Words From the Wise

1. Its hard to spend enough on equipment to compensate for a poor listening area.(ie don't spend a ton of money unless you have a good space)
2. Spend the time required to position speakers and equipment properly.
3.Buy used equipment or demos from brands that have been around a while.
4. Be careful to match speaker efficiency with amp power

Oldears, I had no real choice in our 1500 ft2 place in New Mexico mountains. It is 10 x 13 x 8 and must also on occasion serve as a bedroom. Fortunately, I discovered the Zilplex cups. I still remember listening to Diana Krall's 'A Case of You' without them. It was okay but obvious that I was in a small room. Then I put the eleven Zilplexes up where the instruction said. When I resumed playing, I was shocked to hear myself at her concert! I had the eerie sense that were I to stand and walk forward five feet I would fall out of my listening room.

This is not to say, of course, that the irregularity of many rooms means they can be made easy to work room with the Zilplexes, but neither will spending more money on your system.

1- establish a baseline of what you like and don't like
2- establish a baseline of what is more important and less important
3- never audition gear with unfamiliar music
4- trust your ears above all else
5- if possible, try to find and buy gently used gear

I've found these rules work well for me

I don't like hyper-detailed- it just sounds bright to me
I'll always choose solid bass over spectacular 3D imaging
I've used Graceland to audition gear since the 1980's
I once listened to a very costly (5 figure) Pre which I thought was a dog, though it garnered raves - I prefered the same manufactuers other Pre which was 1/3 the price
Half my system was bought used. Now it's all used.

Tell you what and this i learned many yrs ago. Find a girl fall in love and one day you will come to realize even a clock radio can sound magical. It's all about the music and how you relate to at a given moment in time. The magic is IN you!

Find music you love and listen to it till it makes you cry. the gear doesn't matter. If you can feel the emotion from the music, you are there.