Interesting read for people new to the hobby

zombie boy 2000

I think brushing your teeth three times a day is good advice...

But beyond that, it just becomes tiresome when so many of us here on the forum get so excited about a tweak here or new cables there and some tired old troll comes lumbering in with a stick and an agenda. If you don't like it, hear it, feel it, groove to it, get down to it, or otherwise believe it, then move along. You might as well tell me I really don't like pizza. The whole perception is reality and kadda wadda bing bang. Dig?

Toka78

I don't think you are following me...simphiwes cross-posted something that was on another board. Ok, whatever. His right to do so, his opinion, I don't care. He gets attacked as a 'false expert' or whatever, which is all well and good, but I've read some of these same posters, in other threads, posting their own opinions as absolutes. That is what I found to be funny...in an ironic way.

reeltrouble1

Please post a specific example of absolutism.

There are many funny things on CP forum pages, we all frequently get a good chuckle from the bags of bones passing our way.

RT1

Toka78

I'm almost done lunch, so I won't waste any more time digging up something 'specific', but a brief summary:

'No CD player under $1,000 can possibly be any good'

'If you don't notice a difference you are deaf'


Ad nauseum. Now, so I don't have to explain myself yet again, I'm not saying those opinions are invalid. They are OPINIONS. Fine and dandy. I really don't care. But, its a two-way street. People don't like when someone says their new whatever-majig is worthless, fine. But if someone starts a thread like this, I don't think those same people can rightfully jump all over him (I'm not directing this at any one person in particular).

Diggit?

shack

The "expert" I was referring to was not simphiwes it was the "expert" who wrote the article. That said, simphiwes did address it to "people new to the hobby". Like F1nut I'm not sure this is very good way to get people into the hobby. It promotes mediocraty. I have always been an advocate of try it yourself, decide for yourself then share what you find out. I have never bashed anyone for sharing their opinion...but sharing your experiences and condemning others are two different things.

Toka78

Gotcha...and agreed. Lets leave it at that and get back to the important stuff...any new Tasteful Babes I need to see?

zombie boy 2000

Here ya go Toka...:D

shack

Ewwwwwww.... He said tasteful....

I gotta agree with Donald on this one.

zombie boy 2000

Me too:D
I don't know if you listen to Jim Rome, but Donald Trump is up for the smack-off championship. His tirade is the stuff of legend. Tells her she talks like a trucker, calls her his "fat little Rosie", and tell her to watch out for her girlfriend because some friends of his are coming by to take her out on a date...

classic

Lsi9

With some people you can let them hear $100.000 speakers and then turn on a $300 system and they wouldn't hear the difference.

I consider myself an audiophile newbie even though I have been at it for about 15 years, its not that my ears aren't sophisticated enough to catch good sound, I'd say it's because of my limited exposure to a wide variety of hi-end equipment.

For people that are new to the hobby I think they should be advised that it takes time to develop good taste in audio as well as exposure to good equipment so that one can discern the differences for themselves.

cfrizz

^Now there's a common sense approach! WTG LSI9.

simphiwes

with this post i was hoping to give someone new to the hobby some insight when thinking of buying audio equip. it does not matter what the sales person in the shop says most of the time they just wanna get that money out of you pocket into theirs, more so they just want to move the stock out of the shop, this view may not be true for all sales people but what matters most than his opinion is what your ears tell you.

TroyD

Uh-huh.

Great public service announcement.

I dunno, regardles, I think most people can tell when they are being fed a line of BS.

BDT

F1nut

Some better insight for folks new to the hobby. Get to know the sales person, build a relationship, and benefit from their knowledge. Do your own homework, there's plenty of info out there. Not everyone hears the same, trust your ears. What you hear in a showroom will not sound the same in your house. If at all possible, demo gear in your house. There is always something better. Your taste will change over time. Everything about this hobby is subjective, there are no absolutes. However, you usually get what you pay for and cables can make a difference. If you find yourself chasing your tail trying every piece you can get your hands on, you'll never be happy and should find a new hobby or see a shrink. Lastly, keep an open mind (and ears) and enjoy yourself.

tonyb

+1 ahmen to that

mrbigbluelight

Well, it's like someone once told me:

"Hey, my butt may be in my pants, but that doesn't mean I'm pooping !".


