No more "High End" for me...Back to Reality Audio

I’m 78 and am a professional symphonic musician. (Principal clarinetist with the Austin Symphony Orchestra)  I am extremely happy with my system:

sansui g-9000 receiver

dahlquist 20 speakers

pioneer pl 518 turntable with a Benz micro gold cartridge

onkyo dx7555 cd player

I don’t need anything better. Perfect

Very interesting post thanks!

What most people call " high end " is related often to dynamic and details resolution improvement which is the MOST deceptive perception related to high end upgrading..Especially when the room is not treated really or poorly treated and not mechanically controlled at all...

What you called "high fidelity" of tone and sound perspective is coming from a better TIMBRE perception which is the acoustic CONDITION and BASIS for improving all other acoustical cues in the room..

My system is low cost ( 500 bucks) and because of the control over my dedicated room acoustic i experience a so good sound that i will never need to upgrade...Nobody believe me because of the low cost of my gear...Price tag import more for most people than acoustic science...

Most people dont know what is "timbre" and the "time envelope"of the timbre components and his "spectral envelope" and what are the acoustic conditions for the optimized perception of timbre using the pressure zones dynamic modification and the timing of the first frontwaves with the reflected waves...It is necessary to transform the room for the specific need of a particular type of speakers for your specific ears structure and history...

Most people buy electronic basic gear or very costly one without placing much attention to acoustic...

This is the key error pervading all audio....Underestimating acoustic and throwing money on a 100,000 bucks piece of gear...

I dont needed gear ...Basic one do the job...

I needed acoustic thinking and a dedicated room , and way more than panels, be it reflective, absorbing and diffusing one in a balance way..This is passive material acoustic treatment It takes way more...I needed mechanical control of the pressure zones with Helmholtz method using resonators but also diffusers...I used near 100 tubes of size varying from a straw to a 8 feet one...

I disconnected definitively 7 pair of various headphones type and put them in a closet with my subwoofer...Guess why? they cannot compete with the speakers/room controlled  synergy...

Think about acoustic being potentially like a powerful huge transfprmation of ANY gear system to the sky...

Acoustic is way more than upgrading...

My best to you....

In the distant past I never questioned whether High End equals High Fidelity. And then it has happened to me (in 2002) that I heard a guitar recording (made with my guitar) that my musician friend made (without processing or editing, straight recording, only level was adjusted). I have listened to him play the guitar between my speakers and the recording to compare one right after the other. I think very few have the chance for such hard core comparison for fidelity, with an instrument I intimately know, and my musician friend, whose playing I have enjoyed for uncounted hours in my lifetime. Plus, unadultered recording that allows looking into fidelity. Through my system at that time I had no trouble identifying the exact guitar on the recording - after two notes I knew on which guitar he picked for the recording. (He has about a dozen guitars, all with different tones.) My system gave about 90% of the detail level of the actual guitar being played. The tonality was right, the perspective was right, the image projected was same size as the real guitar. The recording proved to be high fidelity, giving me 90% of the original sound. Now, this was through a heavily modded Dynaco stereo 70 - Fostex Voigt pipes - heavily hot-rodded purist all-silver PAS3 preamp - heavily modded Micromega Stage 3 CD player system - al DIY cabling including PCs (all DIY, yours truly). The "High End" comparison was BAT and Wilson speakers, and I forgot which very high end CD player & transport & MIT cabling - it was SOTA at that time, and the league of the most expensive High End one could put together in that year. What I heard was very striking, and also a tremendous blow to the head forcing a MAJOR reality check and reorientation of my goals. Yes, there was a jump in detail level, but it did not sound anymore like listening to my guitar from the listeners position. It sounded as if I stuck my head within one foot of the guitar (yes, I have done such experimentation with real guitars). The tonal balance was totally askew, and I did not recognize my guitar anymore. If I was asked to tell which of his guitars he played the recording, I could not have guessed it because it sounded like none of his guitars. And the closest pick would have been a guitar that had a distinctly different tone. So, while it was evident to all that the HE system in question provided a much higher resolution / detail level, it was also obvious that it completely failed at delivering both the tonality and the perspective / spatial balance, and in general, the EXPERIENCE of the recorded actual guitar. This experience taught me that High End does not necessarily equals High Fidelity. Since then, I’ve been investigating what is the difference between "High End" approach and "High Fidelity" which we could call "Reality" or "Real World Audio" (hence my moniker.... LOL.) The key components necessary to provide High Fidelity AND high detail level: no feedback, efficient loudspeakers, as short signal path as possible. The more we deviate from this path, the easier it gets to get ultra-detail&freq range &SPL but at the price of the tonal balance. To me, tonal balance is essential, and in my experience is the singular parameter that makes or breaks High End to behave as a show host or the translator of reality.

styleman 33 posts 03-01-20

I believe that the best system is the one you can be content with. That said, I would suggest, generally speaking that as an electronics technician who has worked on older audio, video, analog, and now primarily digital gear, that my rule is GIGO, garbage in, garbage out. No speakers can correct for lacking information. That said, it’s a GENERAL rule, if it pleases you, enjoy. I only bring this up for others because it is a general rule in electronics.

The main problem people seem to have with the pursuit of good sound is when to stop.  Many do find a happy level that satisfies them and stop buying gear, but many others seem driven to continue obsessing and spending money endlessly.

I am a type 1 - I reached a point where any 'improvements were trivial and settled in to enjoy my systems.  I will say that the type 2 relentless upgraders are handy for us type 1 people - they are a ready source of pre-owned gear at decent prices.

We stop and we know we can stop when all acoustic characteristics of sound in our room are well perveived, especially timbre and imaging...

Thats all....