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The Ten Rules of high-end audio

1. Room acoustics can make up to 50% of the final sound.
2. With cables you can only "tune" the sound: they don't make a flawed system sounding good.
3. Tweaks can change a system's sound, but a different sound doesn't have to mean that there is better sound.
4. System synergy is not brand dependent. It has a weak relation with the costs of the individual components. It has also a weak relation with the technical design of the components (for example tube or solid state amplification, cone based or ribbon speakers).
5. It is better to have a good front end (where music reproduction begins) than to have very good speakers but only so so front end.
6. The importance of a clean AC power shouldn't be underestimated.
7. It is more worthwhile to invest in electronics and/or acoustics than in so called "tweaks".
8. It is better to strive for a "balanced" sound with some comprimizes than to strive for a "perfect" sound by frequently mixing and matching things. This way you will likely end up with a less satisfying sound.
9. Older high end components are not inferior to more contemporary units by definition. Some older units sound even better (= more musical) than the newer ones. This is also true with newer iterations of the same basic concept (Mk II, III, IV, etc).
10. When you are building up a high end system (or replacing units in your system) you should ask yourself two questions: What are the goals I'm striving for? What can I expect sonically from the component(s) I'm purchasing?

Comments please!

Chris
dazzdax
narrod
1,064 posts
 
"Front end is relatively speaking more important than speakers."

No. Speakers all sound different and will have the biggest impact on overall sound. If you don't have a speaker that is correct for the room and with a sound you enjoy you will NEVER correct it with a source.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
1) If it doesn't look cool and glow - forget it.
2) If it doesn't have gold or silver or Beryllium or some precious metal or diamonds then it won't sound good - fabric and paper are cheap and therefore will always sound cheap.
3) Tone controls destroy audio signals - only buy "pure" gear with no options/flexibility (direct paths) and then use cables, tweaks and buy/sell components until you happen to stumble upon the sound you desire.
4) It sounds better if you can see - place monoblocks prominently out in the room (on the floor is best).
5) Box speakers sound boxy - get something tall, thin and angular with small "fast" light weight woofers (because big woofers are all slow)
6) The only way to get good sound is to go Vinyl. Digital is "missing" stuff between the data that you can hear only with Analog.
7) Vibration damping is essential on all electronics
8) Break-in is necessary for at least 300 hours every time you change / switch or unplug a component.
9) No amount of acoustic treatment will yield the same benefit as a component upgrade.
10) Get the best cables and interconnects you can buy then focus on electronics/source. Any speaker can be made to sound good if you drive it correctly.
t_bone
1,182 posts
 
Rule #3 and rule #7 should be combined. Rule #10 should be that "someone will always disagree with the aforementioned rules."

I think if you were to boil all of your ten rules down to different aspects of the same rule, you might find that when you break it all down, what you basically said is that
1) your system is only as good as its weakest link, and some links are easier to see weaknesses on than others and
2) that throwing money at the problem is not always the best solution.
bigbucks5
184 posts
 
Bigbucks5: the examples you mentioned are two extremes of the spectrum. None will combine SOTA speakers with lousy speakers and none will spend only $99 for front end while owning mega $$$ speakers. Front end is relatively speaking more important than speakers. This is not the same thing as: speakers are not so important (if you have SOTA front end).

You just keep on believing that.
samujohn's avatar
samujohn
291 posts
 
Don't let the "speakers first" crowd stampede you. When I worked in audio sales I did the demos and then made the installations. I soon noticed that we demo'd speakers with high end separate electronics and sent the customers home with inexpensive receivers. The results were mixed to say the least, but after a while I could easily hear inexpensive electronics regardless of other factors. I soon developed a distaste for electronic distortion. I began to notice that some speakers made a lot of "noise" (added sound to the signal) and others while limited in range or power, added little extra "noise". On balance I prefer "subtractive mechanical distortion" to "additive electronic distortion". I therefore prefer low distortion electronics and simple speakers to the reverse.
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