What are the odds......


....of making a really good sounding system better?

If it is really good odds are it is very hard to make better.

If it gets better all the time chances are it may not have been very good to start with.

Different is not always better although better is a very subjective thing. Is it even possible to quantify “the best” or even “better”? Music is a complex beast.


When is good good enough? YMMV. 

Back to listening now. I am thankful for what I got.
128x128mapman
I must add a subtle and paradoxically evident point about improvement in audio....

Nobody can hear or listen to what is "missing" in his own S.Q. and more than that from a files or from a cd, what you will listen to is ONLY what your system will give to you...
BUT unbeknownst to you you will miss sometimes a whole dimension or even the presence itself of some instruments or their evidence or importance in the recording....

Then 2 aspects may be missing: the level of quality of the S.Q. by itself for example unnatural timbre, and the perspective and presentation or even presence of some instrument in a specific recordings...In 2 words the sound and the music....


The only possibilities to discern if it is the case or not and becoming conscious of that fact are simple, they are 2 ways :

Whether you upgrade a component, suppress it or change it or add something new like a conditioner , a cable etc...In this case there will be positive or negative additions and sometimes positive and negatives effects at the sames times relatively to the specific forces and weaknesses of your system.... For me this road was not practical because upgrading many components and adding new ones to complement them cost a high amount of money if we want great increase in S.Q.😂


Or whether you make simple changes in your mechanical, electrical and acoustical embeddings dimensions, organizing some sets of simple listening experiments adding low cost devices of your own making to do that...
This was my road... And incredibly without expecting it, because nobody had warned me of the existence of this manageable road and its viability, incrementally for 2 years, each week my S.Q. increased in quality.... It was so fun and rewarding than my imagination was creatively in a storm of experiments....And i succeeded....




But i understand that anybody with a very costly system may mock my room and my peanuts cost altough very good system, BUT my solution is valuable for all those who are frustrated by the lack of money to buy their dream....Or simply for those that love to play without throwing their money easily 😊Anyway who is the more silly, some who add a many thousand bucks equalizer to their system, or some who play with peanuts cost acoustic solutions? Nobody is silly at the end  for sure except those who judge negatively others....



No money is necessary for audiophile experience, save a relative minimal amount that is different for each of us, contrary to all the necessary marketing publicity that sells products at very high cost, their saying is not a lie, i dont doubt the value of their products at all, but it is an half truth they spoke about..... Some high level of audiophile experience may indeed be accesible and cost peanuts....Dont think a second that my system is the best, it is not, but dont think a second that i contemplate with the same envy now the many beautiful systems in the virtual pages.... When the piano is in your room with his natural timbre sounding, nothing else is necessary....You listen and stay mute in your head....

Unleash your own creativity, and try some ideas, especially those who cost almost nothing....

My best to all...

The odds that you will create from an ordinary audio system a best one if you " listen and experiment" is near certainty....

On the other end, the forums are also filled with a proportion of people not so enthralled sometimes by their upgrading purchase...A minority tough, but not always a small one.... 😁


Experiments in audio are like Pascal's bet, they cost nothing and may give you a big reward, then...... 

Making system sound better is usually not due to chance or luck but thoughtful evaluation and adherence to known concepts. It is also easy to make things worse. Usually when that happens it is because I fell for false marketing which I have done on three or four occasions. It is also not just the sound but rather how the system works and looks. We all have a high degree of pride in ownership. Having a system that is easy to use, well set up in nice cabinetry and void of any irritating quirks increases that pride. As an example the Oppo is a great value and does a lot of things no other unit will do. It functions as my video switcher. However, it's transport is the slowest I have ever used. You can measure the time it takes to open on a sun dial. I am working on getting rid of it. I'll probably go with the McIntosh Blu Ray player which supposedly has a great transport.
A system that looks good and works good always sounds better. There is nothing wrong with using psychoacoustics to good effect. Sounding better is sounding better, no mater how you get there. The word, psychoacoustics has such negative connotations with audiophiles and it should not. I just hate seeing some companies taking advantage of this to steal your money with phony marketing. You can work with your system taking advantage of psychoacoustic without spending piles of money on voodoo witchcraft.  
I just create on the spot in the last hour a new Helmholtz resonators of another kind that the few one i used already, without being inesthetically horrible, they are not esthetical....Total success at the first try....

I then exclude the placebo psych-acoustical effect of beauty in front of the eyes with his alleged  effect on the ears...

It take me 30 minute to use 2 different size of tubular pipes of reinforced plastic for plumber...Gluing them on a wood base...

No negative effect, more imaging, better mid bass....I will experiment with different shape and size definitively to refine the effect....


Dont bother with anything except your ears, dont accept to be afraid by the alleged complexity of the matter by so called specialist, perfection dont exist, improvement does....

Risk: zero ... Dividend: over the roof...

For the low money cost: discarded plumber tubes.... I enter heaven.....


Dont upgrade before creating mechanical,electrical and importantly acoustical embeddings controls....

Or pay 10,000 dollars to be assured that your device will be warrented by engineering science and in the rightful state of the art...

I prefer to pay peanuts and the warrenty of my ears is more than enough....

😊
I was bored and thought I'd check in to the forums since I rarely do.  I left because some people make it a less than enjoyable place.  This is the first thread I opened and was immediately reminded about why I left.  Closing my account now.