Audiophile slang
Objectivist
Also called objectivism, measurements-first, subjectivist
An objectivist is an audiophile who trusts measurements and blind listening tests over sighted impressions, and holds that gear which measures transparent sounds the same. The opposing camp, subjectivists, trust what they hear in normal listening. The argument between them is the hobby’s oldest.
The objectivist case rests on decades of blind tests in which listeners failed to tell competent amplifiers, DACs and cables apart, and on the fact that sighted listening is easily swayed by price and appearance. Measurements such as SINAD and Frequency response are, on this view, the whole story for electronics, and most of it for headphones and speakers.
The subjectivist reply is that blind tests are stressful and short, that measurements do not capture everything, and that long-term listening reveals differences the lab misses. Many on both sides agree that transducers and rooms matter most and that recordings matter more still; they differ about everything upstream.
audiophila. tries to keep the two apart on product pages: specifications, independent measurements and owner impressions are labeled as what they are, as the methodology page explains. Members tag chains "Objectivist" when they were built on measurements, and the term is used with pride on one side and as a mild insult on the other.
Where you’ll see this on tonistry.
- Members tag their chains Objectivist.