Demoing your system to someone new to stereo

Joey_V · January 7

So, has anyone demoed their system to someone completely new to the idea of stereo listening? I'm not saying someone new to the hobby, I mean someone completely oblivious to the sport completely?

Are they able to discern sound staging? Are they able to appreciate the sonic performance? Or do they just look at you like you have 2 heads?

Any stories or thoughts?

newbie308 · January 7

My girlfriend listens to music on her iPhone and has zero interest in anything better. I offered to put together a small system for her, and she said, "no thanks". When she's at my house, she will listen with me, but would be just as happy to listen to the same music from her phone. She thinks I'm the crazy one for spending thousands on hifi gear when I could just use my phone.

CottageChz · January 7

newbie308 wrote: »

My girlfriend listens to music on her iPhone and has zero interest in anything better. I offered to put together a small system for her, and she said, "no thanks". When she's at my house, she will listen with me, but would be just as happy to listen to the same music from her phone. She thinks I'm the crazy one for spending thousands on hifi gear when I could just use my phone.

I would say the majority of people fall somewhere between your girlfriend and “a Bluetooth speaker is good enough.” Very few people who see my speakers seem to show much interest, sometimes get a comment along the lines of “those things are huge I bet they sound good,” but they’re not super interested.

bcwsrt · January 7

Several months ago when my 23 year-old daughter was home, I had her come down and take a listen. I had her cue up whatever she wanted to listen to on her phone and BT'd it through my system. A minute or two in her eyes got big and she exclaimed, "You can hear everything!"

But ... that was the end of that. There have been several changes since then and she has expressed zero interest in taking another listen, totally happy with her AirPods.

I think if I was her, I'd be keeping a playlist for the next time I came home of stuff I wanted to listen to on the old man's rig and hear what I'd been missing. She did seem to enjoy and appreciate that one experience, but there's evidently no interest in repeating it. Could just be a generational gap thing. She's been around decent systems up until she left for college. We had a pretty good HT system in the previous house that I played plenty of music on. Just never caught on with her, for whatever reason.

Most people look at me like I have two heads when it comes to keeping my vehicles clean and in top running order. I guess, why should this be any different? 😁

newbie308 · January 7

Fortunately, my son appreciates good sound. In fact, he's coming over next weekend to hear the Snake River Amp power cord in my system before I send it to the next lucky party. I'm sure going to miss this cord, until I get one to replace it.

treitz3 · January 7

Joey_V wrote: »

So, has anyone demoed their system to someone completely new to the idea of stereo listening? I'm not saying someone new to the hobby, I mean someone completely oblivious to the sport completely?

I have recently, a couple of months back. A complete novice friend of mine and I talk off and on about my hobby and he showed some interest in listening after I was describing what I was experiencing. The best he had heard up to that point was his stereo out in his shop with the speakers sitting up on the rafters. Not a great setup, even though his gear was above El Cheapo, Best Buy stuff. Other than that, just concerts he had attended over the years.

Joey_V wrote: »

Are they able to discern sound staging?

Absolutely. That's the one thing that he was truly amazed about. He even pointed out some of the things, their placement and how palpable the image was. He even told me that he could tell just how big the size of the venue was, that he didn't know a system could do that. He could not get over how he could hear everything individually and place where each respective instrument/singer was. He just loved to point out things and where they were. I could feel his excitement when he was enthusiastically pointing at a new instrument/singer within said stage.

Joey_V wrote: »

Are they able to appreciate the sonic performance?

Not to the level I do but yes. But he could definitely see why I like the hobby as much as I do. He is now interested in getting a small setup.

Joey_V wrote: »

Or do they just look at you like you have 2 heads?

Not at me like that. He looked at the rig as it was playing, as if he was stunned a bit. A bit of confusion, a sense of pleasure and the look of wonderment at what he was hearing.

Joey_V wrote: »

Any stories or thoughts?

My friend above aside....The biggest compliment I can say I have ever had wasn't even spoken. It is the looks on people's faces when a selection starts. Those looks are priceless and that says it all to me. The eyes popping wide open, much like an old cartoon, the jaw drop and deer in the headlight look is a dead giveaway at telling me what they are wanting to say.

