A Few Audio Truths I've Learned?

Ah....two more I wished I would have stuck in:

15.] Electronics is science that requires art to be great. Music is art that requires science to be great.

And, off track but kind of along the same lines and because I love playing drums and get to teach a little, something I share with my students to help them get better grades in school and be a more encompassing drummer:

Drumming is mathematics artistically applied.

Wished I would have known that when I was in high school. I might have gotten something better than a D - LOL!

Cheers!

Robert

I think we forget about #16 (the first #16 in the original post) too often. We tend to speak in absolutes. "This amp is better than that amp", etc. It always depends on associated gear, room, personal preferences. Synergy or lack of it can make or break any piece of gear.

Great post!!!

I am sitting here listening to a late 80's Realistic Receiver as a placeholder in my system while I await my new integrated amp...and I'm smiling ear-to-ear as I enjoy Hugh Masekela's Hope on CD! Good thing this is a hobby and not life and death : )

For me, I'd like to share the following from my journey...

1) Room acoustics are as [more???] important as any component choice. I think of it as getting your money's worth out of any purchase. The treatments that I built and installed have yielded more gain in system performance than any component swap EVER!!!

2) Different is different; not necessarily better.

Good luck in your travels...and enjoy some music along the way!!!

Eweedhome: You have a sense of humor with timing. Very entertaining. One comment regarding above the above wisdom, IN CAPS:

"12. Find the Audiophile club in your town or city. Nothing is more helpfull [sic] then advice of fellow audiophils [sic] and access to gear that you never [sic] heard before." I FOUND MINE, AND NEVER BEFORE HAVE I SEEN SUCH AN ASTONISHING COLLECTION OF UNSOCIALIZED GEARHEADS AND GEEKS IN ONE SPOT. IT MADE ME ASHAMED TO BE AN AUDIOPHILE AND I IMMEDIATELY UN-FOUND THEM, NEVER TO BE FOUND AGAIN.

I am not at the moment up for setting out an exhaustive list of things that I have come to discover about audio gear, but I'll provide a few, which will be familiar to Audiogoners who have paid attention to my posts over the years:

1. Most people do not understand tube amps: watts per channel are irrelevant if, like 97% of all tube amps (and that includes many allegedly very good ones), they use mediocre output transformers and power supplies. First-rate output transformers and power supplies are exceedingly heavy and exceedingly expensive, which means to look for a back-breaking, budget-busting tube amp if you want to do it right. If you can't afford to buy one with this profile, buy good solid-state instead.

2. You often hear "[R]un a tube preamp with a solid-state amp". If you're talking about top-shelf equipment, it's just the opposite. Here's why: (i) tube preamps cannot compete with the low noise floor of the best solid-state preamps, low noise being CRUCIAL (is that clear enough?) at the preamplification stage; (ii) with the exception of the ones that are transformer-coupled, most tube preamps have output impedances that are too high to drive the majority of solid-state amps without some bass rolloff; (iii) really good solid-state preamps layer space just as well as tube pre's; and (iv) with the exception of a tiny handful of the very best solid-state amps, solid-state amps cannot layer space like a tube amp. All of this said, if you are on a budget and can find a solid-state amp with a high-ish input impedance and the interconnect run between your preamp and amp will not exceed 2 meters, a tube pre combined with solid-state amp will generally cause less problems than the alternatives.

3. If you own a tube preamp or tube DAC and are having to re-tube every three to six months, throw out the current tubes, re-tube the component, but leave it turned on 24/7 and when not listening, keep the volume turned down to zero and if you have one, keep the mute button engaged. When, in three years, you notice that the tubes are still going strong and sound better than ever, remember this #3 and the fact that tube gear manufacturers and tube vendors make their money selling replacement tubes. CAVEAT: this may not work if your component has tubes in the power supply.

4. Too many of the people posting on Audiogon do not know what they are talking about. If you have a f-cking question about your gear, call the manufacturer first. When your refrigerator is acting up, do you drive to the middle of a mall parking lot and start asking people walking to their cars for advice about how to fix it? Audiogon is that parking lot.

5. For the love of God, if Atmasphere or Kr4 or Rives are nice enough to post on this site, just accept what they write and consider yourself lucky that they have condescended to throw us a bone. Atmasphere: everything nasty I wrote above about tubes does not apply to you and your stuff - PEOPLE, THIS GUY STILL HAND-WIRES ALL HIS GEAR AND HE KNOWETH NOT THE WORD "FEEDBACK".

Upon entering the realm of so called “high end audio”….. be afraid. Be very afraid…. And bring money.

1 Check your ego at the door and you’ll write less checks.
2 Contempt prior to investigation is the only true bar to the enhancement of the auditory experience and your own genuine satisfaction.
3 Everything matters….. E V E R Y T H I N G!
4 Have an auditory exam every now and then.
5 Different is easier to come by than better.
6 Be honest…. And with yourself most of all.
7 If you wish to explore tube based audio…. Find a good tube vendor.
8 Find a good local repair tech.
9 The statements surrounding audible improvements derived from the use of aftermarket cabling, power conditioning, and isolation, are not urban legends.
10 buying without trying first can and does work….. in the end.
11 Never allow yourself to be intimidated by a dealership. If they’re not about satisfying your wants? Just say good bye and leave. There are far too many other places that do want your business.
12 Expensive doesn’t always equate to better. It does always equate to expensive.
13 Attaining a synergistic system takes more than just plugging in and out different components. Eg., cabling, PLC, and isolation, above.
14 if you’re about to remodel, it’s probably a good idea to hold off on buying them purple Zebrawood speakers until after the project is completed.
15 Change tubes before the listening event…. Not during…. Unless you have an Ov-glove handy, or you’re The Human Torch.
16 IF after several months of speaker placement adjustments have been made without obtaining complete satisfaction….. move the chair.
16a If moving the chair around yields similar results, buy headphones.
17 Don’t swap in & out ICs while the gear is turned on.
18 Pay by credit card.
19 Ship expensive; out of production; and/or matched items, banded to pallets; air mail; or both.
20 Ask questions. There are no bad questions, but there are bad choices made by their lack.
21 If you can’t hear or see the difference, don’t pay the difference.
22 The room is important, as are it’s treatments. Eg., see EVERYTHING above.
23 When constructing an up stairs system, buy lightweight stuff.
24 During cable auditions, before a final decision is made, plug back in the current wires and listen to them one more time.
25 Involve the whole family in the audio or video hobby! Even if it’s against their will. Other types of hobbies will lend themselves to this effort. Like for instance,“hunting”.
26 If an involuntary family effort is forced, along with a local tech, and good tube vendor, keep an attorney on retainer.
26 This is the most important aspect of the high end audio mystique, or psychosis. If you’re experiencing “the grass is greener on the other side’’ syndrome more often than not, with regard to chasing gear for the perfect fit…. “It’s time to water your own lawn”.

Remember perfection is an ‘illusion’. Outstanding, however, can be acquired with lot’s more ease, and with a great variety of paths.