2. misc-audio
  3. 1303487258

The downward spiral.....

I've loved listening to (and playing) music for the last 35 years. I was trained as a pianist and suspect that my ears are at least decent (even if they do stick out
a little more than I'd like...)

Like so many of us, I suspect, I have assembled more high-end systems that I can remember - heaven only knows how much money I've spent, how many
reviews I've pored over, how many times I've labored over cable-matching, AB comparisons, toeing in massive speakers just that final 1/16 inch to get the soundstage
just right, rearranging living rooms to minimize that nasty hump at 56 Hz etc etc. I'm sure many of you can relate...

Being a bit of a contrarian at heart I recently have been conducting the Ultimate Experiment - the Final Downgrade. A few months ago I came into possession of an
old pair of Quad 57s (now being rebuilt) with matching 303 power amp. As those who know these things, the sounds emanating from these devices was sublime.
It made me think. Here I was listening to simply beautiful music through some of the cheapest components I've ever bought. What if I continued my downward financial
progress?
Out went some very expensive tube amplification, German turntable, carbon fiber arm, expensive MC cartridge, Nordost cable, tube output SACD player etc. In came a Thorens TD125,
complete with SME 3009, V15III, and the cheapest decent CD player I could find (the original Rega Planet). For the phone/preamp I chose a pair of Pro-Ject components,
As soon as I can find a Quad 33 I'll grab it and do a little renovation, esp on the phono section. As the speakers were being now rebuilt I acquired an old pair of
Maggies (12QR) to tide me over. The interconnects are strictly mid-fi, and the speaker cable less than that. The new (non-ported) subwoofer was relatively expensive - about
$450, but not well-known.
I anticipate the cost of the whole system will be around $2300. The average age of the components will be 35 years old.

What am I losing? Certainly not money, that's for sure! Perhaps a few Hertz at the bottom end. Perhaps. What surprises me daily (I listen usually for about 4 hours a day to everything
between 12th century plainsong to rap and everything between) is that this relatively cheap and certainly very old-fashioned system does so much that is absolutely right. I feel no
pressing needs to upgrade anything; no tweaking necessary. The music comes through as I want.
In my spare time I still haunt the local high-end stores and listen to some ultra expensive gear: not once have I gone home with an axe to do The Right Thing to my '70s
system.

So, my question is a simple one. How much progress has there been since 1970? For the last thirty years I have firmly believed that each year has brought some progress.
Now I question this. As I write this I am listening to a record pressed in 1975 (Neville Marriner) and my happiness is complete. Am I losing my grip?
--
57s4me
57s4me OP
30 posts
 
In response, I'm in my mid-50s.
Perhaps this means gradual hearing loss is part of the picture - not sure about this though.
Drubin, your point is well-taken. I've always loved the hobby (because it involves music all the time) and the constant searching for improvements.
But there's a more profoundly important point, at least so I'm beginning to believe; this is to do with the arbitrary source material...

There is no Absolute Standard for recordings, or for live music either. Just about every recording, pressing, equalization, listening room, etc etc, is different. Is it not true that some systems/rooms will work better with some sources, and not others? I for one have experienced audio nirvana with some recordings - but in specific sytems - and been disappointed in other systems with the same source material.

And vice versa!

This is one of the fundamental reasons for my "downgrading"
With my present, more humble, system, some of my recordings sound divine, more so than before. Perhaps others don't.

It almost feels like a lottery!

I don't have room for multiple systems. It feels like every system I've ever put together has had its own set of "favorite recordings". This one is no exception. As I write I'm listening to a CD re-issue of Billy The Kid in the Living Stereo series - thrillingly involving!

It's an odd business to be sure, with no clear winners and losers.....
1markr
594 posts
 
Very well said 57s4me... you wrote exactly what I think, especially paragraph two. Couldn't agree with you more!
csontos
1,311 posts
 
57s4me, I'm also in my mid-fifties. I agree with your assessment but there is no absolute standard for gear either, which is why the results are so skewed. I've arrived at the position that the gear has to be "truly flat", given that all other parameters are functionally of high caliber. Otherwise you have some recordings that are fabulous and some that are horrible. This way they're pretty well all going to be at least "good". You actually begin hearing the source material instead of a skewed end product being influenced and quite often ruined by gear that injects it's own flavor. In many cases exacerbating an already challenged recording. I find this to be true all the way up the scale in terms of the fidelity of the source material. Is the the goal not having the gear "disappear? That's when you truly listen to the "music". That's when the gear is performing phenomenally.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,825 posts
 
I'm 57 and after reading these posts I've come a similar conclusion to that of
Csontos. A relatively flat response, amp and source wise, had gone a long way to making all of my CDs sound better than before. Since it has finally broken in, even recordings I wouldn't have listened to again sound pretty darn good, if not really good. The bad ones still sound poor but that is due to the limits of the recording industry back then. Granted, as 57s4me pointed out, every pressing is of different quality and nowadays you can really hear the differences, but a flat response will make most of them shine.
I left speakers out of this since they should be allowed the various shades of tone and rolloffs and what have you and not the other way so the music has at least a chance of coming through as clean as possible before it arrives at the speakers.
I hope I didn't open a can of worms here but that is my take.
csontos
1,311 posts
 
Remember, the entire system is nothing but a "playback device" and the weakest link,ie: your speakers, are what you get used to the quickest.
More to discover