Angry voices

Ever notice how angry voices get the most attention? One look at the US political landscape should convince you of this truth, or, perhaps a memory of an upset parent, an audio critic or adamant manufacturer slamming his fist. We give them our attention. Calm, quiet, steady seem to get lost, yet we know in our hearts those are the voices of reason–anger's the voice of emotion, of getting heard when all else be damned. It's an effective strategy for those who manipulate it to advantage, or even for those just having an emotional moment. Wasn't it something about the squeaky wheel getting the oil? I was reminded recently of another loud voice, Peter Aczel, the Audio Critic. Peter's now 90 years old and retired but during his heyday he had plenty of followers. His mission in life was debunking the (so called) Audiophile myth–a carry over of the Julian Hirsch days of all amplifiers sound the same. Once calmer voices successfully debunked some of his premise, Peter just sort of faded away. But I kind of miss him. It's always good to have the counter to an agreed upon point. It's an interesting human trait that we tend to gravitate towards the loudest voices, the angriest among us, the fist-pounders, the contrarians. And it kind of makes sense. Since we know there is little, if any, ultimate truth, we're attracted to those voices that cut through the clutter of sameness. Loud and repetitive doesn't necessarily mean right, it just means noticed.