A factor in my audio journey is system synergy. At one point I had an Arcam amp paired with Paradigm speakers. It worked because the Arcam had a laid back presentation with the forward sounding Paradigms. They complemented each other. When I upgraded the speakers to some more refined Revels, no more synergy. Both components had a more laid back sound and the amp wasn't powerful enough for the inefficient speakers. So I eventually upgraded the amp to a Cambridge Audio with more power and a less laid back sound. Back to synergy. I will admit that all of this is very subjective and will be impacted by personal preference and all of the myriad of audio factors like room dynamics, source equipment, cables and in my case budget.
What I wish I knew before starting my audiophile journey
I’ve considered myself an audiophile for over 3 years now. In those 3 years I’ve owned over 12 pairs of speakers, 10 amplifiers, 4 pre amplifiers, 7 DACs all in search for the perfect sound. What I’ve come to learn is I knew nothing when I started and now have some, not all of an understanding of how this works. Im passing this on to anyone that’s getting into this hobby to help fast track them to a better sound and learn from my experience. If I were to do this all over again, here is where I would start and invest my money.
1. Clean power- I wasted a lot of time and probably sold very good gear thinking it wasn’t good enough because I didn’t have clean power. I installed a dedicated 8 gauge power line with 20 amp breaker and hospital grade plugs for approximately $800. This was hands down the single biggest upgrade. You really have no idea what your gear is capable of delivering until you have fed it with clean power.
2. Speakers-this is where I would spend the a big chunk of my budget. I could make tweaks all day to my system but until I had speaker resolved enough to hear them, it all seems a waste of time. I discounted many things like cables because I couldn’t hear the difference until I had speakers that could actually produce the differences. Keep in mind the room size. I believed that bigger was better. I actually now run a pair of very good bookshelves that have no problem energizing the room.
3. Amplifier power. Having enough power to drive the speakers is crucial in being able to hear what those speakers are capable of delivering. Yes different amp make different presentations but if there’s enough power then I believe it’s less of an issue and the source determines the sound quality more.
4. Now that I have the power and resolution to hear the difference between sources, cables, pre amplifier, streamer, DACs ect. This is where the real journey begins.
On a side note, my room played a huge roll in how my system sounded but not a deal breaker. I learned that it’s possible to tweak the system to the room by experimenting with different gear. I learned that speaker size based on room size is pretty important. Have good rug!!
For reference my set up
Dedicated power
Lumin U1 mini
Denafrips Venus 2
Simaudio 340i
Sonus Faber Minima Amator 2
cables, AQ full bloom. NRG Z3, Earth XLR, Diamond USB, Meteor Speaker cables.
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Sorry for the split thread. It is too early in the morning, or else too late into the night. But instead to keep them as a treasure to be discovered at a later time, while pursuing the wonder of this hobby on other fronts. In the meantime I became so intoxicated with the possessive nature of this hobby that I almost killed my own son then 26, with ignorance while cancer devoured his body, and I was blind to see it coming. Fast forward, and a happy one is that Paul has recovered thus far, and we are back into building our dedicated sound room. In the meantime; however, I sacked half of my retirement fund and an equal amount in savings depleting it entirely in the process with two complete systems built around two sets of speakers, while sharing a rather frugal analog rig based on Pro-Ject X10 TT @ Herron Vtph-2A. With that being said and upon listening to many of you respected members here on Audiogon, I realized early on that without a dedicated and properly treated sound room, there is no sense to unravel the bounty of over $ 120K in accumulated audio gear until the room is finished. It has taken me already three years along with successively sacking my son's cancer, and it seems another year to go before I can hear a single note of sound. Until then the fruits of this effort remain unknown, but what I can say is that it was much easier to spurge $120 K on the audio gear than to tackle the sound room. The complexity and the multitude of aspects going into every square inch of surface (hidden and not) in a sound room is making me going nuts. Of course I am forced to go DIY since no savings left, and wife seriously pondering at taking an upper hand with my hobby and the door swung wide open. I guess this is just a collateral damage many of us are faced on regular basis. It is sort of like trying to keep the flame at the end of a candle stick going strong in the winter storm. Since I am already at it while posting my only second time, may I please ask a question I was pondering at fore some time now and never had time to ask. Will I have any need to use in my sound room / audio system / a PS Audio P20 Power Plant upon installing Equi=Tech 5WQ Balanced Power wall cabinet system? The Panel is coming in next week while the P20 is sitting in its own box since more than a year and a half, and I have not yet asked Paul about it. I have asked our friend @ mikelavigne who without knowing it got me going with Equi=Tech solutions through his two decades old Power thread, but for some reason I cannot get him to respond to my question. Highly appreciate all of your members input. Thanks, Chris.
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@chriszponder Good to hear your son recovering!
I hear you on how expenditures on audio system can overwhelm our finances. I always tried to stick to rules of not buying anything on credit, having to sell something, didn't need to be audio related, to help in purchasing new additions. This has worked out pretty well for me, can't say the same about motorcycles and cars!
I also believe the Equi-tech is all you'll need. I have BPT, another balanced transformer based conditioner. Previously owned earlier iterations of PS Audio power plants, they went away, BPT far superior. I transferred one of my PS Audio to home theater system, provides good service there.
I agree highly unlikely someone's going to optimize AC and room prior to any hardware purchases. One's necessarily going to start with amp, speakers and source, assuming one hasn't paid attention to room and AC, they're likely to begin the churn, always blaming the equipment, ignorant of how large a contribution AC and room bring. |
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