It's moments like these that do make me proud of what I have been able to cobble together but the real pleasure comes when they leave and it's just me and the music. That's my true bliss.

I'll have my cousin Helen over with her boyfriend, Cody within the next couple of weeks. They both have not heard a decent system yet and we shall see what their observations will be.

This thread could serve as a reminder to folks to plant that seed. It may take 20 years to start growing but it will never grow until a seed has been planted. Throughout my audio journey, I have tried to plant as many seeds as I could. My uncle Tommy planted the seed for me back when I was 8 years old and that seed has taken off over the decades to grow to where I am at now.

Tom

Joey_V · January 7

Sometimes I wonder if they even hear what we hear or are we just tricking ourselves

bcwsrt · January 7

newbie308 wrote: »

Fortunately, my son appreciates good sound. In fact, he's coming over next weekend to hear the Snake River Amp power cord in my system before I send it to the next lucky party. I'm sure going to miss this cord, until I get one to replace it.

That's me, that's me!

treitz3 · January 7

Joey_V wrote: »

Sometimes I wonder if they even hear what we hear or are we just tricking ourselves

The gentlemen I was referring to above? He had heard my descriptions of what I hear, but this was usually out at the lake while enjoying the sun and a few adult drinks. There was a plethora of time between this summer (before it got too cold to swim) and when he came over.

What he heard, HE pointed out. I didn't point out a thing. He was spot on correct, though. FWIW.

Tom

VR3 · January 7

I have had a few opportunities to plant my 3 year old daughter in the sweet spot and it is interesting to watch her head turn as if to find the source of a sound, very amusing.

My wife has sat and listened but really has zero interest

audioluvr · January 7

Genetics. Men evolved to be able to pick up the most finite details while hunting for game. Women perceive color nuances more from gathering berries and herbs. Women can probably hear the details but they just don't care. Men can see how red a rose is but they just don't care.

Gardenstater · January 7

My neighbor wasted no time standing directly in the plane of, and between my speakers, and really dug how the soundstage was still way in front of him and clear. I was impressed with the fact that he picked up on that, but it might be because he is a high functioning st***er lol.

Joey_V · January 7

treitz3 wrote: »

Joey_V wrote: »

Sometimes I wonder if they even hear what we hear or are we just tricking ourselves

The gentlemen I was referring to above? He had heard my descriptions of what I hear, but this was usually out at the lake while enjoying the sun and a few adult drinks. There was a plethora of time between this summer (before it got too cold to swim) and when he came over.

What he heard, HE pointed out. I didn't point out a thing. He was spot on correct, though. FWIW.

Tom

Afternoon Tom
Actually we posted at the exact same time
I hadn’t read your post when I posted
I was referring in general

Joey_V · January 7

Interesting comment about the women thing.

Although I haven’t really sat my wife down for a real listening session (for fear of questions)… I have had her in my stereo hideout and she looks at me like I have three heads

Upstatemax · January 7

Many people with no HiFi experience have heard my systems and they all walk away "hearing the difference". Enough of a difference that they are going to go out and start putting together systems of their own?

Almost always, no.

Cost is a very real barrier for a lot of people.

I also think beyond cost, people are intimidated by the sheer amount of choices and honestly, bull crap in the industry.

It's funny, because I usually have the exact same experience when it comes to cycling.

Which is why I absolutely hate it when people with no intention to really commit to audio or cycling ask me what they should buy, especially when they preface it with some insanely low budget.

At this point, I usually tell them I'm not much help with those products and tell them that I hope they enjoy whatever they decide on.

nooshinjohn · January 7

Joey_V wrote: »

… I have had her in my stereo hideout and she looks at me like I have three heads

So many snarky comments I could make just for the laugh, but I think I will let this one pass.

muncybob · January 8

"The biggest compliment I can say I have ever had wasn't even spoken. It is the looks on people's faces when a selection starts. Those looks are priceless and that says it all to me. The eyes popping wide open, much like an old cartoon, the jaw drop and deer in the headlight look is a dead giveaway at telling me what they are wanting to say."

You just described my wife and I when we first connected the new to us SDA 2B speakers. We then realized what I had suspected all along in that, "I bet this system could sound a whole lot better than it does".

