounded good, yet offered little in the way of emotional engagement. He then played the same track on the BHK Signature and he and his wife had tears in their eyes, so engaging was the same music played on the BHK. There is no doubt in my mind, and the experience of others, that some equipment emotionally involves us while others leave us unattached. Do those that believe everything can be measured envision an emotion meter someday? Or do they simply disregard the impact such equipment brings? My guess is they must ignore this data set. Acknowledging that some equipment changes our emotional reaction to music more than others would threaten many hard core measurementist's world view - and when our worldviews are threatened we recoil, deny, ignore, or run. But my view is simpler. I believe our ear/brains are better measuring devices than our machines, at least for now. And someday we can build a machine capable of measuring the degree of water from emotional eyes, but in the meantime, we have built-in versions at the ready. So why not just use them?