Let your own ears decide...no one can tell you what sounds best to you.
Question: What are some of your best pieces of advise to someone new to the hobby?
I have a friend who is interested in putting together a system and am putting together a little guide for him, compiling information I’ve found over the years, plus some of my own personal tips and tricks. However, I am by no means the end-all-be-all of knowledge and want to incorporate information, tips, and tricks from the community - however basic they may seem - into a nice reference resource.
Without specifically naming any pieces of gear or brands (this isn’t a product recommendation question), what are some of the biggest tips, tricks, important pieces of info to keep in mind, caveats, etc. that you would have for someone new?
*side note - hopefully this post can also serve as a nice reference point for people in the future, as well!
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- 111 posts total
It is fascinating psychology to see so many rationalize the way they did things or what they purchased/own as the best. It is the rare post of someone admitting error, or ignorance . I personally believe that everything matters, but certainly not of equal amounts. Also no doubt there are diminishing returns. IMHO, items that make the biggest impact on perceived sound are the room and electromechanical devices, ie, speakers and phono cartridges. And balance/synergy…any complex system can only be as good as it’s weakest link. |
i am happy with my headphone/speakers system... It is a low cost one well embedded acoustically,mechanically and electrically... I modified my speakers and my headphones too to reach the acoustic satisfaction minimal threshold which exist as exist a diminushing returns investment principle in audio ... My system price in my acoustic designed corner in my basement cost me well under 1000 bucks... A member here just say to me that i am wrong to trust my ears and tuning process and that i must buy an electronic equalizer because in his opinion all i did is wrong , our ears are deceiver... 😁.... It is not that some people cannot admit their error and wrong doing, it is the fact that they cannot even figure out what they did wrong because they never studied nor experiment and confuse the EQ manual with real acoustic... And they thought that the price tag of the components tell the acoustic experience story... The problem in the world is being able to admit his errors, most people can admit their errors save narcissist and psychopaths; the problem is that most people cannot even figure out how and why they are wrong to begin with then how can they admit anything ? ... Sincerity with ourself go a long way but studies and thinking with experiments goes a longer way... EQ is a useful tool and will never replace Acoustic treatment nor room tuning with resonators for example... Price tag reveal some design quality level but will never predict by itself the ultimate sound experience of someone... We need complex embeddings optimization for that ... 😊
«The problem is once he had admitted easily his recognized errors he missed anyway the sheer numbers of the unrecognized one » My Anonymus scientist wife 👩🔬
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Read first--it will actually help you figure out your goals. Harley's book may be the bible of high end audio but another very useful book on basics is Jim Smith's "Get Better Sound"--i found it helped me focus on the room as being the most important part of an audio system as many have mentioned here (unless of course you're focused on headphone listening only. He isn't solely focused on the room--many other useful principles are discussed in easy to understand terms and style. |
- 111 posts total