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Can you appreciate great sound? [message #94099]

Sun, 25 July 2021 15:35

smartt
Messages: 173
Registered: March 2020

Master

I cannot. I cannot appreciate great food or a great expensive car, A Honda Fit is good enough for me. Young people are fine with mediocre sound. I am fine with just good sound because I am not blessed with discriminating taste. I would not be able to appreciate super excellent wine. Having said that I would appreciate a 20 million dollar house. A million dollar audio system are for those with the ability to buy. A fine system is good enough for me. I don't need the best audio because I would not appreciate it.

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Re: Can you appreciate great sound? [message #94109 is a reply to message #94099]

Wed, 28 July 2021 13:28

Strum Drum
Messages: 229
Registered: November 2017

Master

I don't have golden ears either. I think there's a certain point where the ROI just isn't there for further upgrades. Where that point lands, I guess, is different for each individual. I know bad audio. I know when something is out of tune. But I can't isolate the great from the good enough.

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Re: Can you appreciate great sound? [message #94112 is a reply to message #94109]

Wed, 28 July 2021 16:33

Wayne Parham
Messages: 18782
Registered: January 2001

Illuminati (33rd Degree)

You may have misinterpreted what this site is all about. It is for people that really appreciate the best sound, but don't want to spend megabucks to get it. And truly, you don't need to spend a lot of money for great sound.

There is expensive gear that's worth the extra money paid for it, but there's a lot of expensive gear out there that isn't all that great. The super-expensive gear is always inflated just to appeal to those that enjoy conspicuous-consumption for their egos.

So this site is really here for those of us that purchase items with true value, and most of it isn't crazy expensive. It isn't cheap though either - we're definitely quality-conscious - but it's not out of anyone's budget. We talk about gear here that you can afford, and that you can really hear the difference in quality.

Honestly, even those that have learned to settle with mediocre sound find a good quality high-fidelity sound system to be extremely pleasant. Good quality sound is something I would say is universally appreciated. Most everyone can hear the difference.

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Re: Can you appreciate great sound? [message #94122 is a reply to message #94112]

Thu, 29 July 2021 21:24

gofar99
Messages: 1947
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona

Illuminati (5th Degree)

Hi, I agree. There is a lot of good gear around that is not expensive. Equally there is a lot of costly stuff that is best suited for door stops. Confused

Snake oil abounds and will get you if you are not careful. Embarassed

Good Listening
Bruce

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Re: Can you appreciate great sound? [message #94129 is a reply to message #94099]

Sat, 31 July 2021 14:36

smartt
Messages: 173
Registered: March 2020

Master

I agree with you guys. You got to spend some money or more to get decent sound.
Even with limited resources, you can still buy an affordable system. And it is no sin to buy a $100,000 system if you got the cash to do so. Because I don,t have audiophile sensitive golden ears in a blind test I cannot tell if the $100,000 system is better than $20,000 system. If you can focus on the music and appreciate the music more than the sound quality you will be a lot happier.

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Re: Can you appreciate great sound? [message #94130 is a reply to message #94129]

Sat, 31 July 2021 15:53

Rusty
Messages: 1184
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

A few thousand bucks can make a truly fine system. Especially if you do some DIY.

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Re: Can you appreciate great sound? [message #94131 is a reply to message #94099]

Sat, 31 July 2021 16:22

smartt
Messages: 173
Registered: March 2020

Master

Rusty,

Can you tell us about all of your diy projects? DIY is about big bang for the buck.

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Re: Can you appreciate great sound? [message #94133 is a reply to message #94131]

Sat, 31 July 2021 16:48

Rusty
Messages: 1184
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

Well. Your on a forum of a website that specializes in DIY loudspeakers. A couple decades ago I built one of the speaker designs from here, though it is now discontinued. Still, having done so, my quest for satisfying sound was quenched. I had built prior speakers that were nice, but didn't deliver the overall sound I wanted. Great bass, high sensitivity and balanced, detailed sound that fills the room and more. I had prior indulged in diy kit building for solid state power and preamp models.

Then I became interested in tube gear. I found a diy kit source where I live locally. And have built several of the offerings from that source that work wonderfully with the Pi speakers I built. I think for all my diy ventures my outlay is under 5 grand. And I feel it would compete quite well with the high priced spread very adequately. I had no prior electrical and just learned woodworking on my own. I even built the shelving cabinet for the gear. It's very satisfying to look and hear the gear I put together. And have great admiration of the people that made this form of audio available to the general public and their fantastic designs. They are wizards.
Give it a try.

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Re: Can you appreciate great sound? [message #94136 is a reply to message #94099]

Sun, 01 August 2021 22:55

positron
Messages: 113
Registered: May 2020

Viscount

I admit I am probably one of the most, if not the most type A, who seeks perfect sonics from highs to bass.

Instrument/voice accuracy is the most important aspect to me as it will be a major player in determining other aspects of the music. Along with accuracy, the venue will also affect aspects.

I have found, in my experience, that the components are just as critical as the speaker and venue. The specs might look good compared to a speakers, but small variations often cover many octaves, thus their influence is large according to Rane and The RCA Radiotron Designers Handbook.

The entire system is completely my design from scratch; tube line preamplifier, tube monoblock amps, ics, speaker wires, test speakers. The DAC has had a major upgrade.

List price for my line preamplifier, monoblocks, ics is approximately $9,500 at the time. (I am retired.) I use multiple listening testing methods for checking and cross checking, ic, preamp, monoblock accuracy. That leaves the speakers, DAC, speaker wires for back and forth tweaking to obtain super accuracy.

Of course one has to remember the recording equipment is at least 50% and more of the entire electronics. As such, we have little control.

I have been enjoying the music for some time, but when I have time I still to a little tweaking, although not much to do anymore.

cheers

pos

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Re: Can you appreciate great sound? [message #94138 is a reply to message #94136]

Mon, 02 August 2021 06:36

smartt
Messages: 173
Registered: March 2020

Master

positron,

It is good to see you here. I still own one of your SAS Audio Labs 11A preamp. One of these years I must get the upgrade for the power supply. As you know Yahoo Groups were eliminated. Your SAS Audio Labs group was gone as a result. Did you by any chance make a copy of all the posts? It would have been nice to keep all that info.

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