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How do you determine your weakest link?

I still, after all these years in the audio game, do not get this: I started, last year, with a speaker upgrade; which I was very happy with. Then, new stands for my monitors. The rest is history. Everything went. I finally ended with upgrading my CDP to integrated, IC. That difference, too, is blowing my mind. The litany of audio lingo seems to be redundant when describing sounds of ICs,amps, preamps, speakers. You know the deal. Everything from soundstage (my personal favorite. just fooling ya) to upper end detail. When I changed my Thiels because I wasn't happy with the upper end harshness, I knew it was the speakers. Would I have known it was from the speakers if I hadn't read posts and reviews galore about Thiel upper end harshness? Maybe (if I hadn't read) I could have decided that I needed a new, softer sounding, laid back, integrated? Since I have changed everything else, since my speaker upgrade, my upper end (as well as a ton of other things) continues to change for the positive. Now, I love my system. Really do. Eventually, however, I know, I will feel I'm missing something. How will I know which component will get me that something? Sorry about the cirmlocution? Thanks in advance my fellow audiophools. warren
128x128warrenh

Showing 1 response by rockvirgo

rockvirgo
587 posts
 
Hi Warrenh. My odyssey has been largely trial and error. A few years ago I freaked every time I played CD's featuring flute or soprano sax or upper register piano. It just sounded shrill. Hurt your ears kinda shrill, especially at advanced volumes. Everything else sounded cool.
My first thought was that the recording microphones were distorting. My second was that the digital transfers were dodgey. The first victim was the speakers, but no fix there. Then I upgraded the power amp. But I still didn't get it. I changed interconnects and speaker cables; upgraded my DAC; found the matching transport. Everything was getting better balanced and more focused but the problem persisted. Then I switched pre-amps. Yippee! Everything fell into place, the shrillness vanished. I'd uncovered the culprit. I firmly believe that the higher up the feeding chain you go, the more intolerant the system is to distortion and the more important degrees of "fineness" become.
So nowadays my searches are more about refining what I have. But even when I miss a score on some unit that I think will increase the rhapsody that I've stumbled upon so far, it really doesn't bother me. Happy holidays and hi-fi happiness to you :^)
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