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Audiophile Priorities and Recent Topics

I'm increasingly fascinated by the number of threads that have been created lately by OP's who have joined over only the last 2 months with less than 30 posts that all seem related to the importance of wires and tweaks. While I'm not dismissing the notion that everything matters in hifi (including digital cable), it seems that these topics vastly overwhelm thread topics that clearly would have more influence to hifi audio sound such as discussions of the sonic characteristics of various amplifier topologies, the importance of simplifying the signal path, and identifying fantastic speaker/amplifier synergies, etc...

If some unsuspecting newbie were to stumble onto this forum they would likely come away thinking that a fuse or a piece of wire are the most important elements towards obtaining wonderful hifi sound. This is unfortunate. For example, my discovery of listening to a SET circuit years ago paired with speakers possessing a high and flat impedance greatly outshines any joy derived from identifying the finest digital cable produced by man. I'm simply questioning the hifi priorities that this forum seems to be obsessed with lately.

Is it just me?
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three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments OP
2,097 posts
 
Out of curiosity I took a quick look at Robert Harley's well-known book "The Complete Guide to High-End Audio" to see what his guidance was on tweaks.  He discusses them in Chapter 15 (out of 16).  He indicates that these items can be used to address an "audiophiles' need to squeeze out those last bits of musical performance out of their systems."  He also says that you should not even think about these items before making sure you have optimized speaker positioning  and room acoustics first and having first built a solid foundation.

A few quotes I found interesting, while he did acknowledge that some accessories can certainly make improvements:

Other accessories can not only fail to improve the sound, but can actually degrade it. To make matters even more complicated, many accessories are completely worthless - nothing more than snake oil sold by less-than-honest promoters that have no effect on sound. 

Listen before you buy

It seems that Harley's priorities align well with mine and many others that have posted in this thread.  It's interesting that the Editor-in-Chief of The Absolute Sound used the term "snake oil".  I honestly didn't expect that.
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,000 posts
 
Three_easy_payments:

”…many accessories are completely worthless…”

does he offer examples?  
three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments OP
2,097 posts
 
@unreceiveddogma   

does he offer examples?  

Not too many, rather he states "I don't endorse every accessory described here - I simply report on what's available."

However he did include this about examples of indisputably worthless products:

Examples include an alligator clip , to be attached to a speaker cable to prevent the speaker's "gravitational influence" from affecting the audio signal.  Another claims to "energize" the electrons in an audio system with a combination of lithium salts and cobra venom.
danager's avatar
danager
968 posts
 
Complete Guide to High End Audio

Chapter 15 

"Replacing all the stock AC cords with entry-level cords is probably the single most cost-effective sonic upgrade you can make to your system."

He went as far as rewiring his house

"Overall, I'd say that installing dedicated AC lines was the best audio investment I've ever made."

three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments OP
2,097 posts
 
@danager  

I've had mixed success with replacing stock AC cords.  It had zero impact on my old Pass XA30.8 (even using a Purist Audio) but had a very notable improvement on my Sugden A21SE (I'm using an Audio Envy - under $200).

Installing a dedicated AC line was definitely a cost effective improvement for me as well - for ~$250 it was great to get that line isolated for audio gear.

What has yours' and others' experiences been?
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