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Am I Bad Listener?

Let me say from the outset that I love audio gear and I love the sound of mid-high end audio. But here's the thing ...

The only part of a system that I can hear a real difference in is speakers. In my system over the past few months I have tested three different amps (a 30W tube, a 150W SS integrated and a 200W SS amp plus a bi-amp configuration), a tube preamp, no preamp (direct to amp via DAC with volume control) and most recently a bunch of different speaker wires (my original Audience Maestros, a DIY Home Depot 10 gauge concoction, Anticables and two other sets of very expensive wires borrowed from a local dealer - some bi-wired & some single with jumpers). Oh, and a series of different IC's.

With the possible exception of the insertion of the tube preamp, I can't really tell much of a difference regardless of what I do. I have had similar experiences at dealers. But switching back and forth between different speakers I can hear huge differences.

I think my system sounds really good but is modest by comparison to many on A'gon - Olive Musica, Benchmark DAC, Minimax Preamp, Meridian G57 amp (sometimes switched for a Classe or Prima Luna) - so maybe that's it. In a modest system the effect of switching components or wires just won't yield huge sound changes. Or maybe I just don't hear in a very detailed manner.

I spend a fair amount of time reading posts here and people claim to have genuine sonic revelations by switching an interconnect or a tube or piece of speaker wire. I love buying the new stuff and giving it a try but I just don't seem to ever hear a sonic revelation and end up re-selling it.

Does anyone share my experience or is there something this sad, pathetic audiophile is missing?
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pbb
1,140 posts
 
You are saying, in all candor, what most audiophiles can't bring themselves to admit: the differences, if any, are extremely small and obsessing over them gets in the way of enjoying the music.

I would leave well enough alone and buy records to enjoy and not analyze and scrutinize.

Welcome to the sane person's audio club!
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
And, of course, power handling - notice I mention under 95 db. Over 105 db and below 45 HZ there is a huge (very huge!) difference between 5k speakers, 10k, 15k and 20k.

Absolutely agree. A $5K mid range and treble sound can often be as good as $20K or more...the differences being almost negligible. Not so for the bass reproduction....this changes dramatically. Although an entry speaker with much effort put into heavy bass reproduction (to impress) often fails in the mid range miserably (compromises go in the mid range in order to produce a reasonable price speaker with prodigious bass).

You should note that once you are around 4k to 10k for a system, the improvements in 'under 95 db sound' and for 'sound above 35 or 45 HZ' - improvements tend towards more limited and relate to the kinds of adjectives I've mentioned versus sounding fundamentally different.

Fully agree. I would actually say however that there is tremendous improvement in the ENTIRE bass...harmonic distortion from playing ultra LF is a HUGE problem in the bass and it is simply very costly to keep it at 1% levels or less. Cheap bad bass at 30 Hz is WORSE than a speaker that rolls-off at 80 Hz.

My problem is that when I hear a difference, I can't say if it's better. Usually, there's give and take.

Exactly. Apart from the obvious tangible improvements to play correctly at more realistic sound levels a lot of differences at high end boil down to slight coloration here or there. The law of diminishing returns certainly applies.
jax2
3,031 posts
 
No pain, no gain. You must suffer to enjoy this hobby. May I suggest self-flaggelation? OK, that's kind of severe to start out...just go to the bank, get a nice tall stack of $100 bills, 20-30 to start. Stop at your local convenience store on the way home and get a few bags of ice. Come back home and fill the tub with ice cold water. Dump the ice in the water. Turn the shower on cold only so it's flowing into the tub of ice water. It's OK if the tub overflows...in fact it's better. Stand in the tub (no, you don't even have to take your clothes off) and under the shower with your stack of $100 bills an one-by-one tear each one of them to tiny pieces. You can let the pieces fall into the tub to drain and clog up your plumbing if you like. The more suffering, the more the potential for Nirvana once you finally 'get it'. Do this, and you'll have a nice start on the road to repentance for being a bad listener. Later on you can graduate to The Perch™, but lets not get ahead of ourselves now.

Marco
goatwuss
877 posts
 
ITball,

You are right on for the most part. Speakers, and their interaction with the acoustic environment (room) accounts for 95% of the sound you hear, good or bad, assuming that the rest of the components are at least mid-level quality.

Tubes vs. Tranistors is another thing that you will hear, though this might require a bit of practice and a revealing system. A 40W push-pull EL34 amp like a Jolida will sound pretty different than a Class A Krell or something. With a well setup system, this is something that everyone should be able to hear. Not to say that all tube amps/transistor amps sound different, but some topologies (like the above) will.

Tied with that, changes in source are pretty audible, especially with analog. Listen to a Rega table with a cheap cartridge, and then a big VPI table with an expensive cartridge. You will hear some major differences here.

Digital sources are mixed bag, and changes are often quite a bit more subtle. Like one of the above posters said, a higher-end digital source can be the difference between being able to easily follow a bassline, or having it kind of getting lost in the mix. It won't be a major "this whole stereo sounds like crap" thing with a cheaper digital player, unless the CDP is really bad. (1989 Circuit City Sony or something)

Like you, I don't hear notable differences between cables, tubes, most tweaks, and SS amps.
lak's avatar
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lak
4,624 posts
 
Here's a different view:
Several people have made excellent points that I totally agree with. In this particular scenario I'm wondering what type of power filtration system you are using?
For example do you have several (at least two) dedicated AC lines?
Are you using high-end AC outlets?
How clean is the electricity that is powering your system?
I'm not saying that's the cause, however it could be prohibiting you from hearing details and /or differences in the music.
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