Play this song when you power up your system...
"Here’s a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don’t worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble…"
Bobby McFerrin
How do I know if my systems any good?
I'm not able to leave my house due to a long-standing injury, so I'm unable to hear anyone else's system. I could list out my components but not sure what that would achieve. Lets assume they're all fine pieces.
what are the things that should be considered when listening and judging an audio system that combines streaming and home theater via bypas thru a preamp.
Maybe it's a great system.
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- 56 posts total
@emergingsoul -- "what are the things that should be considered when listening and judging an audio system..." Seems like you are unnecessarily complicating things. The single overriding question to answer is: do you enjoy music when played on your system, or do you find yourself constantly wishing that it did something or another better? Note the phrase "constantly wishing" -- due to the inconsistency of recordings, there will always be some tracks that may sound better on another setup. However, if you like your system most of the time on a high percentage of your favorite music, consider your system "good." Your goal is to make yourself happy, not impress some other audiophile on an internet forum. Also note that many aspects of your existing system may be able to be improved for little or no cost. The position of speakers in a room can have a profound impact on imaging/soundstage and bass quality, so try moving things around a bit. Or, something like a throw rug on a bare floor can help. You don't always have to throw money at the latest audiophile fad to make things better. |
I aimed to ectasy when sound disapear and only music stay... But it takes me 10 years to reach it... There is simple evident problem any audio forums can help to cure... But the hardest factors to solve is not so much a mere specific evident problem , but a tree of UNDETECTED problems because you cannot hear them or you cannot think about them anyway because they are not perceived and then you cannot even think about what to do first to optimize what seems to be an already good system without problem anyway... Most people stay there happy with what they own as it is right out of the box and it is OK... The only way i learned myself was by systematic listening experiments... A lot of them... Now i am in music listening with no more evident sound problem, and even if we can always improve for sure the sound, i am too deep in music ectasy to bother me with sound...But it takes me 10 years of buying gear to stumble on the right S.Q./price ratio gear ... And 2 years of intense acoustic experiments and many experiments in the mechanical , and electrical dimensions... Buying will never replace experiments listening experiments , around the basic mechanical, electrical and acoustical dimensions...Because optimization is not mere problem solving , it is experimenting with our ears... Audio experience is complex problems way over simple physics and engineeering, because psycho-acoustic play half the tune so to speak ...
The goal in audio for me is "immersiveness"... The way the listener is engulfed acoustically in the music/sound experience in 3-D with speakers and now in the last year with headphone because i lost my dedicated homemade acoustic room ... I just started a thread about "immersiveness" because most people dont know how to describe it to begin with and it is hard to describe anyway and to put all conditions together , then perhaps i will learn new things from others experiences ... 😊 In a word nobody can know if their system is good and more than just good without listening experiments ... Comparisons with other gear in other rooms help to for sure... But it is not enought at all... It is why most people conditioned by marketing judge sound experience by the price tag...It is way more difficult to experiments with what we already own than to just buying new costly upgrade ... But even gear upgrades are in need of listening experiments for the necessary optimization... And upgrade do not replace basic mechanical, electrical and acoustic facts and experiments... It is my experience... |
The answer is, it is all relative. If you compare your system to a 10 dollar boom box, it is amazing. Compared to a 250k reference system, your system is likely not so great. I don’t know your system, but I can say with confidence that compared to the source of music for everyone in the world, and since the dawn of time, your system is better then the VAST majority and probably in the top 1%. Of all the people I know, very few have a stereo (which is shocking to me) and those that do most all have a home theater or $2000 system. |
- 56 posts total