Hindsight after 45 years


   Forty-five years as an audiophile chasing a state of audio reproduction, commonly referred to as audio nirvana, where music sounds indistinguishable from a live performance. 
   Forty-five years of being a student and practitioner of all things audiophillia.

   Forty-five years of careful research and implementation.

   Forty-years trying to achieve maximum fidelity, detail, and emotional impact.

   Forty-five years of purchasing and rotating some really nice well regarded high fidelity equipment.

   In hindsight, I wish I had taken a different path. I wish I had gone the pro audio route.

   I live in Nashville; Music City. Where on any given day there are several different live performances within one city block and more all over the city. This is my reference.

   Being a gear junky, I pay attention. Never have I seen a single piece of hifi used on stage. I see guitar amps, pa speakers, and eq’s.

   Even bars and clubs play recorded music on pro audio equipment into large house speakers and the energy is fantastic even at lower volumes. 
   I’m not saying pro audio is better than hifi, there are many factors. It’s all subjective, relative, and dependent upon individual’s preferences and expectations. 
   Pro audio has come a long way in the last forty-five years, which may be why I didn’t find it practical for me years ago.

   I’m just saying, if I were to start over now, I would go pro audio.

   

audiodelusion

Great you enjoyed the journey. Not sure about pro gear at home. It perhaps it is the source you use as reference. But pro gear has not gotten the gestalt correct when using real acoustic music as a reference. It tends to over emphasize the venue and details. Which I think is important in mastering... but not good for recreating the overall correct musical experience. It is very different purpose stuff. But many folks are looking for different experiences. 

I had my jaw dropped at a upscale nightclub last year. I investigated what pro speakers they were....and bought some  higher end pro speakers. I feel like the pro guys are the only ones who are still innovating.

No OCD, no neurosis, just enjoyment of album after album when i sit in front of them....

I don't think I'll be buying "audiophile" speakers again! (rinse repeat of the same thing for decades).

I agree that pro speakers can surprise you at the price points they can be had in comparison to consumer audio.  I have a set of turbosound IQ12s for live performance and they are way better than they should be for essentially DSP, preamps, amps and speakers that can crank out 100 db easy to a pretty large space.  For $1400 retail it’s kind of crazy.

I would also say that pro audio outdoors - there isn’t really anything better.  When you have a giant open area the sound has room to breathe.  It’s an amazing thing.  Funktion One / Hennessy / and many others are an experience live.  If only there was a way to listen at a volume that I didn’t need earplugs.

That being said, for my studio system I use passives because I seek realism in the system and haven’t heard a pair of monitors give me what my separates can. Also, I haven’t tried any of the big boy Barefoot, Neumann or Genelecs that people rave about.  And not sure how PA equipment would do in a small room?  Would love to hear about someone with high end PA gear speak about their experience!  I still prefer my home systems over my PA gear indoors, but there is a pretty large cost discrepancy between them.

I have been using a combination of high end and pro audio gear for many years.

It works very well in my opinion.