What source do you use to demo equipment?
Hello. After decades of enjoying my home audio system, I find myself beginning to look for my final end-all dedicated music system. So I am beginning to look at speakers, amps and source components.
The question is: with all of the new streaming services and hardware, when you go into an audio salon, what do you listen to as your baseline music and via what format? I used to take a few CDs along, which were familiar to test the musicality of equipment. With all of the streaming and source hardware variables, what do you use? I had an experience recently where I had a salon queue up a familiar song via their streamer and it sounded horrible. It lacked any dynamics compared to what I was familiar with. I went home and listened to it on my streamer and the same thing. It sounded terrible compared to the CD version.
So how do you get the consistency of sound for listening tests? What sources do you listen to when testing?
@ghdprentice "So your audio store is gonna be set up with streaming" Such a definitive generalization based upon what? Auditioning at Gestalt Audio in Nashville I listened via vinyl, cd and streaming. And, within the last week a friend asked me to go with him in Memphis to audition some integrated amps and it was via vinyl. |
@facten, I agree. Yes, it’s true that most if not all high end shops will reach for a streamer, I don’t know any in my town that would insist on it. In fact, they would be delighted to spin some vinyl, and I would imagine a CD player as well. My two channel rig doesn’t have a streamer hooked up because I don’t have a wired internet connection in my room. (Working on that). |
Haven’t checked lately if CD demoes are readily available, but I test with 2 types of CDs: Familiar favorite songs and Test CDs. I test/listen for individual acoustical instruments (piano, violin, trumpet, flute, drum…) and voices. For favorite familiar songs not recorded well, I test for subjective engagement and relative sonic comparison to other demoed components. |
If you're auditioning, the main thing is a dealer who can handle what you bring him. And by that I mean that LP/CD whatever you've been listening to for years and know every brush stroke on the drum or quiver on the guitar note. If they don't have equipment for that, or want to seduce you with a streamed version of something you've never heard, you are, my friend, in the wrong place. You've been in the game a long while and this is not the time for some kid to show you how it's supposed to be. You already know how it's supposed to be. If you're not living next door to Nelson Pass, get on a plane and find your own version of such. That's what you owe yourself. It's not a kid's game any more. |
