Can Speakers Make You Cry On Command?

I saw a famous YouTuber crying his eyes out in a thumbnail

I clicked

He's notorious for calling out fake sales claims

Here, he tests $4K headphones said to play music so intensely they make you involuntarily cry. He roasts 'em.

Then 11min later, he cries. Why do they work? 🧵 pic.twitter.com/ftLMEdthtm

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

First, are you telling me that, with the aid of clever engineering, speakers can tickle your brain into a state of catharsis—on command?

How did I not know this was a thing?

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

Sounds like a catch-free way of giving yourself dopamine hits throughout the day. Like eating your favorite snack with no repercussions. Over and over again.

So the next day, I visited local hifi audio stores.

My plan:

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

1. To hear if the best speakers could hijack my brain and send me to euphoria.

2. I also wanted to hear my favorite songs sound 10x better. What would that be like?

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

The first speaker setup I listened to was priced at $160,000, which is crazy.

It was engineered by university researchers to maximize control over sound reproduction with razor-sharp precision.

It was fascinating to hear music sound so... pic.twitter.com/CUg7RTQp3e

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

... controlled.

Think of a race car with high-end calipers that can stop on a dime. That’s what these do.

This is not something you'd hear in nature. It was the first time I realized there are ways of reproducing music I’d never heard before.

Interesting. However...

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

... the speakers eventually fatigued my ears.

Next up was this $38K pair of speakers: pic.twitter.com/Enrn4z83II

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

They sounded good. More of everything you'd want—more dynamics, more bass, more immersion.

But they certainly didn’t make me cry.

After four hours of listening to this stuff...

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

... I began to realize that hifi is an engineers’ pursuit of one-upping each other for greater sonic clarity, scale, dynamics, and bass.

And the reason Linus the YouTuber cried was actually due to his song choice (it was emotional).

Before leaving the store, though...

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

...I asked to listen to one more system: the Audiovector R6 Arreté. I had seen it among the best-reviewed speakers.

The store owner obliged, asked me to sit in a particular location, and did something he hadn’t done before...

Stayed in the room to watch me.

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

Specifically, to watch my feet.

He hit play and we listened to a test track. pic.twitter.com/T9ZvnsT05v

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

Sweet.

Mother.

Of.

Johannesburg.

Whereas the other speakers sounded like my ears were being hit with sound, this speaker sounded like it filled the room with a river of sound, and that I was standing in the middle of the stream.

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

Meaning, the music was no longer being played *at* my ears, rather it was flowing through my ears.

What the heck was going on? How was this being achieved?

Was this the equivalent of those $4,500 headphones that made Linus cry?

I asked the store owner to crank the volume up.

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

I noticed that, unlike with other speakers, instead of the music sounding like it was playing louder, it became increasingly absorbing as it wrapped around my shoulders and hugged me.

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

When playing a live concert track while closing my eyes, it got hard to tell that I wasn’t actually at a concert.

But it was so much better than a concert.

It was like being perfectly centered in a stadium’s acoustic sweet spot—while music engulfs you completely.

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

I now realized why the store owner was watching my feet: because I couldn’t stop tapping.

It was impossible not to when your brain was being hijacked by your favorite song suddenly sounding 10x better than you’ve ever heard it before.

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

You would not believe @mattreevesLA + @m_giacchino's The Batman score.

Sheesh.

This wasn’t the "more of everything" I described earlier—more dynamics, more bass, and so on. No, this speaker transcended to a different level.

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

Think of it like this:

Imagine only eating rice and beans for 40 years then suddenly being handed a Twix caramel chocolate bar.

The Twix isn’t merely more of what you’ve already experienced—more starchiness and more chew.

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

No, it’s a different experience altogether involving sugar-induced insulin and dopamine release.

That's what this was.

It reminded me of Perfect Level from Rick and Morty: something you never knew existed and you'll never shake once you’ve felt it.https://t.co/t6fgB9VZkl pic.twitter.com/Cg9iNs08sm

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

Or maybe it's more like those Magic Eye puzzles where a hidden holographic dimension emerges when you have the right view: pic.twitter.com/2MdHgbVam2

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

So it was that afternoon that I discovered there’s a subculture of brilliant engineers devising ways to provide non-stop dopamine hits in the form of euphoric audio.

In the comfort of your home.

Oh, I haven't mentioned movies yet.. I will rewatch @JamesGunn's movies now.

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

After a year of hifi testing, I've written a guide on https://t.co/8y68CQA9Ep to give you a taste of this experience.

It shows you how to buy your own speaker setup too.

I have nothing to sell—no ads—just having fun like usual.

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023

Many speakers are returnable with 30-day return periods. So if you can afford a test, perhaps try it.

It also covers why the Audiovectors sound so good. What’s going on with those?

Plus, I bet you're curious: What does hifi sound like? Well, the guide features audio samples.

— Julian Shapiro (@Julian) March 24, 2023