2. amps-preamps
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Friends hi-fi system not very good, what do you do or say?

So you're going over to someones home and they give you a tour and they have a hi-fi system in a room. And while visiting of course they turn it on for you not knowing that you have a very nice system in your home and you notice immediately it's just not very good.  But then you're used to the very in you're listening experiences. So what do you do when they ask you what you think?

Do you say sounds really good?

Do you make suggestions?

Do you feel a desperate need to tell them about your system?

Personally, I try not to mention any details about my system. If I'm driving around in a Lamborghini I would prefer to be invisible so I don't get stared at when I get out of my car. If they had a really nice system with interesting components I would probably mention a few of the things I have and then we could bond with our common interests.   Ideally, it would be cool to be in the presence of someone who knew a lot more than I did and a real learning opportunity.

Audio systems tend to be private affairs I guess.  I don't necessarily want to hang out with someone and listen to tunes. Those wonderful College days where it made a lot of sense are long gone.

emergingsoul
thecarpathian's avatar
thecarpathian
4,361 posts
 

You and I have two very different opinions on what is witty...

Unless you're being ironic.

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,825 posts
 

Honestly,  you should get new friends if it sounds that bad...  😁

frankmc195's avatar
frankmc195
169 posts
 

Keep your mouth shut at all costs. If they like the sound of their system, that is all that matters. I liked where someone just said nice and let it go. Invite the friend over to your house sometimes and just happen to ask if they would like to listen to your system. You have to understand that if your system is great, you might embarrass your friend.

audition__audio
1,481 posts
 

"I have a friend who is a rock star"? Tell us his name. 

p05129
499 posts
 

Make some suggestions that might help the sq like setup changes, room treatment, etc. But if you know that the speaker/amp combo will never work (for example a cool sounding amp with analytic sounding speakers or warm sounding speakers with a warm sounding amp), you might make some suggestions.

As for being friendly, you aren’t critiquing his wife, it’s audio gear. I’ve been in a few audio clubs and I’ve told members that their $40k speakers didn’t sound that good or there were a couple of times a few of us were in a listening session at a friends/audio club member house for a listening session and a couple of us were holding our hands over our ears it sounded so bad and his system was over $100k.

I do the same with cars, I’ve told friends with new corvettes/bmw’s that they can always MOVE UP to a Porsche. 

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