Words From the Wise

1) spend as much on your front end components (CDP and turntable) as your amplifier and speakers

2) spend twice as much on software (LP's and CD's) as you do on your hardware

3) always buy power cords and interconnect used

4) never, ever admit the true price paid for anything to your significant other. White lies are part of the hobby

5) follow the advice of most on this site, it's invaluable

1. Start with a great front end. Information lost or corrupted at the beginning can't be corrected with speakers.

2. Tube amps are generally more musical than solid state. For the same money initially invested, tubes are better. They just cost more to maintain.

3 and 4... Excellent points

5. the most important point

1. Keep your perspective. There are far more important things to spend your time on, rather than comparing brand x component with brand z or worse thinking about it.

2. Don't follow the upgrade path to madness. Otherwise you will spend more to realize that you could have spent less.

3. Less is more.

4. Ignorance is bliss. Who cares if there are better components out as long as you like the music that is coming out of your speakers.

5. Forget the system and listen to the music. Go out and spend time listening to live music with friends and family. Leave audiophilia to those with nothing else better to do.

1. Always think of your system as a SYSTEM. You and it are only as strong as the weakest link. In other words, don't think that skimping in one spot can be made up elsewhere in the chain. It can't. Sooner or later, the "sore spot" will reveal itself. This is not to mention that your listening environment and attitude are a MAJOR part of what you hear & experience, so take that into consideration BEFORE all of the other variables.

B= KISS ( Keep It Simple, Stupid ). The more you have to think about it, the more complex it is. The more complex it is, the less likely you are to relax and enjoy it.

3: Realize early that there is always something newer or better on the market. If you can't get the "i've gotta have it" syndrome out of your system, at least try to make well planned progressive steps. The only way to do that is to know what you want to get out of your system to begin with.

4- Strive towards long term goals but do it in a fashion that makes for plenty of enjoyment along the way.

E) Try to involve as many friends and family members as you can in your hobby. Music is for sharing and enjoying. Who knows, you may end up with an audiophile sidekick to compare notes with. Two people make listening twice as good, etc...

F> Listen to as wide a variety of music as possible and don't neglect to do it "live". There is a BIG difference between listening to a recording of someone playing an instrument and experiencing someone weaving a web of musical notes.

7* Go back and look at how i indexed the various tips listed here. If you didn't notice that something was "funny" right away, you're overlooking a LOT of simple details. Learning to pay attention is half the battle when it comes to doing something "right".

Sean
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1. good electronics with good (no errors of comission) speakers will almost always sound better than great speakers with average electronics.
1a. get a decent pair of musical speakers and put most of your money in the electronics. Many very high quality speakers can be brutally revealing of upstream defects.
2. always buy cables/ics/ps used.
3. musicality always beat detail, imaging, soundstage over the long haul.
4. have fun.
4a. don't take it too seriously.
5. while audiophilia is not recognized as a disease, upgraditis can be addictive.