Audiophilia: Is it the pursuit of audio excellence or just a desire to tinker.


So my wife made this observation after I spent a couple hours fiddle farting with cables, connections and speaker placements. She said is this hobby/obsession your desire for audio excellence, or just you like tinkering with stuff, tweaking your system and feeding your OCD? 

She said you try this and try that and guess what it all sound the same to me. She really knows me and my OCD. 

Enjoy your Sunday.  

jacobsdad2000

Showing 9 responses by mahgister

Dont be afraid to express your opinion  especially when you are right as here in this post ...

Welcome here ...

My very best to you ...

I think it's different for everyone, as everyone is different. One thing I don't think is discussed enough  or often is how the "hobby" or journey can basically just be an addiction for many. An unhealthy one that consumes way too much time, energy, and thought. Money could be added to that list as well depending on the situation. Chasing something that doesn't exist or a feeling that can never be satisfied is not a healthy lifestyle. Researching and obsessing over the next piece to replace the last piece that consumed your mind before purchase. 

I wasn't trying to be a bummer to the thread and certainly my opinion isn't geared toward all "audiophiles". Some of y'all may even be thinking wtf is he babbling about?  My take was something that came to mind when I saw the title of the thread. Reminded me of a time when I came to the conclusion that maybe I invested too much of my time and mental energy into something that isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of life. So just my opinion. 

Sorry but @erik_squires is spot on here ...

We must LEARN something ...

We must become creative ...

We must study acoustics... And acoustic is not merely buying GK acoustics panels sorry ...

It is your own post accusation in one line which is not " germane" to the thread matter because it is an ad hominem attack with no content ...The post of erik is a good proposition to learn something out of a BLIND tinkering often motivated by obsession ...

And the poster you attacked is a positive contributor by the way more than most here ...

Then can you give it a rest and spare us your one line attack ?

Can’t you give it a rest? Your response is not even germane to the OP.

Changing a cartridge for a way costlier one is not "tinkering" nor it is  an embedding control device it is an upgrade of component  ...😁

Tinkering is  often like walking with your hand without seeing ...

We must learn how to control the main  three working dimensions of a system...

And a search for excellence in sound which never end is not a search for excellence in sound but in most case a mental disease or an obsession  ...Any study and set of experiments in acoustic end somewhere ...Any speakers building end somewhere etc ...

I listen music now without being frustrated ...I guess i am no more an "audiophile" or perhaps i am an informed one ...😉

 

Both. In your search for "audio excellence", "tinkering" is one of the procedures. Like changing the cartridge on your turntable. May seem to be "tinkering" to most. At $5,000, I would not call it, Tinkering. Probably closer to Surgery.

There is three basic areas about which we can experiment ...

Tinkering is a  more uninformed play  than systematic experiments ...We must study a bit here not just play...

Electrical , mechanical and acoustical are the three areas  to adress for any system at any price ...

When all we can do in this areas  is finished our system has reach his potential ; before that our system nevermind the cost would not be able to reach his potential best S.Q.

No singular upgrade will replace the necessary experiments to embed rightfully  the components not even the upgrades of all components can do the job by purchasing his way to the top S.Q. 😊 Money cannot replace studies and experiments  ... Sorry ...

No measuring tools can magically do the job ...

Even the best designed digital tool ever in my opinion  , the DSP based BACCH filters cannot replace electrical, mechanical and acoustical embeddings ...And my only future upgrade will be the BACCH filters ...

 

It is not that i can pick up a mole at 50 yards... It is not true... 😊 You mock me or over estimate me .... In the two case i like your humoristic way to say it ...

Learning a bit more dont make you better than others for spotting mole at some distance ...

It is the fact that i did not pursuit my tail confusing it with a mole near me ... I did not confuse playing at random and tinkering with solving problems at some moment in my journey, lately Alas! ...I did not confuse the price tag of the gun with the identification of the mole ...And my goal was enjoying a meal made of this mole not playing with a costly gun ...😊

 

@mahgister can pick up a mole at 50 yards.

 
 

 

 

I am amazed by the fact that many people had not discovered that there is a difference between tinkering at random or doing it with a method ...

When you do it with a method you reach an optimal threshold acoustically some day and you are done with these level of design/cost components you were using ... You are happy with them...

You can then upgrade or not ...The cost will be very high compared to what you have now well embedded ..

Most of the times you dont want to upgrade as an obsession because when the success was reached when a method of embeddings controls is applied with many low cost components but synergetical good one , you are in ectasy listening music in an acoustic immersive experrience ... Why upgrading now ?

The cost will be very high , in my case 700 bucks headphone/speakers system to a 10,000 probably more 15,000 bucks more for improvement mainly with better dac and BACCH filters and new speakers ...

