Words From the Wise

Speakers, transducers being the weakest link, are the prime determinant to the overall quality of your system. Buy the best speaker you can afford and then choose an amp to drive them. Once that's done, your choice of analogue or digital source is wide open. You can play anthing you want to its best advantage with the right speaker/amp combination.

Rep4ever, I used to agree with you but now don't. My experiences with vibration control suggest that even miniscule vibrations can make music reproduction fail to have the realism it might have. One company's introduction (StillPoints) of many devices with their new "technology in isolation feet has given me sound that I thought I would never hear out of reproduced music. All that I can say is that very small vibration that are not somehow excluded ones system ruin your sound whether you have great speakers or poor ones.

Monophonic High Fidelity: Yes, Yes, Yes!

Be honest with yourself and know your limitations. If you have a odd or small room which must be shared with the family you may be limited as your setup might be less than optimal. We all make compromises daily, but with highly revealing gear setup and matching is key. I had a pair of rear firing bipolar speakers in the 90's and lived in a rental with plaster walls with little or no room treatment, what an echo chamber. To say the least it was awful, but it wasn't the gear but the application. Many say brand X or Y is the best or maybe they tried and it sucked. Honestly I don't think you can buy crappy gear as it all can shine if properly implemented. Ever hear a bad review, not very often because the reviewers know how to optimize IMO YMMV.

1. Tune your ears: attend acoustic (unamplified) music concerts -- This will forever be your sound reference.

2. Your first purchases: speakers and a compatible amplifier. I bought good speakers and a compatible amp 24 years ago, and they have kept pace with all the upgrades and changes I've made to the front end. This year I finally upgraded my amplifier (went tube). You never want your speakers to be the limiting factor in your system -- they are very expensive to replace!

3. When you make a change, listen to it for at least a month before deciding whether the change is good or bad. You will always hear a difference when you change something, but determining whether the change is for better or worst takes time.

If the day ever comes when you stop thinking about your equipment, and just want to listen to music, you've hit the jackpot!!