Think twice before concluding some thing sounds better


Often anything good that is merely different seems better.    So many aspects of sound, things to listen for. Takes time to really know what parts are better and what might actually be worse in a complementary sense 
mapman
Gentlemen, this is an amazing occurrence.  We're in general agreement on the subject in discussion. *G*
Once upon a time in the distant galaxy known as CA, I used to haunt Pacific Stereo outlets and other retailers to the point that other customers thought I worked there.  But from it I learned what I liked and what I didn't, and made my selections of what I wanted to live with from those.  In home demos didn't really exist then, and I wanted to get the best bang for my bucks and my ears that I could reasonably afford....
Very little got returned, and I became educated on the hows' and whys' of setting those items up to become what worked for me wherever I was calling home at the time.  As the market aged with us, and the esoteric telescoped out of my reach financially, I opted to 'detune' my tastes.  Rather than reach for the untouchable, I moved towards active eq and simpler 'tricks' to make what I had create the performance I could live with and enjoy the music it could recreate.   Which is what I thought then and still do now was the whole point of it....ultimately the music, and not the pursuit of the equipment that recreated it.  If it sounded good to me, it worked and was 'good enough'.
The analogy that I draw upon is this:
V. van Gogh created painted with what he could afford, as did many of the Impressionists'.  Jackson Pollock used ordinary house paint for many of his works.  Some of the blues musicians that are now legends began with guitars from pawn shops or other 'affordable' outlets.
We all listen within our means.  Some means are broader than others.  No less valid, no less satisfying.  If it makes you smile, taps your foot, or drums your fingers, or moves your soul, It Works. *S*  And life is beautiful for awhile. ;)
I'm still chasing an impression, a desire for 'something different' in what I've  listened to.  I'm just involved in a different approach, a pursuit of something I heard long ago that I'm attempting to recreate for myself for my own amusement and desires.  These devices do exist but are beyond my means to merely buy.  A Quixotic pursuit perhaps...but, as it stands now, they work decently enough to make me smile.  And I'm curious and engaged enough to pursue making them Better, to see how far I can push my personal envelope of skills and abilities....
If, one day, I can make you drop your jaw and widen your eyes upon hearing them, I'll know I'm getting there....
If I can make you drop the drink in your hand, I'm There. ;)
(Concrete floor, no concern about the mess....*G*)
We all have our goals.  My 'bucket list' is just a little Different...
Onhwy61,  I wish to God that recording engineers spent more time trying to get better sound.  So much of what they produce sounds like crap that no amount of money spent at home can fix.  The improvements that could be made in the recording studio dwarf what we can do at home, at least within the budget constraints most of us have.
tomcy6,
Truer words have not been spoken. The crap we get from the major record labels leave a lot to be desired. I mentioned on a different thread of listening to a well recorded 16 bit CD of a jazz band, done by Tony Manasian and it laid to rest any dreams of going high rez, for the foreseeable future. I believe he only uses two mikes (partially his design) and no equalization and the end product even bettered any Mapleshade CDs that I have. Talk about a purist. The performers literally left the speakers: a first in my living room.

The end result is literally in reach for all of us if the recording was done right in the first place. One of the biggest frauds perpetrated on us is the notion that we can get more out of a recording if only.....

All the best,
Nonoise