It's attention, not money, we should budget


I read with some amusement a lot of posts arguing we should spend X amount of money on speakers, or preamps or amps.  I want to make a counter argument:  We should budget our time and attention, not the money.

In large part because there are always bargains to be made, and MSRP has been (IMHO) a terrible guide to what an "upgrade" is, especially when considered in the context of an existing system.

30% Room

30% Speakers

5% Cables and power

35% Remaining electronics

 

I will read your replies thoughtfully. :)

erik_squires

It’s been said that people will spend their money on what their attention is on. This is an easy hypothesis to prove when your partner, or klds/grandkids have their attention on something. So, "attention" and "money" are intertwined.

It’s also been said; "There are no absolute truths. Only relative truths, and workable truths." The "1/3rds Rule" is a good example of a "workable truth" that has been a tool for many decades.

And, to quote another person, accountant Walter Williams, stated something to the effect of: "Prejudice is bias based on incomplete information. The problem is that the cost of obtaining the information is too high."

I’m going to attempt to throw all of this in a blender, and pour out something that can be reasonably consumed. Some people are more committed to obtaining "The Absolute Sound" than others. The information is out there. The "cost" of information is too high for many. So, they’ll check the forums and reviews, sort through a few options, "add to cart" --> checkout. Applying "workable truths" in this scenaro will provide something(s) that will make "good noises" and could represent a "one and done" solution for the owner. A little more diligence (and time) would have, most certainly, elevated the musical experience, at a lower cost. But, at what cost? Only the owner knows the answer(s) to that question.

A some suggested, absolutes cannot be applied based on the product category and price points. A 2x price upgrade in speakers should produce something significant -- and usually does. Going from a $300 pair of speakers, for example to $600 should make something magical happen. As should going from $30k to $60k. The difference is that the upgrade from $300 to $600 will, most likely, involve purely sonic improvements. However, from $30k to $60k will involve other factors: improved esthetics, over-built components/chassis, intangibles, etc. The "bang for the buck" factor may be superior in budget constrained products?

We all have our own ideas of how to set priorties. I, for one, like to take things apart, pull the guts out of them and replace inferior components with better stuff, improved connection methods, etc. I went thru a high level of anxiety watching a promo video for a new "flagship" speaker. I was wanting to grab my wire strippers and silver solder and tear into their "state of the art" design, knowing that they were exposing the sonic compromises of their new offering. You can imagine the look on my partner’s face when she saw interior pieces of her new luxury vehicle scattered all over the shop. Those crappy cables, shared harnesses, lugs, spades, etc., just had to go! (And, yes, it did sound much better). It’s who I am. We’re all different.

@waytoomuchstuff 

 

Kind of.  The thing is though, if we open ourselves to DIY then that calculation does change a little.  I don't mean just speaker building, but say, DIY your room and acoustics, or cables, etc. 

We may spend more money on our children, but we may also make them toys and spend time with them in homework and after school activities, so I do think we can separate attention and money somewhat. 

I’ve found wise application of Room Correction or application of DSP in general also throws any prior assumptions out the door. The end result literally transforms a system of cost X into a totally different sounding one with the ultimate flexibility for tweaking at your fingertips. Big time game changer!  My mindset these days is if someone is not applying  modern digital signal processing to their poor system that is always subject to the room it must play in, then they have missed the boat and the journey to that desired perfect sound will take way longer and cost way more, that is if ever even achieved. 

@erik_squires

I get it. I made reference to DIY, but also validated the decisions made by those who take the most efficient path from A->B.

Yes, we frequently spend time (and, money) on whatever our kids have their attention on. I spent 4 hours over the weekend building custom speaker stands for my grandson. Dropping by later today to help him set up his music streamer while delivering the speaker stands. Time well spent.

Kind of. The thing is though, if we open ourselves to DIY then that calculation does change a little. I don’t mean just speaker building, but say, DIY your room and acoustics, or cables, etc.

We may spend more money on our children, but we may also make them toys and spend time with them in homework and after school activities, so I do think we can separate attention and money somewhat.

 

 

Exactly right...

And in my case i dont solder...😁 I am not near an electrical engineer or amplifier designer...

I used then only acoustics principle for my modifications of speakers and headphones and of room ...

I discovered that acoustics basic is underestimated completely because you can touch a cable or a piece of gear , you cannot touch acoustics... This is why so much people are focussed on gear upgrade race instead of their speakers/ears/room relation ...They believe or act as if the sound was "made" by the gear not by the brain in some acoustic context...

"Absolute sound" does not exist for most of us and for acoustician ... It is not an acoustic concept it is a marketing superstition ... In acoustics exist only optimization ...In acoustics between optimization thresholds there is minimal and maximal acoustical satisfaction for some given acoustics conditions and parameters and for some inear ears structure and some HRTF and for some trained or untrained listener biases etc ...

Some like too much their gear to appreciate what acoustics can taught us...The gear is secondary when you have a budget and secondary when you are a ascientist... The gear matter for the designer who do a marvellous work for sure ... But listening in optimal conditions had nothing to do with price tags , even with to some extent nothing to do with gear design ...

Acoustics work as well with a low cost piece of gear... What is analysed by acoustic experience is not something that does not exist , absolute sound, but something more real : acoustics parameters... This does not means in my mouth that the gear dont matter , it means the gear is a budget problem not an acoustic problem ...