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How do you know what you're missing?

Without listening to better systems than your own, how do you go about targeting what to improve? How do you know what is possible? It's a case of you don't know what you don't know. I get that indistinguishable from live is the definition of high fidelity, but I don't see that as a realistic aspiration without a dedicated built to spec room and a few orders of magnitude more expensive gear.

Reading reviews or forums can't possibly educate as well as demonstration. "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture," applies to the hardware as well as the media. I've isolated myself for many years prior to current circumstances. I can't remember the last time I actually went and listened to someone else's system. For that matter it's been years since I heard live music, too. (I don't count serenading the cat at home.)

Is it a case of you'll know it when you see it? Is this not a common problem? Or do you just not know it is a problem?
cat_doorman

Showing 1 response by onhwy61

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onhwy61
5,277 posts
 
It's a great question!  Much of the answer depends upon what type of person are you.  If you just want to listen to music and enjoy the experience you won't really worry about how it could be even better.  The music sounds good and you're happy.  For that type of person your question is not particularly important.  There's another type of listener who is more interested in what they call "the journey".  No matter what their system sounds like, they are always thinking about the next step.  It's axiomatic that their system can always be improved.  I suspect they do like listening to music, but they really like listening to their systems.

Once you figure out what type of listener you are the answer to your question is kind of self-evident.  If you're not

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