"Get Better Sound"

What's old is new... and what's new is old. Granted there's no silver bullet here, but the book makes you think about everything you could be doing... before buying a new piece of equipment to remedy a conceived issue.

An alternative and good addition to 'Better' is 'Sound Reproduction' from Floyd Toole. I am partial to the idea that 95% of 'better sound' lies in the speakers, placement and room treatment. Matching a speaker to a room is where the hard work lies. I enjoyed 'Better' and 'Sound'. Trial and error (?), no just keep tweaking the room/treatment. Spend time in getting a good room analyis via free computer software and 'see' what you hearing. Understanding 'sound' is the hardest part of this hobby.

I think the book can be a little useful but overall it really probably is not worth the money.

FWIW - there is a longer thread on this topic over in "Best of" - "Is Jim Smith's Book, "Get Better Sound", Best Book?"

Note, although my member name is "hornguys" (from the time when I imported Avantgarde Acoustics Hornspeakers), I am actually Jim Smith, the author of the book in this thread.

As an audiophile with over 30 years of experience I found Jim's book quite refreshing. Not for the groundbreaking new information it provided, but confirmation of many of my own discoveries and experiences. My system really benefited from Jim's experience and advice concerning what to listen for on the 'Chieftans' recording. By following Jim's advice I've really dialed my system in. I would really recommend Jim's book to any budding audiophile as Jim has really provided guidance in purchasing the various tweaks and other audio 'Stuff". I prefer his approach to the books by Robert Hartley as Jim's book is more "hand's on instead of just describing/defining what various equipment is. This is not a knock against Mr. Hartley's books which I also own and have enjoyed reading. As a teacher, I've found that there are few books that I've read that haven't provided some new facet of knowledge to treasure.
Thanks Mr. Smith and Mr. Hartley for your efforts.
Sgr