Words From the Wise

• listen through your ears rather than your eyes.

• no matter how much you spend or how long you search, you’ll always find something better, usually a couple of days after maxing out all your credit cards.

• you’re most likely to experience an impossible-to-correct ground loop just before your friends arrive to hear your latest acquisition.

• nothing doesn’t make a difference, especially if you know what’s expected from the particular whizz-bang or whirly-jig.

• audiophilia is not a religion, tho it’s not yet listed as disease by the cdc.

-cfb

Kelley, though not a religion, I agree, I would argue that your 5 points points are arguably no less compelling than Moses coming down off of the mount with those two tablets...:)

1. Buy the most accurate speaker you can afford.

2. It is hard to go wrong when using solid state amps.

3. Treat your room, otherwise listen in near-field.

4. Don't be afraid to compare items with blind testing, it will save you a lot of money.

5. When you are able to listen to the MUSIC instead of your GEAR, you are getting real close to IT.

1. Don't go the mid-fi false-economy route, thinking that it'll save $. You'll only spend more in the long term & if you spent all that initially on the better equipment then you'll be $ ahead & much less frustrated. With all the money I wasted going through mid-fi, I could have a rig that's THAT much better today & spent less to boot.

2. Begin with the speakers that you intend to keep for life, then build the rig around them. If you change speakers later, all else is a wash.

3. Listen to your wife's aural opinions (assuming that she's into it) she can hear better than you can.

4. Tune for musicality vs. resolution. As Dan states, when you're really hearing the *music* you're getting close. The goosebump factor & those raised-up hairs on the back of your neck are telling you something - not so much by what you hear as what you *feel*.

5. Common sense isn't always relavant. Forget the spec's, the theories, the numbers. Listen with your heart.

Very nice idea for a thread Eric. my compliments to you & the above advisers as well; they very much know what they're talking about!

I'll try again, first attempt didn't post.

- Spend as much on your front end components (turntable and CDP) as you do on your amplifer and speakers. Garbage in, garbage out.

- Spend twice as much on your source material (LP's and CD's) as you do on your hardware.

- Never, ever buy power cords and interconnect new. Buy it for half the price or less here on the 'Gon.

- Always be less than truthful about what you spend on your gear/media. White lies are part of the hobby and your significant other expects you to be "coy"

- always keep the manuals, boxes, and shipping material. You'll likely need it when "Upgrade-aphelia" kicks in.

- attend as many live musical events as possible

- listen and follow the advice of the folks who frequent the 'Gon, their advice is invaluable