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PostPosted: January 14th, 2020, 5:54 am 
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Joined: December 14th, 2013, 2:19 pm
Posts: 948
There is a website called The Audio Asylum. It's actually where I found one of the members of this group; asylum inmate Charlie.


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PostPosted: January 14th, 2020, 7:24 pm 
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Joined: January 15th, 2015, 7:19 am
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Location: Baltimore MD
I became a DIYer and tweaker simple because I could not afford the price of a good sounding commercial system. I think a lot of DIYers feel that they can best commercial units and I do agree with this. One has to spend big bucks to get a musical system. I bought my Maggie llla's for $300 and put another $3-$400 and I now have what I feel bested their $6k speaker. I spent the time to rebuild four pair of Quad 57's and got to keep the best set for myself just for my labor(probably 160 hrs). What I am seeing rebuilt Quad 57"s sell for around $3k to $6k and iIf you take the smaller number that was less than $20/hr. I think the Quads are special and will never get rid of them.

What I do not like is the arrogance of the commercial side with convincing propaganda that "you get what you pay for". There is not enough ink of bytes about good sounding systems at a reasonable price. There is a arrogance in the DIY community also. The DIYers want us to believe they know the only way to nirvana.

Now that I have been playing the journalistic role a bit, first for CAF website, then ParttimeAudiophile, and now for Everything Audio Network, and may be doing a bit of reviewing of commercial products soon, you see what a knife edge fence I got myself onto. I know I will not publish a review of something I do not like. This may be counter to true journalism, but I see no upside for being critical about a piece of kit because I do not like. Who the hell am I to judge.


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PostPosted: January 14th, 2020, 9:38 pm 
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Joined: February 28th, 2013, 3:31 pm
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Beauty is in the ear of the beholder.


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PostPosted: January 14th, 2020, 9:43 pm 
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Location: Baltimore MD
If that is true, one should keep their opinions to themselves, otherwise they may reveal their short comings.


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PostPosted: January 14th, 2020, 9:59 pm 
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Joined: January 14th, 2015, 11:15 pm
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I've been pondering this question a couple of days and think there are some parallels with listening to music. There is no definitive performance of any piece since there are so many variables. Even composers or artists who made several recordings of a given piece always are a bit different in each recording. Life would be dull if every recording or performance were the same.

So we should value the idea that there is not only one way with any piece of our equipment. How many times have we listened to a familiar recording on unfamiliar equipment and noticed something we had not heard before. I remember listing to some Schubert played by Kristian Zimmerman on an amp that I had just finished and being astounded by the increased dynamics of his performance compared to the same CD played with another amplifier. I had not been too impressed by his performance beforehand.

Of course, we can have our preferences based on our experience built up over time and we can take notice of other people's opinions, but in the end, it is our ears and brains that we use to decide for ourselves.

ray


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PostPosted: January 14th, 2020, 10:18 pm 
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Location: Baltimore MD
I think the biggest problem with the whole industry is that there are no standards with the recording of the original. There are millions of recordings and only thousands of good ones. Why?. If there is one good recording why not all of them?.

On the other side if one has an emotional attachment to a track then it does not matter the recording quality or the playback quality


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PostPosted: January 15th, 2020, 1:55 pm 
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Joined: March 12th, 2013, 11:12 am
Posts: 738
The issue is that virtually EVERYTHING makes a difference (small to large) IMHO. Or perhaps your in the camp that says that almost nothing makes a difference (ie every well designed SS amp sounds the same). I guess that years and years of switching components, going from SS components to push pull tubes to SETs, going from B&W, PSB, NHT, Totem, Spendor speakers to horns etc etc, working in an audio store where I heard an endless array of traded-in equipment, audio systems of all types in customers homes etc has left me with one mantra:

If you enjoy what you are hearing, if it lights up your neurons in a good way, if you become emotionally and intellectually stimulated, than your system is good for you.

I like NOS DACs, SETs and horns because that combination seems to get me closest to the mantra above. YMMV. I have found that most every change I make in my system has both positive and negative consequences. What is harder to find are system changes that are universally positive across all the standard audiophile criteria and with all types of music.


PS I think the quality of the recording has far more to do with the initial recording and production process than the format used (MQA, SACD, hiRez or 16/44 etc etc) to convey the music.


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PostPosted: January 15th, 2020, 3:59 pm 
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TubeDriver wrote:

If you enjoy what you are hearing, if it lights up your neurons in a good way, if you become emotionally and intellectually stimulated, than your system is good for you.



PS I think the quality of the recording has far more to do with the initial recording and production process than the format used (MQA, SACD, hiRez or 16/44 etc etc) to convey the music.



Two great statements to take to heart.


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PostPosted: January 15th, 2020, 4:16 pm 
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Yup... The only one who needs to like your system is you..

Roscoe

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I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you.


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