In many rooms there is absolutely no need for any "room treatment" as the room may have furniture, shelves, carpets or rugs, and OMG (!) a "room" sound! To say any system other than yours isn't up to par because of possible "early reflections" or whatever your micro peeve might be is ridiculous unless you've been there and/or have somehow copped their taste...baloney. I don't mind some life provided by a non anechoic listening space, and speaker directivity or lack of such (dipole?) are all over the map...if your system works for you in providing what you feel is great sound...well...great. Strangers don't dictate how my personally dialed in system sings, and they never will.
Speaker positioning: why do audiophiles neglect this so much?
Went to a recent seminar featuring Jim Smith, well known author of the book "Get Better Sound" and hi fi set up guru.
The basic gist of the discussion was that the most important elements of a high end stereo installation are listening position and speaker positioning, in that order. The actual hardware (speakers, amplifiers, source, cables etc) are of less importance relatively speaking.
Yet it is clear from this web site and it's contents, that set up is discussed much less than the actual hardware.
When I look at the Virtual Systems page on site, I'm estimating that, maybe, 10% of the systems posted are close to well set up. Thus, hardly any of the featured hardware is performing close to it's maximum potential.
Shame, and why is it so? Not sexy enough to talk about system set up in depth? Lack of knowledge? Or is it simply too hard to do and too complex a subject?
Just my 2 cents ...
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This is a pretty heated "discussion." Surely part of the reason is defensiveness regarding purchases; one might wonder whether the music or the music system is the priority. I’m not judging here, but "audiophiles" are into audio equipment the way sports car enthusiasts are into sports cars. How many sports car drivers have actually taken competition driving lessons, or for that matter ever push the capabilitits of the cars they own? Do you know how to drift? How to effectively heel-and-toe? But if you don’t, and yet you own a hot car, and know its 0-60 time, horsepower and torque, does that make you some kind of clown? No. Or at least, not necessarily. You’re in love with the technology, even if you can’t take full advantage of it yourself. Jim Smith isn’t wrong about the importance of setup; I’ve got his book, and benefited from many of his tips. However, that book originated in a pamphlet with 30 tips that he distributed for free. The current edition of the book contains more than 200 tips, and he charges for it. Are all of those additional insights really helpful? You decide. And, as others have pointed out in this thread, every system, room and set of ears is different; Jim Smith offers rules of thumb, not dogma. Still, I agree in principle with the OP’s claim. Most of us are just more interested in equipment than room setup. As rudyb put it, a new amp is sexier than moving your speakers another foot out from the wall. But moving the speakers will probably make a bigger difference in the SQ. So it’s not that audiophiles don’t know or care about the details of setup. Rather, we have the rooms we have; big changes there would require an architect, in consultation with an acoustician, and a contractor, not to mention the wife’s being on board. And even then, you might "get better sound," but you wouldn’t get a "better" system! |
Very well stated @wolf_garcia ! |
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