Nice posts guys...you *are* a civilised lot on this thread!
Having played devil's advocate and illicited some good responses, I would agree that some final tweaks to an already good system is icing on the cake and therefore can be beneficial.
Cello: your comments are nicely put and I've 'been there and done that' (ie, implementing a lot of tweaks over my time). A lot of you also hit the nail on the head by stating that system synergy is the key to good sound. I guess my simple point is if you feel you are missing something and feel the need to tweak, look first at your major components (such as your loudspeaker) and see if a fundamental change can be made. No amount of tweaking will improve a lack-lustre speaker for example.
Ecclectique: Like you, I have a lot of different equipment at my disposal, I may have left the tweaking urge behind some time ago. I find these days that it is much more challenging (and satisfying) trying to add a Raven ribbon tweeter and requisite crossover to my Proac Response 2.5 loudspeaker etc...etc...than say playing around with tweaks.
In the end, to each his own and we all do in audio what we are able to understand. I don't thinking tweaking is a bad thing and it keeps the fire burning for audiophiles. I guess instead of calling it tweaking we should call it 'fine tuning' to add some credibility to the whole issue.
Regards,
Steve M.
Having played devil's advocate and illicited some good responses, I would agree that some final tweaks to an already good system is icing on the cake and therefore can be beneficial.
Cello: your comments are nicely put and I've 'been there and done that' (ie, implementing a lot of tweaks over my time). A lot of you also hit the nail on the head by stating that system synergy is the key to good sound. I guess my simple point is if you feel you are missing something and feel the need to tweak, look first at your major components (such as your loudspeaker) and see if a fundamental change can be made. No amount of tweaking will improve a lack-lustre speaker for example.
Ecclectique: Like you, I have a lot of different equipment at my disposal, I may have left the tweaking urge behind some time ago. I find these days that it is much more challenging (and satisfying) trying to add a Raven ribbon tweeter and requisite crossover to my Proac Response 2.5 loudspeaker etc...etc...than say playing around with tweaks.
In the end, to each his own and we all do in audio what we are able to understand. I don't thinking tweaking is a bad thing and it keeps the fire burning for audiophiles. I guess instead of calling it tweaking we should call it 'fine tuning' to add some credibility to the whole issue.
Regards,
Steve M.