Top 10 Snafus to avoid when building a good rig

Biggest snafu ( mistake ) , is upgrading to gear that isn't really better , just different . If your going to take a step make it a good one .

The concept of "better" and "good" is entirely human. It does not exist in an objective sense because everything, and I mean everything, used to qualify "better" and "good" is something that exists as some abstract concept in our minds alone. Better and good does not exist beyond our own minds. "Better" is entirely relative to the perspective of an individual. It is subjective...entirely so, even though it may be a shared perspective. You can't tell anyone else what will be better for them. Period. End of story. And it's all just a story. So I'm not sure what you mean by "isn't really better". It's the "really" part that you lost me on - same with Mr.Tennis - I don't agree that some components are better than others, as such. They certainly are different. "Better" is relative to perspective. What is better to you, what perhaps makes a world of difference to you, may not occur to me to make any difference at all, nor might I call it "better" from my own perspective. This is where everything comes down to you, and your own personal preferences, and why the perspective of others should be taken as a point of departure to discover your own preferences. You are the only one who really knows for sure what is "better" to you. I'm not suggesting there may not be large groups of individuals who may agree on some things, but it is most certainly not objective. Ask the 99% of the population of the planet whether your mega $ audiophile system sounds "better" than a $500 system compiled from Best Buy, and you'll find out how entirely relative "better" is. Have them all (yeah, the entire population of the planet) taste a few different glasses of red wine and choose the best one (better have some fish and bread on hand too for all those people and make'em choose the better of those too), or choose a politician to lead their country, or a faith to live their lives by, and then come talk about "better". There are different components and they interact differently and present different results in reproducing music within a space. Lets make no mistake about it; the "better" part is entirely individual, and is a judgement and not an objective fact. Broadcasting from my own private Idaho.

I'll take a stab at this and hope that it helps someone because this is what I learned as I spent the last few years building my system.

1. Avoid starting out and not having a philosophy or a goal of what you want to achieve.

2. Avoid starting out and not having a game plan that lays out your entire planned, or eventual system with costs, components, etc.

3. Avoid being influenced by people that have agendas.

4. Avoid not trusting yourself and your ears.

5. Avoid listening to (if it is reasonable and you believe that you are on the right path) the family members, friends, etc. that tell you that you are spending too much time and money building a good rig. (And maybe they start implying that they may have to do an INTERVENTION on you).

6. Avoid listening to (if it is reasonable and you believe that you are on the right path) the fellow enthusiasts, etc. that listen to what you have assembled up to that point and start criticizing your system and start telling you what you need to change or buy.

Buy the same token avoid NOT LISTENING to fellow enthusiasts whose opinion you respect and whom you believe have your best interests at heart just because you may not be ready to hear what they have to say.

7. Avoid being impatient.

8. Avoid not deciding if you want your system to be home theater centric or audio centric (assuming that you have to make that decision).

9. Avoid (and I know that this one is really hard for many of us) purchasing equipment without doing a home demo where you can live with the component for awhile.

10. Avoid buying a component that your are really not sure if you need it or what you will do with it but "heck, it was a really good price."

Hope this helps anyone that's interested.

Musicpod

I have one more things to avoid..

11. Avoid being married.........

"Avoid starting out and not having a game plan that lays out your entire planned, or eventual system with costs, components, etc."

That's very good advice!

Spending WAYYYYY too much time defending opinions on Audiogon!