Use the Ears, Luke

Don't Panic!
Recipes for a Successful Audiophile

1. Technology
   
   Ignore technology. Except for the very basic technology listed below, technological details too often take the focus off how the component and/or system sounds.

   Most technologies do not have a predictable sound (sometimes they will contribute to the quality of the reproduction, sometimes they will detract; sometimes they will sound this way, sometimes that). So ignore them. Some basic technological choices, each of which does have a predictable overall sound are:
    

   1. Source: Analog or Digital
   2. Amplification: Tube or solid-state
   3. Speakers: cone driver, ION driver, electrostatic, ribbon, horn (and, to some extent, enclosure technology)

      Examples of technologies which are often touted but whose effect is unpredictable are:

       

   4. Digital upsampling / oversampling
   5. This or that type of resistor, capacitor, transformer, output device, or tube
   6. Active versus passive pre-amplification

    

2. Cabling

   Choose neutral and predictable cabling.

   Without neutral and predictable cables one will never hear how the the components really sound, all that is heard are the cables impact on the sound and each change made to the system will have unpredictable effects.
    

3. Trade-offs

   Find the trade-offs that matches the listener's personal preferences.

   No system, component or cable is perfect. Find out what sacrifices are too painful to bear and find out which attributes are the cats meow. Build the system to reflect these choices.
    

   1. Quality versus features: Sometimes the choice is like that between the most expensive Toyota or least expensive Lexis. Sometimes components have both quality and features. But often there is a trade-off here.
   2. Warmth versus details: Some people like warmth, notes start and stop in a smooth manner and harsh transients present on badly recorded source material are covered up to a greater or lesser degree. Some people like lots and lots of detail and want to hear clearly each and every part of every note.
   3. Musicality versus Neutrality: Some people like the sound to be engrossing, emotional, entertaining and full of rhythm. Some people like the sound to be coldly accurate - seemingly more real and honest.
   4. Bass versus invisibility: Some people like lots of bass, which usually requires large speakers (which also cost more). Some people like their speakers to 'disappear', the sound to not seem like it is coming from the speakers at all. Some people have enough room to use small speakers together with subwoofers to get both (but at the trade-off of seamlessness between the high and low notes)
   5. Synergy versus best of breed: Some people like to create a system which is greater than the some of their components though perhaps not excelling in any one attribute. Some people like to assemble the best components into a system that is the best at many things.
   6. Piecemeal versus turnkey: Some people like to carefully assemble their systems piece by piece. Some people like to just get a whole system that has been pre-designed and be done with it

    

4. Cost
   
    
   1. Synergy and heavy catering to preferences (making sacrifices in all but the most important attributes) can allow one to maintain perceived quality at lower expense.

   • "You get what you pay for". 99% of the time the better components do cost more - especially within a manufacturer's product line.
   • Brand names. Brand names charge more for what you get, but there is perhaps an additional pride-of-ownership, and the more popular the brand name the easier it will be to sell when the time comes.
   • Quality brands. Buying high-quality brands that are relatively unknown outside the connoisseur community can make a dollar go much farther and at the same time net a higher quality outcome.
   • Complete systems. Buying a complete system that sounds great at one time can save money if 1) there is a package discount and 2) if it prevents an endless stream of purchases trying the piecemeal, trial and error, approach to finding the 'great sound'
   • Used equipment.

   
    

5. Customization
   
    
   1. Speaker positioning
   2. Cable positioning
   3. Room treatments
   4. Accessories / tweaks
      1. Racks
      2. Power cords
      3. Vibration control
         
         
          
6. Evolution

    

   1. Upgrades:
   2. Crossgrades: tailoring the system to ones personal tastes as those tastes evolve - as one learns more and more about what kind of sound one really prefers