That was the beginning of our audio rabbit hole.

displayname · January 8

Joey_V wrote: »

Sometimes I wonder if they even hear what we hear or are we just tricking ourselves

We're not tricking ourselves, I've just found that so many people don't care that much. In the same way I don't care to own a six figure sports car or luxury vehicle. I can drive a higher end car, and really appreciate it. But that doesn't inspire me to save for one, I'd rather spend that money on the stereo. Others would rather spend that money on vacations or cars. It's as simple as that.

But I can tell you this, of the range of reactions I see people have when they hear real stereo for the first time - I can always tell who is going to be thinking about it later. Who it's going to haunt. And it's always the people that can't help but laugh when something really impressive comes on. That's been consistent. If someone's first reaction to a song is a quick laugh, you know you just blew their mind.

Milito · January 8

The only friend I have in the area where I live who really likes music is my neighbor across the street. He has a modest setup which isn't really setup for serious listening. However both him and his wife like listening to music, they have speaker all through their house. I did convince him to join the forum and get some Polk L100 speakers for his living room when Polk offered the large discount several years ago to forum members.

We had two couples over a few night ago and one of the men started looking at my system closely which was a first for him since he had been over numerous times before. I don't know if he was just being nice knowing I like to listen to music or really interested in it. Probably the former. He did comment that it sounded really good.

I think a lot of the women don't like stereo equipment in their living room so some of the men just say why try and get into a fight over it. I have a very good friend and he commented one time that his wife would never allow him to put speakers like mine in his main room. I felt like telling him you only live once, but didn't as I didn't want him to mention what I said to his wife as we travel a lot with them on vacations and didn't want to cause any fiction between her and myself.

maxward · January 8

I no longer try to demo the stereo to folks unless they request it, which is rare. I believe that most people like to have music on as opposed to sitting and listening to it. Then there are the trained musicians, whose brains can apparently fill in the blanks (in sound quality) with ease. They can be happy listening to a tinny single speaker as long as the performance or conductor meets their approval.

Polkitup2 · January 8

I gave up demoing my system to family, friends, and neighbors and now purposely avoid it. Having done it many times I have concluded that probably 99% of the population only correlates "good sound" to how loud and how much base a system can produce. The most satisfying system I ever had according to my non-audiophile people was when I had Polk RTi150 speakers driven by bridged NAD amps using a cheap NAD CD player. I could shake the house and people were always in awe. Now, ARC, Mcintosh, T+A, Dynaudio - meh

Joey_V · January 9

My story is interesting.

So, my Bowers and Wilkins 802D4 arrived and they were on a pallet in the garage. I had a couple members come, but I figured we could use a 4th person to lift. I went on my wife's Facebook group for the neighborhood, and we found a college kid who was home for Christmas. He came to help lift. He was thinking he was going to be lifting some sofa, but not these behemoth speakers.

After we lifted both boxes upstairs, we unboxed the units and he was like shell shocked at the appearance of the 802D4.

Then the club guys left, I was about to pay the kid (he's like 20, so about half my age).... and I was like, would you like to hear a real system? He said heck yeah man.

So I brought him over to my fortress of solitude. The Magico with the Boulder powered up, the ARC 10 quadruple boxes were powered up, the two VPI tables spinning. We ended up listening to some streaming and ended up going with the Opus 1 cart as a finale.

He said so many times, this is the greatest thing in a long long time for him. He said I didn't know it was supposed to sound like that. He described the singer and the density of image, the tone, the bass was just mind numbingly good.

He returned the money and said I cannot take this, that was more than enough of a demo.

I still gave him the money. I told him that at least he heard something that could be his Northstar. Maybe in the future, he can build a system in the direction of what he heard but with his own personalizations.

Cool kid.

billbillw · January 9

In my experience, unless the person is a fellow audiofool, they don't even come close to appreciating the dynamic range, imaging, and other nuances. My ex-wife loves music, but she didn't care if it was coming from my 2-ch system, the TV setup, or her cell phone speaker (cringe!). Various friends over the years have listened, none really were wowed, except when the late George Daniel visited me one time. It wasn't even a full blown demo because he was buying a piece of older gear I had, but it was playing in the background for some time. He was impressed enough to mention it on the forum in a random post some time later. I have tried to get my kids to share in the enjoyment...nope...they would rather have AirPods and Spotify.