I dont even dream about it because i am in ectasy every evening ... Am i deaf and easily satisfied ? Trust me i am not acoustically easily satisfied then , my system cost is not a stopgap ...The solution is buying the good basic synergetical components and after that a method to solve embeddings control problems , nevermind the components cost...😊

Tinkering at random and upgrading at random in buying spree is not and was not my hobby save the 10 years during which i learned the hard way what i must learn to create my acoustic heaven ...The first in my 72 years old audio journey ....

My situation improved the day i begun to read about acoustics and the day i dare to try to modify my 9 headphones because they were all artificial sound nevermind their types and i tried to experiment in my room ...

Is it either/or or both/and?

Very good question indeed ...

 

--Without a method it is very often an OCD motivated oscillation between the research of good sound and the fun of tinkering and the appeal to false solutions (costly cables ) or premature or badly oriented upgrades ......

 

--With a method the tinkering begun to be organized and end with the chosen components ,which cost the owner is able to afford, when the minimal acoustical satisfaction threshold is reached and all working dimensions are under relative control ...

 

 

An upgrade on a completely new level is possible then but not sometimes seen as necessary because system well embedded punch higher than we think ...

When we are immersed ( and immersive is an acoustic concept with a specific content ) in the soundfield we dont think upgrade even if it is always possible to go higher ... ( minimal acoustic satisfaction threshold is not a stopgap at all by the way because  between each component working optimally there is a coherence between each acoustic factors in quality that is impossible in non well embedded system this is optimal synergy  for some  design quality level  )

Just my 2 cents and own experience ...

 
 

 

 

I do not doubt your dedication and  own  cautiousness at all ...Your questions is only a good occasion to think about the essentials ...

My post are only for newbies here to think about a possible "method" ...

 

 

 

@mahgister I do not take a dump without having a plan (Hunt For Red October). I agree many just throw money around at tweaks and do not take the care or time to analyze the net result. I like being fiscally responsible and weigh my options and strive for positive results.   

 

Most audiophiles tinker WITHOUT a method ...
 
And a method suppose a set of priorities ...
 
Then their quest for best sound is impeded by ignorance and the tentations offered daily by market conditioning with premature and often unnecessary upgrades erroneously presented as THE solution ...I commit this sin by omission for a decade myself ...😁
 
Upgrades are not solution EVER, save if it is done because the components are not synergetical to begin with ; upgrades done BEFORE understanding what priorities matter in audio when the components purchase has ended with a relatively synergetical system at first listen , upgrades done BEFORE understanding how to embed rightfully the three working dimensions of any system at any price , electrically, mechanically and especially acoustically , Upgrades done BEFORE this understanding are meaningless and costly and deceiving most of the times ... To justify it , people called that their "tastes"... There is no RULING taste concept in acoustic ...It is a marketing trick ...
 
Then instead of tinkering randomlessly we must read basic acoustics and think about the way to decrease the vibration /resonance level , the ways to decrease the signal/noise ratio and shielding about EMI etc ...
 
Study, experiment and dont buy BEFORE understanding what you had done right or wrong with a basically synergetical not too costly system first ...
 
Psycho-acoustics science regulate the gear and the correlated audio experience minimum acoustic satisfaction levels and the optimal one ... Learn some basic ... Forget reviewers speaking about upgrade when you had already a basic system ......
 
Objectivist as subjectivist are dead wrong because they focus on gear pieces , be it with objective measures or subjective branded name products with higher price tag dont matter ... We must focus on acoustics science and no it is not merely about room acoustic panels here but about the scientific concepts and experiments proposed in acoustic basic ..
Vibrations will affect your experience ans signals noise ratio too at any price anyway ...
 
It is better to be creative and being the source of our own happiness in audiophile experience then being a passive compulsive customer hypnotized by price tag and perpetually frustrated ...
 
Take one experiment and one problem at a time and had fun without purchasing anything ... Dont buy costly tweaks replicate them in your own way ...
 
Pick the only method : Electrical, mechanical and acoustical controls experiments ... What i call " embeddings" to be understood...
Guess why objectivist as subjectivist put times to times a "tin foil hat" on me ?
 
😁😊
 
When you are done as i am right now, the time to upgrade if you want too is there , now you will know why, how and with what as i do ...
 
But my low cost system is so good i dont bother with the nerxt meaningful upgrade which can only be a BACCH filters system coupled with a better dac ... I will stay headphone based with it because my low cost speakers are so satisfying right now that even if they can be upgraded easily i am not tempted to do it ... As you see i know exactly what to do next ... I learned it in evaluating acoustic factors in the audio experience by the way i learned how to control them to some degree , and the improvement of the S.Q. ratio with price ...
 
 By the way "excellence in sound"  exist at all price levels in the limits prescribed by the design potential of each component and his right or wrong  embeddings and synergy with the other components in some environment .. ...