Admission
The way to get a good sound, contrary to appearances, is very simple. However, observing people who enter the audio, I have the impression that they are making all possible mistakes.
The ubiquitous trend of looking for the best possible choice, based on a review or user opinion. Usually, the buyer either does not know what he is looking for or finds something he likes and is only looking for confirmation that it is the right choice.
Many people just don’t listen or listen, but don’t know what they’re looking for in the sound. The choice is very often made with the eyes, either on the basis of one review or a colleague’s advice. I’ve been doing it myself for many years and have been wandering for a long time. Fortunately, I found some good advisers and managed to gain the necessary knowledge quite quickly.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) the audio world is almost an ocean of endless configuration. Before you choose something for yourself, you have to ask yourself many questions, which will then serve as a compass to the promised land. I do not guarantee that we will not drown, but there is a good chance that we will spin around our own tail for a shorter time.
1. Reading forums and audio reviews
The problem is not the reading itself, because it is always worth expanding horizons and knowledge, but the inability to read between the lines, and selecting from the text what is actually important and valuable to us.
- Most forums or Facebook are soaked in people from the industry who have the task of promoting specific brands.
- Most of the reviews are sponsored and are designed to inform us about the existence of a given product.
- Finally, most private users describe the sound from the perspective of their room, their taste and repertoire.
The number of posts or the ease of expression can give an illusion of knowledge, authority – unfortunately, without hearing its system, we are not able to say whether what the author really likes will be what will also appeal to our taste.
This does not mean, however, to give up reading, because most posts and reviews contain a lot of valuable information. First of all, information about the nature of the sound. Bright, fast, neutral, warmer, more dynamic, etc – here we can look for clues whether a given block is able to push our system in the right direction.
2. Relying on the help of the store
Here again we fall into the trap of the so-called Authority – seeing the multitude of brands and equipment, it seems to us that the seller will advise us ‘good’, because he ‘knows’.
The seller may have good intentions, but he is not in our head. He can choose to suit his taste, but not necessarily for ours.
Another thing is that let’s face it – the seller is always more willing to sell the goods that:
- has in stock
- It has a sufficiently high margin on it
This is business. If on equipment X costing PLN 10,000, the seller can give a 20% discount and earn another 20%, and on the Y product for PLN 12,000 has less earnings resulting from distribution conditions – it will naturally propose The one at a higher margin, often offering a higher discount. This is not an objection, but a fact – the store is not a non-profit organization – in order to survive, it must earn and optimize its users.
Of course, I do not accuse all sellers of such practices, but I have already encountered this type of service several times and it is worth being aware of how it works.
Therefore, there is one conclusion here: if we want to listen to a specific device, let’s rely on our own ear. Let’s pay the bail, take home and listen at home.
3. Focusing on one product and looking for confirmation
This is a story that probably all of us know, as long as we use forums or Facebook. There is a post with some product and questions like:Has anyone heard this? , What will play better than this?Is it a good choice?
If the case concerns some vintage equipment or relatively popular equipment, there will be someone who will confirm our choice and the same amount that will refute it. Unfortunately, as I wrote above – we are never sure that this authority actually listens like us and what we do.
4. Exclusion of second-hand or new equipment
That’s just a river topic. Audiophiles can be quickly divided into those who believe that:
- Only old, vintage game
- Vintage is shit, it is not known who had it, when it breaks, who rummaged there, and even if it still works, it will break in a moment
If we search insufficiently, we will find a confirmation of both theses. What are the facts?
We will find a lot of vintage equipment for a fraction of the price of new devices that will sound much better and will be much cheaper. However, we will also find many new devices that will suit us better. Vintage equipment is usually well designed and will serve you for years if we take good care of it.
From my experience, I can say that the worst thing you can do is believe in one of the theories above …
There are a lot of new, currently produced devices that can be squeezed out great sound. Of course, it will be difficult to play very well without having tens of thousands to release, but! Who said that the system must consist only of new or vintage devices?
In the case of, for example, streamers or file transports, we are doomed to new devices and they sound great, e.g. in combination with older, good DACs.
If there are a lot of nice tube amplifiers, there are really nice quality loudspeakers that can be bought in the budget up to PLN 20,000.
Personally … I love to mix 🙂
Okay, even quite modern electronics, old cheap loudspeakers – and boom we have great sound. Because the whole system is old boxes to a very high level.
Older high-end electronics plus new loudspeakers – if we choose them well in character, we have 1 / 3-1 / 4 of the price of new devices, a much better sound than a store one.
5. Failure to adapt the equipment to the music being listened to
What else do we need when listening to rap, electronics or rock. What else is listening to jazz, vocals. The relatively neutral system will play everything well, but if a given species prevails, it will always suffer a lot from averaging.
If we listen to a lot of dirty music, with a lot of bass, poorly realized – the last thing I would do is looking for very faithful equipment – this one will only reveal the shortcomings of the implementation.
On the other hand, listening to a lot of jazz, acoustic music or vocals, it is a sin to go into power-hungry small converters and driving them with a transistor – we lose a lot of information on color, emotions run away and the system is played, But you have to put in a lot to make it at the same level as with a relatively cheap lamp.
Part two here:http://wieczorzanalog.pl/index.php/2024/05/27/10
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