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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
stevencason
93 posts
 
I have been an audiophile since the mid 80's.
Trust your ears.  I took a piece home for audition once and I just didn't like the sound (cd transport and DAC).  When I returned the components and told the salesman I didn't like them he told me I didn't understand what high end sound was supposed to sound like.  I told him maybe so but I don't like that sound.  I never went back.
Use reviews to make a short list.  Over time you will find reviewers who share your sonic preferences.  Try not to obsess about Class A, B, C, etc.
If the system doesn't sound good to you it doesn't sound good no matter what anyone else tells you.
wspohn's avatar
wspohn
608 posts
 
1 - if you don't know what music sounds like in person, before you start on your system, attend some live music performances - as many as necessary to embed the idea of what it sounds like.

2 - accept that it is almost impossible to exactly replicate the in-person experience of a concert in your home

3 - assess every step you take with your system as you develop it and decide whether that last change moved you closer or further from the real thing so you can edge your way up to a best case situation given your spacial and monetary limitations.

4 - arrange for blind testing - have a friend switch things as necessary. If you can't hear any difference due to a change in the system, you just wasted your money (a dealer that allows in home auditioning reduces financial exposure)

5 - don't be in a rush - this usually takes decades, not days.
yyman23
148 posts
 
1. Take all reviews with a grain of salt. Too many times I've read praising reviews of some items and when I tried them I didn't see what all the fuss is about.
2. Invest in solid cables. Not necessarily super high dollar ones, but not the single dollar ones either.
3. Trust YOUR ears. After all, it's YOUR system in YOUR house. A few of my friends have amazing systems, but I like mine the best. I'm not saying mine IS the best, but I like it best because it sounds the way I wanted it to sound.
4. Try to buy used. There are a lot of great items out there that can be purchased at 20%-50% off than what they cost when new. Get more bang for your buck.
5. When upgrading, especially expensive parts of the system, always ask yourself - is it improving the sound by 2% or 20%? Is $X,XXX worth a 2% improvement? It all depends on your budget. Many times I've tried components that just didn't cut it.

That's just my 2 cents. Great idea for a post!
middlemass
920 posts
 
"I have been an audiophile since the mid 80's.
Trust your ears."


+1
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
984 posts
 
In the late 1960s, when I was 14, I built a Dyna70, a Dyna PAS and then added a pair of Lafayette speakers, a Garard table and a Stanton cartridge. My system evolved over the next 30 years, see theaudioatticvinylsundays.com while being committed to a tube analog sound, and has stayed more or less the same for 20 years (there was a destination), except for adding a semi-anechoic room 3 years ago.

The idea being: decide on an approach, then stick with it.
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