It is fascinating psychology to see so many rationalize the way they did things or what they purchased/own as the best. It is the rare post of someone admitting error, or ignorance . I personally believe that everything matters, but certainly not of equal amounts. Also no doubt there are diminishing returns. IMHO, items that make the biggest impact on perceived sound are the room and electromechanical devices, ie, speakers and phono cartridges. And balance/synergy…any complex system can only be as good as it’s weakest link.
Question: What are some of your best pieces of advise to someone new to the hobby?
I have a friend who is interested in putting together a system and am putting together a little guide for him, compiling information I’ve found over the years, plus some of my own personal tips and tricks. However, I am by no means the end-all-be-all of knowledge and want to incorporate information, tips, and tricks from the community - however basic they may seem - into a nice reference resource.
Without specifically naming any pieces of gear or brands (this isn’t a product recommendation question), what are some of the biggest tips, tricks, important pieces of info to keep in mind, caveats, etc. that you would have for someone new?
*side note - hopefully this post can also serve as a nice reference point for people in the future, as well!
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i am happy with my headphone/speakers system... It is a low cost one well embedded acoustically,mechanically and electrically... I modified my speakers and my headphones too to reach the acoustic satisfaction minimal threshold which exist as exist a diminushing returns investment principle in audio ... My system price in my acoustic designed corner in my basement cost me well under 1000 bucks... A member here just say to me that i am wrong to trust my ears and tuning process and that i must buy an electronic equalizer because in his opinion all i did is wrong , our ears are deceiver... 😁.... It is not that some people cannot admit their error and wrong doing, it is the fact that they cannot even figure out what they did wrong because they never studied nor experiment and confuse the EQ manual with real acoustic... And they thought that the price tag of the components tell the acoustic experience story... The problem in the world is being able to admit his errors, most people can admit their errors save narcissist and psychopaths; the problem is that most people cannot even figure out how and why they are wrong to begin with then how can they admit anything ? ... Sincerity with ourself go a long way but studies and thinking with experiments goes a longer way... EQ is a useful tool and will never replace Acoustic treatment nor room tuning with resonators for example... Price tag reveal some design quality level but will never predict by itself the ultimate sound experience of someone... We need complex embeddings optimization for that ... 😊
«The problem is once he had admitted easily his recognized errors he missed anyway the sheer numbers of the unrecognized one » My Anonymus scientist wife 👩🔬
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Read first--it will actually help you figure out your goals. Harley's book may be the bible of high end audio but another very useful book on basics is Jim Smith's "Get Better Sound"--i found it helped me focus on the room as being the most important part of an audio system as many have mentioned here (unless of course you're focused on headphone listening only. He isn't solely focused on the room--many other useful principles are discussed in easy to understand terms and style. |
I mentioned acoustic without (s) for years here...I forgot that in english the noun need an (s)... Written in the singular it is more an adjective and refer to "room acoustic" for example... Witten with an (s) it refer to the science "acoustics"... It what was i meaned to say all these years... But many read me as if i was speaking merely on room acoustic... Acoustics , the science INCLUDE psycho-acoustic and neuro-acoustic and not only material acoustic and great Hall acoustic architecture and small room acoustic control and design ... The reason why audiophiles MUST STUDY acoustics concepts in general not only room acoustic is EVIDENT but rarely explained : No sound experience is understandable and describeable without these concepts... Most audio vocabulary refer to the gear system, for exemple "warm" and "cold" are associated to the gear alleged sound properties as with tubes or S.S. or dac and turntables, ( which is preposterous because all pieces of gear differ especially coupled in different conditions or modified ) instead of refering to the "timbre" experience" which cannot be understood anyway at all without understanding the 5 conditions defining timbre in acoustics and their control in a space.... Then most audiophiles as i am, begun to be open completely victim of marketing methods instead of being put on the road to understanding ... Gear had no sound in itself only specific potential characteristics manifested more or less , positively or negatively when coupled with other components and specific acoustic conditions ... Tthe system /room had a sound quality and a synergy making it able to give some TIMBRE impressions ... The same is true for all spatial characteristic of sound and of immersiveness which is the relation between the sound source width and the listener envelopment... No gear possess these characteristics as claim marketing conditioning , only the specific system/room/ears as a whole , working in a specific room for specific ears/brain,... |
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