When have A/B comparisons led you astray?

Sure, this is a broad topic... It's a struggle for me to remember what it was like before I was married.
But what I am interested in here is comparisons made within a Stereo System.
I do think that my impressions at least 1 week after a change has been made are more useful than my initial impressions - at least sometimes. This is one of the areas where it gets sticky. There are so many variables that initially a change for the worse may be a change for the better. But where do you get off this wheel?
For example, if you add a cable from the D/A that dries things out - it may sound worse, but is that a good thing?
The most I can say is that the more I am aware of the effects each component has on the sound the more I can perhaps predict the change the swap will make.
In the end is there no reality to this artificial medium?
I hear that 78's are awesome! I have some experience with Mono and I have heard at times more reality with my system in that format than I have ever heard from stereo.

Mikewerner

RE: “Where do you get off?”

Right now perhaps?

However, I’d suppose, wherever you feel suits you. Where You have no further desires to implement change (s). Be it at that point a blissfully rendering musical system is what you then own, or you’ve just plain run out of enthusiasm for it’s hunt and acquisition…. Or again, you’re finally OK with what you have in front of you.

I think being happy with what we have instead of wanting what we don’t have is the deal. How obsessive compulsive you are plays into this as well… as does how deep are your pockets and your patience and tolerance levels.

As for the system matching aspects, I would bet very very often, If I took a few pieces of my system to some other person’s house, and inserted them/it into his or her rig, the results could go either way… better, so so, or even worse than was the norm previously.!

I try to optimize my systems as per their individual needs at the time, based upon my perception of it’s shortcomings, and my own preffs for hearing music. Consequently, introducing some parts of my rig to another can alter the secondary rig to sound brighter or dryer, as an example, perhaps. Such results aren’t always the case of course, but could be.

I think it’s about optimization. The same piece of gear setup one way on one system, can produce different outcomes on some other arrangement and setup. I also get the overwhelming impression that many hobbyists strive towards a certain sound. Not necessarily a flat and neutral sound throughout. I did. I don’t now though. I went from one extreme to another. From crystalline, bright, analytical and vivid, to warm, dark and liquid. Now to as much resolution and detail within the confines of the music being played that it remain quite revealing, but musical as well. So I now push the boundaries of the gear I possess. Eeking out as much info as it can deliver, while adhereing to musicality as the deciding or determining factor if push comes to shove. Always I’ll choose musical ease over uber revelatory reproductions. Riding the line in between them seems more my concern lately…. And I’m very satisfied with the results I currently enjoy. Only a couple finer points remain that I’d care to address, or add to the fray. Like a dedicated 7.1 processor, and another power cord or two perhaps. Maybe some replacement outlets as well, by and by.

Consequently, I’m in no hurry to apply these ideas or add those desired items. Therefore, I feel I’m a pretty happy camper lately with regard to the results I get regularly from my main stereo and mostly from those others I own..

Because it’s a past time, a hobby, some will continue to try a this or a that as they come out. Just for fun maybe, or for personal enlightenment. Possibly for bettering their own gig. It’s just another facet to this sideline. Whichever way one goes, with earnest sincerity, or as cavalier as one could imagine, it’s a hobby. Not a race or competition. It should always amuse, entertain, interest, possibly fascinate at times, and ultimately satisfy the enthusiast along the way or at least eventually. If it does not I’d submit they find some other activity that will.

Everything matters. How much everything matters and in what way, is the curiosity that drives this and many other hobbies.

Some years back I bought a $300-ish NAD cd player for my 2nd system. Just out of curiosity, I did an a/b against my twice-as-expensive Music Hall which was my "good" player at the time.

Based on that comparison, I thought the NAD did most things better, and after switching back and forth for a couple hours, I decided to keep the NAD in the better system, and put the Music Hall upstairs. A couple weeks later, I realized that I was never listening to entire cd's anymore. There was something missing with the NAD in place. It sounded good, I always got bored quickly.

Eventually, I switched back and found that I enjoyed the system more with the Music Hall, even though I couldn't identify anything it did better. So whatever magic that player had was apparently too subtle to pick up on when doing a/b comparisons. Lesson learned is that for me at least I've got to give a component enough time that I'm really just listening to the music.

By the way, I still have both players, and it's really a crap shoot as to which will work better in a particular setup. Turns out the NAD isn't inherently boring-it just was in that particular setup.

Last night I went to my son's Violin Master's Class.
Small venue - maybe 10 to 15 people present.
Piano and violin, that's it.
I have been listening to my digital source lately at home. I'm having trouble figuring it out. I know it doesn't sound real to me, but why?
What I am getting at is last night I feel like my ears woke up - again. The real sound is hard to describe but I feel that I am developing a sonic memory for it through training.
Ear training. My A/B comparison is moving toward Live vs. Recorded. Live is not a shifting reference. It is repeatable.
The Master's teacher was speaking about chords on the violin last night. A single note is in tune with itself. Only when compared or contrasted with another note can it be said to be out of tune.
To play a chord correctly on the violin, hold one note fixed and adjust the other to tune the interval.
So I agree. Does your system sound like live music?
Time will tell.

The recording process is the first step away from live, and the best equipment can keep that damage to a minimum down the chain, but once recorded it cannot be resurrected IMHO. Sure my system sounds like live music (unamplified acoustic), but I never confuse it for the real thing - A/B or Z.