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What Matters and What is Nonsense

I’ve been an audiophile for approximately 50 years. In my college days, I used to hang around the factory of a very well regarded speaker manufacturer where I learned a lot from the owners. When I started with audio it was a technical hobby. You were expected to know something about electronics and acoustics. Listening was important, but understanding why something sounded good or not so good was just as important. No one in 1968 would have known what you were talking about if you said you had tweaked your system and it sounded so much better. But if you talked about constant power output with frequency, or pleasing second-order harmonic distortion versus jarring odd-order harmonics in amplification, you were part of the tribe.

Starting in the 1980s, a lot of pseudo scientific nonsense started appearing. Power cords were important. One meter interconnects made a big difference. Using a green magic marker on the edge of a CD was amazing. Putting isolation dampers under a CD transport lifted the veil on the music. Ugh. This stuff still make my eyes roll, even after all these years.

So I have decided to impart years and years of hard won knowledge to today’s hobbists who might be interested in reality. This is my list of the steps in the audio reproduction chain, and the relative importance of each step. My ranking of relative importance includes a big dose of cost/benefit ratio. At this point in the evolution of audio, I am assuming digital recording and reproduction.

Item / Importance to the sound on a scale of 1-10 / Cost benefit ratio

  • The room the recording was made in / 8 / Nothing you can do about it
  • The microphones and setup used in the recording / 8 / nothing you can do about it.
  • The equalization and mixing of the recording / 10 / Nothing you can do about it
  • The technology used for the recording (analog, digital, sample rate, etc.) / 5 / nothing you can do about it.
  • The format of the consumer recording (vinyl, CD, DSD, etc.) 44.1 - 16 really is good enough / 3 / moderate CB ratio
  • The playback device i.e. cartridge or DAC / 5 / can be a horribe CB ratio - do this almost last
  • The electronics - preamp and amp / 4 / the amount of money wasted on $5,000 preamps and amps is amazing.
  • Low leve interconnects / 2 / save your money, folks
  • Speaker cables / 3 / another place to save your money
  • Speakers / 10 / very very high cost to benefit ratio. Spend your money here.
  • Listening room / 9 / an excellent place to put your money. DSPs have revolutionized audio reproduction
In summary, buy the best speakers you can afford, and invest in something like Dirac Live or learn how to use REW and buy a MiniDSP HD to implement the filters. Almost everything else is a gross waste of money.
128x128phomchick
fleschler
2,015 posts
 
Right on.  I have a $100,000 system with only Legacy Focus (original) speakers which sell for $2,500 used.  It sounds great, better than 90% of audio show rooms (well maybe higher than that).   However, it required use of Synergistic Research HFT room treatment system and two pairs of Hallographs which together cost more than $5,000 to tame the room's slap echo and focus the soundstage (while opening the seating area to five people across).  The only audio show room that completely blew away my system and any other I've heard was the Kronos/VAC/Von Schwiekert/Mastersounds $1.4 million room, touted by every reviewer as the ultimate in music reproduction fidelity (and fun).
Here's a secret-The Pioneer DV-05 DVD player with dual laser pick-up.  Modding it with six big capacitors and a high end A/C cable transforms it into a fantastic CD player.  All for under $200 and equal to my EAR Acute which is $6K.  I own both, with the Pioneer in the living room system (see Oregonpapa's Pioneer player which replaced his Audio Research $10k player when the latter failed).  
What I am saying is that one can build a superb system on the cheap and that the room acoustics are at least 50% (I wouldn't say 85% as above) of the sound quality.


fleschler
2,015 posts
 
I posted this on another forum but it's relevant here too. 

There is a problem with HEA. That is summarized in today's article from Enjoy the Music: Come Admire My Hi-Fi Jewelry Roger Skoff writes about what things cost, and why.  This essay delivers an important message about many HEA manufacturers (and their clients). The equipment must appeal to the eye/visually or else it won't sell, regardless of audio quality according to many HEA manufacturers.  
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/0618/HiFi_Jewelry.htm  This is probably why there were so many new (and differently conceived) turntables at the recent Munich audio show. Just check out Michael Fremer's AnalogPlanet.com site for several hours of exploration of the new LP spinners. For some, looks mean almost nothing. For others (and generally very expensive) the visuals are striking.  
prof
3,474 posts
 
I’m all for audiophile jewelry! That is I do like manufacturers to pay attention to the design and finish of their components. At the expense of sound quality? Of course not. But these items are not going in to a closet - especially speakers which become part of one’s furniture. So I’d like to be able to think "that looks nice" when looking at these items. It matters to me.  I bought a very nice looking turntable and took much care to place it on a beautiful roasted maple wood isolation base.  I truly get great satisfaction every time I look at or interact with the set up because it's so pleasing to the eye.  (There are reasons people buy beautiful analog watches when they could buy cheap, crappy looking digital watches that tell time even better.  It's not irrational considerations that drive these preferences.). 

I have certainly seen quite a number of audiophile systems from the "looks mean nothing" camp and...yeesh!...no thanks! I prefer good sound and good looks.

clearthink
1,421 posts
 

fleschler"There is a problem with HEA. That is summarized in today's article from Enjoy the Music: Come Admire My Hi-Fi Jewelry Roger Skoff writes about what things cost,"

That article is FAKE NEWS he does not name his source any one can write an article like that when they quote an unamed highly placed source or highly regarded designer or some other person who's name they do not give it is nonsense don't believe everything you read!
playmore
15 posts
 
Fleschler
Thanks for that post. Just so happens I was looking for a transport to the Bitfrost for CD's not yet ripped or friend  brings over. Replacing a very creaky Marantz 63 (original owner). I have good experience with Pioneer transports but was not sure about DVD versions. Found a DV 05 with no remote for 50 + 20. and the current set up does not allow for remote use easily anyway. Eventually suspect I will stumble on remote.
It will be interesting to compare the ouput from Pioneer analog with Bitfrost from the digital out, real easy to A B with no latency from pre amp.Sound IS better from Bitfrost compared to ancient Marantz.

Speaking of tweaking the current pre is an older Denon IC based unit recapped and all Op Amps changed to modern high level versions. The pv8 currently lives elsewhere. The re do went well meaning I did not induce oscillation with high speed opamps or otherwise bugger it up and seems to not be the limitting factor in the system. By comparing to no pre amp. Helps to have an EE buddy with pro de-soldering equipment to get all the ICs out. The process taught me a lot about op amp design and state of the art of those little dead bug looking things...
Back to the original post, there are a lot of op amps in the production chain of most of what we listen to. I guess we have to be playing pre 1965 or so vinyl to get away from them? So the IC nay sayers have a BIT of explaining to do. Not inviting rants, although thoughtfull informed commentary always welcome. I do like my cj PV8 more, but then, tubes is tubes.
Thanks again again fleschler, I'll report on the Pioneer. (You weren't by chance selling a DV 05 just now for 50 + 20 ?)
: )
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