I guess it really makes you appreciate when we can share the passion at gatherings of like minded fools. Not enough of those lately, at least around my area.

treitz3 · January 9

Tom

jbreezy5 · January 13

Upstatemax wrote: »

Many people with no HiFi experience have heard my systems and they all walk away "hearing the difference". Enough of a difference that they are going to go out and start putting together systems of their own?

Almost always, no.

Cost is a very real barrier for a lot of people.

I also think beyond cost, people are intimidated by the sheer amount of choices and honestly, bull crap in the industry.

It's funny, because I usually have the exact same experience when it comes to cycling.

Which is why I absolutely hate it when people with no intention to really commit to audio or cycling ask me what they should buy, especially when they preface it with some insanely low budget.

At this point, I usually tell them I'm not much help with those products and tell them that I hope they enjoy whatever they decide on.

To your point:

I have a friend whom for several years heard my various set-ups, was always very engaged, but he is very frugal, and I would offer to take him to local audio shops so he could hear other gear and help him get everything set-up.

Last year he bought a 4-family flat and lives in one of the apartments. He had a very strict budget (approx. $500).

He wanted 50/50 movies and music capability, and simplicity, and nothing too big, and decent overall appearance. A pretty tall order.

I helped him get a Yamaha RX-V775BT receiver (approx $250) on ebay and sold him my faux maple Acoustic Energy Threes (same price) and threw in a 10” Axiom Audio sub.

The speakers matched nicely with his ‘60s “modern” aesthetic (not sure that last phrase makes sense

). Sub was hidden behind his tv stand in a corner (thankfully, his living room is very open so the corner-loading could stretch its legs, so to speak) and we calibrated it to blend nicely with his speakers.

All said and done, once everything was in its place and we turned on some Fleetwood Mac, he had a grin from ear to ear, and you could tell the sense of pride he had with his first hi-fi set-up. He literally never had a stereo his entire life, and is in his mid-30s.

Despite all of this, I don’t think he will ever pursue anything more than this, even though he knows there’s much more to be had. He just has other priorities I guess. 🤷🏼

Strangely, I admire his contentment. Lol

maxward · January 13

^^^Thanks for sharing that. I think that frugality is a bigger barrier than a lack of money for many more people than we realize.

pitdogg2 · January 13

I'm not going to get to deep into my experience. After 2 hours of great music after my 2.3tls were all broke in from the complete restoration of crossovers, my buddy looks me square in the eyes and says " I have some mp3's I'd love to hear on your system"
It was then I knew I wasted 2hrs of my time.....

Time to go pal....

jbreezy5 · January 13

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I'm not going to get to deep into my experience. After 2 hours of great music after my 2.3tls were all broke in from the complete restoration of crossovers, my buddy looks me square in the eyes and says " I have some mp3's I'd love to hear on your system"
It was then I knew I wasted 2hrs of my time.....

Time to go pal....

I had another friend whom didn’t think there would be an audible difference between mp3 and CD. I remedied him of that notion in less than 5 minutes.

Nothing like an A/B comparison.

Jazzhead · January 13

maxward wrote: »

I no longer try to demo the stereo to folks unless they request it, which is rare. I believe that most people like to have music on as opposed to sitting and listening to it. Then there are the trained musicians, whose brains can apparently fill in the blanks (in sound quality) with ease. They can be happy listening to a tinny single speaker as long as the performance or conductor meets their approval.

My father was an orchestra/choral teacher who also played in the Charlotte symphony and all the local jazz clubs. It was his life. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of music and made sure all of his kids had musical training. Interestingly, he wasn't all that interested in listening to recorded music. If he was watching PBS and someone like Wynton Marsalis etc. was on for a performance he would watch and appreciate, but he never went out of his way to seek out fine audio. I came to the conclusion that performance was what he was driven to do. I got all the musical training, but I need my good audio; my wife is right there with me and would agree to me spending way more than I have.

pitdogg2 · January 13

my wife is right there with me and would agree to me spending way more than I have.

Good women like that are not as plentiful as they should be.

Jazzhead · January 13

^^^^
She likes to crank her Bluegrass!

Demoing your system to someone new to stereo

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