@glupson
Visit a high end audio show and judge for yourself.
Knowing your room and what is appropriate for your room is very important. I have three different models (design tiers/cost levels) of a speaker made by one manufacturer. The middle and/lower level models work best in my room. The highest cost model is not appropriate for my room (and given the height of its tweeters and midranges, I doubt audio holography would be possible with them if in a seated listening position). Im sharing this as just a small example of when more expensive does not equate to a better listening experience.
And as a ‘chicken or the egg’ sort of thing, you need to decide what you are building your system around. Generally, you need to start building your system within the constraints presented to you by your intended listening room. After that what you build your system around will be based on what you want to hear and what gear helps get you closer to that goal. This takes trial and error and will change during the course of your journey (unless you just pay someone to do it for you, but then you don’t really learn as much, but is still totally valid audiophilia). As pieces move in and out of your system you will find areas of your setup that need improvement. It’s fun, takes time...but when you are reliably having near-spiritual experiences while listening to music, it’s very rewarding!
I have found that speaker choice and room interaction is most important. Making choices regarding placement of speakers, tweeter height, some form of bass frequency control (back wall bounces will kill your bass!), flooring and general room treatments will have the greatest impact on the listening experience. Amplification is next. Thirdly something that cleans up the power feeding your gear is of great importance. Balanced power solutions are integral to my system.
Visit a high end audio show and judge for yourself.
Knowing your room and what is appropriate for your room is very important. I have three different models (design tiers/cost levels) of a speaker made by one manufacturer. The middle and/lower level models work best in my room. The highest cost model is not appropriate for my room (and given the height of its tweeters and midranges, I doubt audio holography would be possible with them if in a seated listening position). Im sharing this as just a small example of when more expensive does not equate to a better listening experience.
And as a ‘chicken or the egg’ sort of thing, you need to decide what you are building your system around. Generally, you need to start building your system within the constraints presented to you by your intended listening room. After that what you build your system around will be based on what you want to hear and what gear helps get you closer to that goal. This takes trial and error and will change during the course of your journey (unless you just pay someone to do it for you, but then you don’t really learn as much, but is still totally valid audiophilia). As pieces move in and out of your system you will find areas of your setup that need improvement. It’s fun, takes time...but when you are reliably having near-spiritual experiences while listening to music, it’s very rewarding!
I have found that speaker choice and room interaction is most important. Making choices regarding placement of speakers, tweeter height, some form of bass frequency control (back wall bounces will kill your bass!), flooring and general room treatments will have the greatest impact on the listening experience. Amplification is next. Thirdly something that cleans up the power feeding your gear is of great importance. Balanced power solutions are integral to my system.