Technical sophistication


Since joining this forum, I've been both amazed and sometimes intimidated by the technical sophistication of contributors. I'm wondering if many of you are engineers or have some similar background.

It seems that in-depth knowledge is sometimes (oftentimes?) required to set up a top-level system and - despite reading a couple of books and this forum, supplemented with online sites and a subscription to "Stereophile" (and "Absolute Sound" in the HP era) - I have no clear and present idea about what's going on, at least at a fundamental level. I've had "audiophile" (as defined by reviewers at various points in time) equipment for decades, but I consider myself a dilettante in this arena.

So, what are forum members perspectives on this observation?
Keith
kacomess
All someone has to do is use the word sophistication and uber shows up! 😀
mike_in_nc and @millercarbon,
I totally agree with your above valuable and helpful considerations. Because of this I just ordered the Harley's book that I was not aware.
Thanks so much and greetings from Italy.


The Harley book seems to me to serve more as a reference than a readily digestible plan of action. Nonetheless, it's quite good and more-or-less up to date.
There are online resources far more credible than what you'll find on this site or the magazine pubs - the BBC archives for example:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/search?query=Harwood&submit=&page=1