I felt bad. A few years ago I had been asked by a very proud owner what I thought of his sound system. It was good. It wasn't great. And, while still being respectful of all the time and energy he had placed in his system, I gently let him know where I thought it needed some improvement. He was actually appreciative of the advice and I suspect used it to better his setup.
So, why did I feel badly? Because he didn't hear the flaws that I did–and he was happy as hell about the sound. Once I pointed out the weakness, he now heard it too. His system went from great to slightly flawed within seconds, based on a few observations I made.
I struggle with this. I remember a similar incident in my own life, years ago. I had built what I considered a beautiful piece of furniture; a stereo system. It was a tall and slender single box, mono of course, turntable on top, woofer on the bottom. And I proudly displayed it to a friend–who promptly pointed out its many flaws.
Yes, I learned from that experience. But I wonder sometimes…
