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Audio Lessons Learned - post your best advice for the newer members!

Hi,
I thought it would be great to have our longtime audiophiles post their "lessons learned" along the way.

This is not a thread to start arguments, so please do not do that.
Just a repository where newer members can go to get a few good tidbits of knowledge.

I'll start - I have been an audiophile for 50 years now.

1. Learn about how humans hear sound, and what frequencies SHOULD NOT be flat in their response.. This should be the basis for your system. "Neutral" sounding systems DO NOT sound good to the human ear. You will be unsatified for years (like I was) until you realize this.

2. I do not "chase" DACS anymore.. (I went up to 30K Dacs before realizing the newest Dac chips are now within a few % of the high end Dacs.) Do your research and get yourself a good Dac using the best new dac chips. (about 1000.00 will get you a good one) and save yourself a fortune. - This was one of the best lessons I learned (and just recently) . It allowed me to put more of the budget into room treatment, clean power, and cables which are much more important.

3. Do you want a pleasant or unpleasant sounding system?
I had many very high end systems with NO real satisfaction, until I realized
why a certain company aimed for a particular sound..

4. McIntosh:
As a high end audiophile, I regarded McIntosh as just a little above Bose for about 40 years.-- (not good)
I thought I was an elite audiophile who knew way too much about our hobby to buy equipment that was well made, but never state of the art and colored in its own way.

This was TOTALLY WRONG, as I realize now.
McIntosh goes for a beautiful sound for HUMAN ears, not for specification charts. This is not a flat response, and uses autoformers to get this gorgeous sound. If you know enough about all the other things in our hobby, such as room treatments, very clean power, and very good cables, you can bring a gorgeous sounding McIntosh system to unheard of levels. I have done this now, and I have never enjoyed my music more!

Joe55ag


joe55ag
inna
7,296 posts
 
1. Do not expect too much from your set-up, even at the highest level, or you will be disappointed. Recording and room will put limits.
2. Nothing sounds quite like tape. Get into this if you can.
3. Many speakers are better than they may seem. Give them good electronics. Preamp/amp cost should not be less than speakers cost, at least.
4. Stable clean power, cables and power cords are important. They are all components as well not accessories.
5. Research and think long, upgrade rarely.
6. Do not spend less than needed, within reason.
7. If you want acceptable vinyl playback you will want best turntable and phono stage you can afford. Save on tonearm and cartridge, maybe upgrade later. Tonearm cable is the most important cable in the entire chain, choose wisely and don't underspend.
8. Tubes still sound best if done right.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Research and think long, upgrade rarely.  
  
If you want vinyl playback - and you do! - you will want best turntable and phono stage you can afford.  
  
Tubes still sound best.

Winner winner chicken dinner!
jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
1) getting the room right for good sound (including allowing proper speaker placement) is as or is more important than all the gear in the system

2) when seeking advice, understand in detail who the person is giving it, figure out if they are qualified, and if they are serving you or themselves

3) listen to as many purported 'good' systems as possible - then decide and note which ones you agree to sound really good, and try to understand why that is (the room, the setup, the gear, the source materials being used)
edcyn
1,876 posts
 
What kind/kinds of music do you like?  Name a few artists/composers/tunes at random.

Are you a detail freak? Or a go-with-the-flow, body-swaying toe-tapper type?

Do you like it loud?  Or just loud enough?

Do you already have a lot of recorded material?  LPs? CDs? Cassettes?  If not, are you willing to invest in satisfying your musical fix via cyberspace?

Do you have a good room where you can set up your stuff and not drive your live-in companions nuts?

At what price point will you go from Yeah(!) to Yikes?  
keegiam
731 posts
 
Two cheap, overlooked factors:

1.  Portable sweet spot chair.

Get a small chair and move it around to find the sweet spot for each recording.  The idea of setting up a system with a single, large, fixed sweet spot (and comfortable chair to match) is a myth.  I wind up moving my chair around for each recording.  Try it - you'll get it.

2.  Head angle.

Learn which vertical position of your head puts your ears at the best angle.  You want your complex ear structure in the position where they capture the musical information in the most pleasing way.  Do this by raising or lowering your head so the angle of the music information arriving at your complex ear structure results in the most natural sound.  For me, this usually means lowering my head to a position 20 to 30 degrees from level.  Your job is to figure out what head/ear position you prefer.  Try it - you'll get it.
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