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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

Showing 1 response by plato

plato
1,543 posts
 
1. Tubes are great, but “the more, the merrier” strategy does not apply. Since every tube in the signal path has its own unique character, compounded by coupling capacitor distortion, each tube/cap in the signal path makes the sound increasingly colored and vague. Therefore I recommend a minimum of tubes in the signal path for best performance.

2. Although tube amps are great, solid-state amps also have their strong points. And now, there are digital amps that sound as good as either genre but are much more energy efficient. The best amplifier sound I have heard is running a custom 6SN7 (single tube) preamp into my digital amps. In my opinion, it is the least compromised sound I’ve been able to achieve and I’m extremely pleased with it. On my high-resolution ribbon speakers the sound is ultra smooth, detailed, and lifelike.

3. Equalizers and tone controls are valid and do have a useful place in some installations. My room has a broad peak around 125Hz to around 180Hz. The only effective way to flatten it out is by using a good transparent EQ -- and that works exceedingly well. The sound is so un-naturally boomy without the EQ that I couldn’t listen to it for any length of time.

4. Most “high-end” cables are obscenely overpriced, although competent cabling definitely makes a positive improvement.

5. Most systems can benefit greatly from using AC regeneration or AC filtering products. If you really want the most from your audio system you need to address this area. It’s a real problem and not snake oil by any stretch.

6. The more you paid for your expensive moving coil cartridge, the more break-in time it will need, and the more painstakingly accurate set-up it will require to really shine.

Cheers!
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