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A stupid question for which there's no sensible answer.

I know, I know. At least I've labeled it properly.

Here goes: of the following elements of a system, how would you rank their influence on the sound? In other words, generally, which would someone want to upgrade or prioritize, and in what order,  if all of the following pieces were inferior to an amp/preamp and speakers they were happy with? Power cables, connector cables. speaker cables. streaming source, music source, dac (I vote for this one as #1), room treatment, speaker placement, type of chair, earwax quotient, what you ate for lunch, etc.

I hereby give my permission for everyone to tell me this is an idiotic question since the real answer is: it depends. (But I did put a "generally" in there somewhere). Anyway, I prefer that we debate this based on what we've experienced when we've tinkered. So I guess I'm really interested in anecdotes.

128x128m669326
lemonhaze
414 posts
 
@OP, when I suggest searching on the net I do not mean a forum like this. There are groups specifically about acoustics. Here are 2 links to get you started.

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/studio-building-acoustics/

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=73.0

Famous acousticians sometimes pop in to advise.

 Here is some fun stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLNFrxgMJ6E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPYt10zrclQ
audio2design
1,351 posts
 

In a recent post on this subject I mentioned a mate with a small almost square room with no carpet, only one flimsy drape and very little else. Think tilled bathroom acoustics. Truly dreadful. He has a lot of money tied up and is constantly spending more trying different components. He has a collection of very expensive cartridges that he keeps trying in the hope of improving the sound. All the fine detail the carts. are capable of is simply lost in the mess of sound waves banging around his room untamed. Last time i visited he had Spread Spectrum Technologies amplification and had replaced his Appogees with Maggies.



In other words the average poster on these forums?  :-)

m669326's avatar
m669326 OP
326 posts
 
Lemonhaze: Thank you for the links.
m669326's avatar
m669326 OP
326 posts
 
I’m still wondering if a very complex room could be a good room, audio wise.
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
12,961 posts
 
ill listen to a $500 audio system and be polite and say Sounds pretty Good
Then run like hell to my house and get my ears fixed . Let’s get that right
If i read a post of someone saying that the price is an indication of sound quality, more than electrical grid controls, more than vibrations controls and even more than acoustics basic laws i will not go to cleaning my brain to be polite but i will clean the post out of my eyes....

Oups i apologize to you....I am too rude and injust, i just realize that you dont speak about ALL 500 hundred systems but about one in bad settings.... Am i Correct ? If yes i deeply apologize for my free sarcasm.... If not i am sorry anyway....my system value is 500 bucks.... I listened system of very higher cost and i dont want them in their actual room and house settings....Mine is better... Audio simple law....
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