2. misc-audio
  3. 1395247086

Stopped looking for the best system

I've been in this hobby since I was 16 years old and, like so many of us, have stayed on a constant quest of finding the perfect, or at least best for me, overall system. It's a quest, though, that has no end; there are just too many variables as well as listening tastes to address.

Many times I have made changes, put in a familiar and favorite CD and said, wow, I finally found the answer, only to find that the next CD selection was a disappointment. With that in mind, it crossed my mind that the best solution would be separate systems dedicated to certain genres of music, for examples, acoustic guitar, vocal, concert, etc.

Of course, that wouldn't be practical and there would still be a question in each case of whether I had gotten it right. So, the only real alternative is to try maximizing one complete system for everything which means that some things will necessarily be compromised.

This all sounds a little negative but it really isn't the case because it, at least, gives us all something to do. After all, the value of any hobby is in the journey. This journey, though, can be quite expensive so I consider myself somewhat fortunate to have a limited budget that restricts the number of choices. Further, if I was given access to anything available, regardless of cost, I'm sure I would still find some fault. O.K., so I guess I am being a little negative.

I'm pretty happy with my present system which I believe most would consider at least good. It consists of the Shanling S100 CD player, CAL Sigma 2 DAC, Rogue Audio Sphinx hybrid integrated amp, Straightwire Octave 2 biwire cable and Martin Logan Odyssey speakers. I've tried quite a few different amps and have gone through many speakers including Acoustat, Magnepan X 2, JM Labs, and Martin Logan (SL3, Prodigy and Odyssey). I got the present speakers and cable together in 2003 or 2004.

I cannot hear the difference in speaker or interconnect wires which may have something to do with my age (72) so it is something that I don't mess with any more. As a last ditch effort I will try a good tube based amplifier and have made a promise to myself and my wife that this will be the final big purchase.

O.K., I'm rambling with no other real purpose than to vent and I'm sure that these issues are not unique to me but as Dietrich on Barney Miller used to say "it had to be said".
128x128broadstone
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,200 posts
 
OR, another very viable path to go down when all else fails is good quality digital equalization.

Sometimes, there is nothing that will optimally in a particular room out of the box. Equalization may be the best solution at that point. Results possible with modern digital technology far exceeds what one might have been able to coax out of the various analog parametric or graphic equalizers of years past.

All gear inherently performs its own form of equalization in order to do its job. When its all working as it should, but still sounds wrong, then one might be best advised to take matters into their own hands and disregard the limited and misinformed audiophile perspective that all equalization is bad. Its nice to avoid, if possible, but sometimes.....
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
hearing no difference in wire quality for interconnects or speaker gives HUGE advantage(consider that over ones that crazy about it) of using generic cheap wires and saving money for music and music again.
no need to waste time to look for better powercord and hookups as well.
dayglow
1,900 posts
 
IMO the quality/consistency of your incoming electricity sets the benchmark for your system. Cables, room acoustics and vibration control are also very important but if the power issue is not addressed these become band-aid corrections at best. You will never be able to turn a NAD into DarTZeel, but if you address these issues you can close the gap and maybe find a happy medium.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
I think that it is impossible to assemble one system that will sound great on all recordings. I have developed this theory over several decades. I feel that the "problem" is in the recordings themselves. Their sonic signatures vary from recording to recording due to processes, engineering, mastering, etc. So while one recording may sound a bit bright with some gear/cables, it may sound just perfect with another set of gear/cables. Obviously you can replace the word bright for many other audiophile adjectives in my last sentence.

I recall visiting a gentleman about 8 years ago who had a 4 armed turntable set up in his main system. 4 different arms/cartridges and phono stages. He was able to vary the sound to his taste by using a different cart/arm/stage on any LP. This is what really started to make me realize that my theory had some merit. The same recording could sound stunning on one setup, and just OK on another. Most recordings could be made to sound very, very good, it was just a matter of setting up with the proper cart/arm/phono stage.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,200 posts
 
Jmcgrogan2,

I agree with you that no one system can sound great all the time with all recordings.

All it can do is deliver what its fed accurately or in some similarly pleasing manner.

All recordings are different. There are two many permutations to adapt to, at least manually.

That's where modern digital processing in its many forms provides a unique opportunity that many do not understand or appreciate because its gasp "digital".

But digital gear can be programmed to account for variations and make it all sound as similar as possible , if desired.

Its the if desired part that's an interesting question. I prefer to hear each work of art on its own terms good or bad, not make it all sound similar.

I would not want to transform a Monet painting into a high res photo graph. Why would I want to do that to a recorded work?

It's like that Twilight Zone episode where everyone gets transformed into a similarly beautiful person at a certain time in their life, and the main character who wanted to be uniquely herself, not a beautiful reproduction like everyone else.
More to discover