Words From the Wise

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.

1.have fun with the whole thing. In a sense hi-fi components are tools for enjoying music but they're also toys. when you take home that piece, you should be excited and happy (like a kid at xmas), not anxious and worried about how much $ you just spent. decide how much great sound is worth to you before buying.
2.audition stuff at home as much as you can, with your own components and room interacting with the auditioned piece
3.use your favorite music (stuff you've heard a million times) to audition things - that way you'll be aware what a system or component is doing (or not doing) - the "wow, I never heard that before" effect
4.audition things in a relaxed situation, take your time, then put the thing-to-be-replaced back into the system at the end of the audition to see the contrast again
5.find a dealer who 1) has stuff that sounds good to you and 2) you can trust (i.e. will let you take things home to try without charging your credit card). you'll pay more to buy from 'bricks and mortar', but until you're educated and confident about this stuff, the information and help the trustworthy dealer gives you will be enormously useful

No one else's opinion is superior to your own ears.

If you don't have the time, patience or ability to discern a difference in a component, tweak or upgrage - don't buy it.