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The argument against upgrading

I’ve always assumed upgrading hifi can be worthwhile provided there is some audible improvement in sound quality. Maybe, this assumption should be challenged.

Let’s suppose I make some change to my system. I make a meaningful comparison that proves it sounds better in some way.

Before making the change, I was already able to get into and enjoy certain recordings. Surely, I can’t get into these recordings any more than that. It’s an either or thing not a matter of degree.

So what does the upgrade actually do for me in practice? I fear that more often than not it may be absolutely nothing.

I am not arguing that there is no better. Just that incrementally better may not necessarily always translate into more musical enjoyment.

I suppose this all begs the question what I actually mean by better.

What’s your view on the benefits of upgrading? How can we reliably assess whether it is effective?

newton_john
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
15,045 posts
 

yes

great post!

I think you are like all of us conditioned by your own hearing habit biases and history...

Like musical maestros,musicians or some audiophiles, we appreciate music  sometimes even  over new sound conditions allegedly "improved"...

But acoustics cannot be separated in two distinct fields, if we speak about music and speech, material or physical acoustics and psycho-acoustics as you know are linked together... it is why upgrading components in audio is far more complex decision than most suppose and it is why your thread is way more deep than just a thinking about taste...

For most upgrading is not related to optimization, and acoustics to  understanding... Marketing is enough for many ...

But with a limited budget i was in the obligation to think instead of buying and to understand instead of plugging a new gear piece into the wall ...

I called optimization process the concrete  thinking process and i called  acoustics conceptual and experiments the way to understand my  "potential improvement" as well as my actual hearing experience ...

If i had the budget i will have bought a 100,000 bucks system in a 100,000 bucks dedicated room and i would had called this "high-End"...

I was lucky...

I prefer understanding to mere pleasure...

M.A.S.T. or minimal acoustical satisfaction threshold once reach is enough for my ecstasy ...

 Audiophilia is not about money but about knowledge ...

smiley

kennyc
2,873 posts
 

So steaming sounds as good as or better than vinyl. Yet I find listening to vinyl more enjoyable. 

Perhaps revisiting your assumption. 

newton_john's avatar
newton_john OP
551 posts
 

@kennyc 

No, that’s not an assumption.

I don’t have a dog in the fight. I am quite happy to enjoy whichever one sounds good to me.

As I wrote earlier today in the Digital section, that can change.

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