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A Few Audio Truths I've Learned?

I've been playing around in the (relatively) high end audio world since 1982 or so (with a few breaks for sanity--and economics'--sake), and, for amusement, found myself trying to figure out if there were any "truths" of high end audio (other than perhaps that "reality is fluid"?). What follows are some of my nominations:

1. Tubes have magic.
2. Not all tube gear has magic. Some of it is even downright annoying.
3. Tubes are a pain in the butt. But they're worth it, at least in pre-amps (and, once you get addicted, in amps as well).
4. If you have a tube amp, always keep a spare (amp) around. (Every tube amp I've had has sooner or later blown a resistor and had to go in the shop.)
5. Vinyl has magic (but is also a pain in the butt).
6. Analog vinyl is generally easier on the ears than digital media.
7. However, some CDs, especially more recently made, sound pretty satisfying, and maybe even have some magic.
8. As to classical CDs that consist of older analog material remastered to digital, there is a 70% chance that the sound will be too bright, and annoyingly so, when compared to the corresponding LP.
9. As to classical vinyl, even 25 years after the "death of the Lp", you can find, second-hand and otherwise, enough material (performers and repertoire) to keep you busy listening for practically a lifetime.
10. But you still need a decent CD player because of Martinu, Koechlin, Schmidt, Hahn, Bridge, Marx, and a bunch of other cool composers that are better represented on CD...not to mention excellent performers of standard repertoire recorded in the last 25 years.
11. "Tweaks" are called "tweaks" for a reason. They're just for that last 5-10%, at best. Only exception (for me): record cleaning machine--indespensible for the vinyl-lover.
12. Cables matter. And most of them try too hard to impress you with lots of detail, which becomes fatiguing.
13. That new piece of gear that you just brought home with great certainty that it will be the answer to all of your audio problems, will someday annoy you. Just wait.
14. Most (but not all) British equipment is more "polite" sounding than US gear. If your US gear starts to annoy you by reason of an overemphasis on "detail", try some British gear.
15. A $1,700 system can give very substantial musical satisfaction--and sometimes more--than a system costing 10-20 times as much (as I learned when I was an ex-pat in a flat in Holland with only my Linn Classik system for my music).
16. That piece of gear you tried in your own system at home last week and thought was totally awful sounds really great in somebody else's completely different system today.
16. There is no absolutely accurate (reproduced) sound. (Except we each secretly think that there is, and only we know what it sounds like.)

That's my short list. What's yours?
eweedhome
mechans
2,999 posts
 
I have owned tube power amps for over a year and nothing has ever come close. I own Cyber 800s like Mr Stark. IMHO the real magic that tubes can provide is only found if you you use tubes in the output section. I have a fabulous tube integrated as well now, a Jadis DA-60. It too has that special quality. I tried the tube anywhere in the system approach with results that don't even hint at what tubes can do.
Tubes are a relative pain in the ass if you roll them and get addicted to that. I did and now can't even recall all of the tubes I own. Many old tubes are just not functioning correctly no matter what the emissions or transconductance are. I have enjoyed them more than found them a burdensome. If you just want stock that works well in my experience for most amps. These are much less prone to give you you a hard time as almost all are equipped with new tubes. The attraction to Old tubes is justifiable in terms of a move toward the better but has its risks.
Otherwise you have hit all the common beliefs.
trelja
3,215 posts
 
Mrjstark, "12. Find the Audiophile club in your town or city. Nothing is more helpfull then advice of fellow audiophils and access to gear that you never heard before."

I'd like to change the wording from "Nothing is more helpfull..." to "Nothing is more expensive."

I can personally say that while we in the Philadelphia Area Audio Group have had a great time and made a lot of lifetime friendships, nearly every one of us has invested thousands, and even tens of thousands of dollars in our systems since joining the group. How blissful we were before getting together so often, and being exposed to the relative strengths in the systems of others. Though this is all said in a joking way, there is a bit of seriousness in my statement that we receive some sort of subsidy from the high-end audio industry.
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
it's all subjective and a matter of opinion.

since opinion is neither true nor false, and one man's trash is another man's treasure, there are no truths, only audio experiences.
joenies's avatar
joenies
98 posts
 
Hello Eweedhome,
You put a smile on my face reading what you have learned with this hobby of our's.
Enjoy the music. Great letter. Great observations.
Good music is good music, no matter if I'm listening to it on my $5K system or my $60k system.
Respectfully,
Joe Nies
ridgestreetaudio
221 posts
 
Ha! Cool Thread - Thanks Eweedhome!

Perhaps my list is a little more off the path but...

In no particular order and by no means exhaustive:

1.] It's not about the music. It's about an experience. The system is the silver platter, the music is what gets served and the taste is the experience.

2.] Optimized simplicity is better than impressive complexity. A chain door lock works. A chain door lock with a maze for the door jam works too but...

3.] Hidding behind how smart I think I is or ain't isolates me and starves the broader soul of the matter. If I had a triple E or M.E. Maters on my wall, somewhere on it I'd like it to read "You've not arrived. you've only just begun..."

4.] The beauty of a woman is to be appreciated, not figured out. Music is the same way. To that end...

5.] Music is not intended to be an intellectual exercise. Oh it can be but it sort of misses the point.

6.] The "Boy" in us likes his toys - this is good - but...am I "Man" enough to let the passion of music stir something beyond my intellect to inspire something better in me?

7.] Being an audiophile does not preclude or exclude having a life. It requires it!....

8.] If you're an audiophile that just means you have high expectations. This is good.

9.] If you're an audiophile it's more about a journey - not the destination.

10.] If you're an audiophile, have realistic expectations: Excellence will serve you better than perfection.

11.] If you're an audiophile, letting yourself "dance to the music" more often will serve you better than a habit of "judging the system".

12.] If you're an audiophile and your playback never did or doesn't engage you emotionally any more, It's likely one of two things or a combination of the two: a.) Your system really, really sucks or b.) you don't have a life where music can anchor your experiences.

13.] If you're not an audiophile anymore, it probably means your system really, really sucked and/or you have a life...

14.] Audiophile: 1982 - 200? R.I.P.
It's the space in between, the dash, that really matters.

Cheers!

Robert
RSAD
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