Direct shot

Music is an emotional experience. Our emotions are centered in an ancient part of our brains called the Amygdala. My friend Seth refers to this as the "Lizard Brain". Some music and some high-end systems give us an emotional experience so strong we remember it to this day; others never get past first base. The ones that succeed happen because we let our analytical filter (our guard) down - so inviting is the sound - that we allow a direct shot to our inner brain. TheAmygdala is fully engaged with the experience and our emotions soar. As a designer of high-end gear, how do you design products that more often speak directly to the emotional part of the brain - achieving this lofty sought after goal? This is, in a nutshell, the entire challenge we, as high-end audio designers, face as it's rare for a piece of commercial audio equipment to give you a magical experience - yet more commonplace for high-end equipment. I do my best to impart to our engineering staff the "tricks of the trade" in design choices that result in accessing our emotions rather than just providing a pleasant, analytically satisfying experience. It has to do with years of experimenting and discovering. It's nothing you can learn from a textbook. I hope other designers are taking the time and making the effort to impart this to their people. It'd be a shame to lose this art.