Top 10 Snafus to avoid when building a good rig

there have been many suggestions as to what not to do when buying components. i have been thinking about the essence of the theme--namely avoiding mistakes.

i've come to the conclusion that one cannot avoid making mistakes. to err is to be human.

so, i say, do your own research, learn from your mistakes and don't worry about violating the conventional wisdom.

building a stereo system is not like crossing the street directly in front of an on-coming vehicle.

there is no right and wrong, only what sounds good to you.

hi mapman:

i disagree with you about big speakers in a small room in this respect.

i like planar speakers.

so, i find that a big panel speaker in a small room, e.g, magnepan 20.1, will be preferred to almost any cone speaker, properly set up.

now, i'll agree that a large panel is optimized in a larger room, but it can still sound pretty good in a small room, ut not its best.

note not only room size counts, but room conditions are equally important.

i'll add one maxim:

sacrificing tonality for dimensionality.

her is one more "truism":

most components are not better than one another, just different.

some components are better than others.

in fact. components are not absolutely better, but rather present a trade off of improvements and degradations.

the problem with an opinion is that it is probably true and probably false. it is an expression of uncertainty.

while it may help to corroborate the opinion with evidence, it is never definitive.

however, exchanging opinions makes for some lively philosophical discussions and prevents alzheimers.