Engineers at the University of Utah discover the brain overrides what we hear based on what we see. Even when we hear the correct thing, our visual senses will cause the auditory signal to be overridden. This research was done with the context of speech, but it goes to show there is a lot to learn about how humans hear. This indicates people with hearing loss can improve what they hear by reading lips.
How does this relate to music played back through hi-fi gear? It may or may not, but it would seem that how you hear depends in part to what you are looking at. Will watching TV or people watching while you are listening change your experience with gear? It has been shown that people appearance plays a large role in being able to judge music competition winners, so it isn’t just all in the ears.
How much does the look of your surroundings play a role in how you hear your gear? The One Sense headphone might have been onto something, even if they didn’t know it since the headphone was designed for “the human need for periods of peace and tranquility.” People say listening in the dark is the best way to truly experience audio playback. What do you think?