What's It All About?


I've given this much thought and finally come to a conclusion.  This whole audiophile system building "hobby" is exactly like designing and having built a high end kitchen.  Some people get the basic triangle right and then everything just flows.  Other people get hung up on the backsplash tile and cabinet knobs and probably remodel within five years.

Maybe it's not what's it all about, but then neither is the hokey pokey.

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I don't understand what perfect sound is.  Is it related to music?

Different homes have different kitchens and they can be used differently.  Same thing with audio systems.  But in both cases if you get the core elements right, you'll keep it long term and ignore some of the trends that come and go.  It doesn't have to be complicated, just well thought out.

Not sure kitchen and sound system are analgias.  The kitchen is more the instrument and the food is the  music.  HiFi is more like the taking a photo of it and posting it on Yelp.  You could give me the most expensive violin in the world and I couldn't come close to what a real musician could do with a broom and wash tub.  It's about skills. How much better is the food prepared in the perfect kitchen?  What is perfect sound?  

I was lucky enough to have some Celtic  band members come over and play in my living room.  Acoustic guitars and unamplified vocals certainly didn't sound like recorded music but both are enjoyable and neither were less perfect. 

I do know that one of the musicians (a long time friend)  listened to my HiFi made some suggestions and with a few minor tweaks improved the sound I was hearing.  So I was glad to feed him.

 

I was thinking about how designing a kitchen was similar to putting together a system.  It's an imperfect analogy, but some got it and others didn't.  Both can be done without too much effort, but a minority of people can become fixated on the details.  In both cases for the end user these minute elements can reach enormous importance.

But then again, why should I even know where the kitchen is?  As long as the servants know how to find it, should I even care?  What's the audiophile analogue of that?