Back in the early days of high-end cassette decks (Nakamichi 1000), Dolby Digital Labs would promote Dolby Noise Reduction by stating that it reduced noise while leaving the musical content untouched. They had graphs/charts and the whole shebang to prove their point.

But you know what ? A lot (if not most) folks would switch off the Dolby feature because contrary to what Dolby Labs said, a lot of the music was getting deep-sixed along with the "hiss".

I think the MBBL Theorem is more accurate and appropriate: "Be happy with what you have until you can afford what you'd like".

There is the Law of Diminishing Returns which is true, of course: The higher up the ladder you go, the more it costs for each step. At some point it may be true that the minute difference in quality is hard to justify in terms of price. But if someone has the money, why not ?

BTW, the "butt in the pants" thing , uhm .... well, okay, so it really doesn't have anything to do with audio quality. But, then, neither did the first post.

Holydoc

simphiwes wrote:

If your ears can tell the difference and your pocket can handle it then buy.

I did like this quote though.

shoester5

Bottom line..... if it sounds good to you then it is good.

If it wasn't for the difference in everybody's taste, we all would be listening to the same equipment.

vhabaygiurbm

Thanks for the post...

heiney9

Lsi9 wrote:

For people that are new to the hobby I think they should be advised that it takes time to develop good taste in audio as well as exposure to good equipment so that one can discern the differences for themselves.

No doubt good advice for all serious hobbies. One of my other hobbies is wine and it took several years of coaching from my parents as well as sampling and listening to experts, etc to develop a taste for not only what I preferred but just to get some experience with all the different classes of wine.

Knowledge and experience are powerful tools. Oh yeah, don't forget the open mind thing too!

P.s. the advice given in the initial post is pure crap, one person's opinion and not a good one at that.

tonyb

No doubt good advice for all serious hobbies. One of my other hobbies is wine and it took several years of coaching from my parents as well as sampling and listening to experts, etc to develop a taste for not only what I preferred but just to get some experience with all the different classes of wine.

Wine huh....Got any Brunnello"s hanging around you'd like to share?:)

ninerbj

If you read the post carefully, he did mention that the transport is only as good as the signal being fed. For instance, he mentions the following...

"Provided you use either the optical or coaxial (S/PDIF) output from the CD transport to the receiver, it doesn't matter what DAC you have in the CD transport. The DAC in the receiver matters, but there's a law of diminishing marginal return."

This statment is true to form for you are not using the CDP's DACS.

In closing, I found it to be an interesting read. Do I agree with what this "expert" had to say?...NO! But what I did find interesting is how some of you responding to the LINK simphiwes shared with us get dangerously close to blaming him for what someone else wrote.

Thanks for sharing

beardog03

F1nut wrote:

If you find yourself chasing your tail trying every piece you can get your hands on, you'll never be happy and should find a new hobby or see a shrink. Lastly, keep an open mind (and ears) and enjoy yourself.

Hey wait a minute Jesse...!!

Where have I heard this before..?!!!

Oh yah....
You have to remind me almost daily..!!!

The shrink said I was ****, and my mind is soo open that I get sunlight and can hear the wind blow by...!!!


Poo Nuggets

davidk0512

F1nut wrote:

Worst advice you could ever offer people new to this hobby. Should have never been posted.

I think the advice is great for those that want to buy a system and are not interested in the experience. But for those that want to have fun tinkering, it would take the fun out the experience. In spending money for newer or in my case older stuff, I enjoy having the illusion that every "improvement" has made a significant difference. I think the same old CD sounds different everytime I listen to it depending of my choice of alcohol, beer definitely presents a different listening perspective than wine or Tito's and tonic or Crown and water. On the other hand, if you ask the wife, she'll say it still sounds the same, just turn it down.

reeltrouble1

gazoonheit.

ED Z.

RT1