How do you judge audio components and speakers?


I would say - listening to music you're familiar with, and comparing. We can talk about tight/bloomy bass, midrange clarity, treble extension and things of that nature. We can also be very specific with regards to how a particular track is supposed to sound; based on high-performance gear that we were able to experience - but only if it purports to be accurate without sonic colorations. Therefore, I guess you could say we have a reference point. This part is what I would consider "objective performance." 

Along with this, measurements go hand-in-hand.

On the other side of the coin - subjective performance is how we "want our systems to sound." If the vocals are too bright or sharp, if snares or unpleasant sounding instrumentals ruin an otherwise good song, it's usually because the system is too accurate. So high-end audio is about chasing an ideal that doesn't exist in reality - but in the minds of audiophiles who are seeking a very particular kind of sonic presentation that bodes well with their music library as a whole....giving you just enough detail to keep you interested, while at the same time having a sense of realism, presence, and imaging that makes the speakers dissapear. We are seeking the illusion of a live performance.

 

The above are just my points. Feel free to share what you think. If you think I'm wrong, I don't mind. 

 

Cheers.

 

Jack

 

jackhifiguy

GWM…Gear Weight Matters!  Join the movement, but in an un ironic way and without interruption.

@mahgister

Dude, are you for real?

I had a look at your system. Your room looks like a mess. Do you actually believe that you are improving sound quality? Given how much stuff is on the ceiling and everywhere else, you are likely creating a reverbation effect in your room due to the sheer number of possible reflections from sound waves...directed by your speakers. And you must be perceiving the total sum of reflections as an improvement in sound quality...

I find your methods peculiar. Maybe someone who has heard his system can chime in.

 

@mahgister

Dude, are you for real?

I had a look at your system. Your room looks like a mess. Do you actually believe that you are improving sound quality? Given how much stuff is on the ceiling and everywhere else, you are likely creating a reverbation effect in your room due to the sheer number of possible reflections from sound waves...directed by your speakers. And you must be perceiving the total sum of reflections as an improvement in sound quality...

I find your methods peculiar. Maybe someone who has heard his system can chime in.

All images on my "virtual page" are from BEFORE my Helmholtz researching devices resonators and diffusers experiments... And anyway it is impossible to present all my golden plate ( shungite+copper+graphene) all around the electrical grid of my house and room in images...

This room is my audio room not  your living room...

Second i know first hand what is a reverberation time why?

I control it at will, because it is one of the way i can create my imaging and soundstage and timbre experience and LEV/ASW ratio....

Third you can think that i am deluded if you will, for me all people WORSHIPPING their gear without knowing anything in acoustic and psycho-acoustic are the deluded...

Four, Not only i used a grid of Helmhotlz diffusers and resonators but also ionization of the room method and a grid of cheap modified Schumann generators....With success AT LOW COST...

If i am deluded why all my 8 headphones sound like unnatural and bad compared to my 2 listening positions in my mechanically controlled room ? I begun with headphones modification 8 years ago... all my successfully modified headphones are now in a drawer RETIRED...They dont compared to my room speakers AT ALL in any acoustic count and cues...Even my 2 Stax...

Do you even know the importance of controlling vibration under your gear?

Do you even know the importance of decreasing the electrcal noise floor of the house /room and filtering RFI ?

Then add to that the importance of  physical acoustic with Helmholtz method and psycho-physical acoustic with my own method to use the 2 speakers A and B for each one of my ears  ALPHA and BETA  by  some acoustic crossfeed and acoustic crosstalk in a specific way ?

Then dont laugh at these 4 years old photos....I hate when people mock others by the way... The last one to mock my old room was a sellers here....

You have  prpbably NO IDEA what to do to control an audio system in their three working dimensions...Save to buy and plug...

Esthetic and price has nothing to do with Acoustic save for gullible customers of "chic" audio magazine...I could not create esthetical acoustic devices at peanuts costs and i could not redo completely the room and insert all devices in an invisible way... Do you ewven know how cost a designed room ? 100,000 bucks...Mine cost NOTHING... Two years time listening experiments to tune  the room  yes and it was the fun of my life better and more wise than throwing money in upgrades...Wjo laugh?

I dont buy costly tweaks, i replicated them in my way by the way... Who laugh?

I am not a gear worshipper all my devices cost peanuts, and most acoustic devices are homemade with junk from my basement... Why?

Open an acoustic book, and look at equations what they said?

Acoustic is about acoustic properties of matter, about measured ratio, and numbers...What is the relation between the sound speed, the dimensions of your room, his geometry, his topology, and acoustic content and ESPECIALLY the relation betwenn the  differential of  sound speed around your head  and your 2 ears and the 2 speakers that are in reality  "4" speakers for your brain...

Why do you think in some recordings i am on the center stage of the recording event, or i listen the sound coming from my back or immediate side with some instruments behind the speakers at the same time ? Who laugh? 

That is all i am about...

I dont buy upgrading gear and i dont  plug it in the wall and boast about brand names...Like most do...Who laugh?

Then dont laugh at my old room, after my listenings experiments it is me who laugh the last...

By the way nobody with a working brain need to see my room to understand the SIMPLE advices i give to help people focussing on mechanical, electrical and acoustical embeddings controls BEFORE any upgrade meaningless throwing of money...

 

 Acoustic is the sleeping princess, the pieces of gear are ONLY the seven working dwarves, and the kissing prince is the psycho-acoustic miraculous touch...

Simple enough?

 

 

 

@mahgister 

If i am deluded why all my 8  headphones sound like unnatural and bad compared t o my 2 listening positions in my  mechanically controlled room ?

 

Maybe those headphones are not so good. Afterall, we know that speakers and headphones will sound different. If you were hired for acoustic treatments in a studio, is this the kind of acoustic treatment you would provide?

Maybe those headphones are not so good. Afterall, we know that speakers and headphones will sound different. If you were hired for acoustic treatments in a studio, is this the kind of acoustic treatment you would provide?

First:  all 8 headphones cannot be bad, and sayoing that headphones and speeakers/room are different is sayo=ing nothing... It is a common place fact...

Second : the acoustic of abig hall is not the acoustic of a boig room, and the acoustic of a small room is NOT the acoustic of a big room... And there is no relation with the acoustic of a studio and the acoustic of a small room...mine is 13 feet square...

Acoustic is an art, you must adapt all devices and method to a SPECIFIC size, acoustic materials content of the hall or room or studio, geometry ( form) and topology (windows and doors)..

There is NO MAGICAL RECIPE in acoustic control...Save for those who sell costly acoustic panels...

but passive material treatment is not mechanical active control, the two complement each other...

 I am not an acoustician specializing in studio acoustic by tyhe way and this has nothing to do with a small room adapted FORTHGE TWO EARS of the owner...

A studio cannotbe controlled for only 2 specific  ears ...

Acoustic is not a simplkemater you must EXPERIMENT... This is the bad news... The good news is this may cost peanuts and itis more fun than buying a 20,000 amplifier and plugging it in the wall ...

My best to you....