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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.

128x128dman1974
chriszponder
8 posts
 

@ecpninja 

Exactly,

the Eqi=Tech wall cabinet (sub panel) is meant exclusively for dedicated room/only audio equipment need. I will use five of the available six 20 Amps separate circuits in 5WQ for my own use.

I'll leave the sixth one available for family's future needs after I will eventually be no more, and after one day, perhaps some of them might grow into appreciating taste of sound in music and not a noise, as an alternative to selling it all at a steep lose.

I already prepared five Romex 10-2 runs, twisted with my own hands and into a flex metal conduit/shield. Four of equal lengths in a cluster of (3) on the front wall /adjacent corner on the long wall, and one 70' on the other end of the same, long wall.

Equi=Tech engineer told me that I did not need all of this twisting and shielding, but what a heck, it is already done and is hanging in the joists! It was; however, a back twisting job, and I was on it for two months with a bright sun shining outside last summer.

Again, I appreciate all of your responses @sns. Yours is a big help for a newbie to stay the course, and I am glad that somehow crediting own intuition I ended up with a different instinct. However, there is not one audiophile without a bad turn, or a U-turn on this seductive journey.  

sns
3,320 posts
 

@waytoomuchstuff Interesting to hear a dealer's perspective on this, I often assume others as attentive to small details as I am.

 

I've also run in motorcycle and car circles nearly all my life, seems like I'm always around OCD type people! Can't recall meeting another audiophile, motorcycle and car nut in one package.

strawj's avatar
strawj
79 posts
 

dman1974 some posts seem to have got little off point (!) as usual. When I read your original post I just thought YES! Right on you are so right that is the right advice. Speakers-Power-Cables even a semi modest system (like my own) can sound pretty pretty good. TY DMAN74.

barts's avatar
barts
722 posts
 

@sns 

Well we haven't met but you can count me in that group.

Motorcycles since I was 8 years old, still have first bike that I built, '76 HD rigid frame chopper.

Cars too numerous to count in my teens.  And I still have my first "real" car, '68 427 ragtop vette.

Forget about stereo, too much to list. Not sure if I've spent more $ on stereo or Corvettes!

Regards,

barts

 

ecpninja
94 posts
 

I think isolating all your audio gear on a dedicated line direct from panel is a must.

 

Also I am  a big fan  of designers that take the approach of using external power supplies.

Especially in pre amps streamers &DACs

With regard to room treatments based on my experience with the room I built just for my 2 channel rig.

Play different music emphazing different instruments

To determine which frequency ranges sound good.

I had great upper bass in my room but never liked saxophone tracks. Then I experimented with more diffusion on front wall. Absorption/diffusion at first reflection points including the ceiling and this really improved the sound.

So as I mentioned previously Room Treatment is very crucial.

Enjoy the journey

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