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Law of Accelerated Returns

I think back over the many decades of pursuing high end audio and I realize some of the most inspirational were listening to state of the art systems. Systems I could never dream of affording. I occasionally would get up early and drive the two hours to Phoenix in hopes of finding no one listening to the state of the art system in “the big room” at one of the four or five high end audio stores there in the early ‘90’s.

One such time I was able to spend over an hour with the most amazing system I have ever heard: Wilson WAAM BAMM (or something like that… all Rowland electronics, Transparent interconnects). The system cost about over $.5 million… now, over a million… although I am sure it is even better (I can’t imagine how)..

 

But listening to that system was so mind blowing… so much better than anything I could conceive of, it just completely changed my expectation of what a system could be. It was orders of magnitude better than anything I had heard.

 

Interestingly, as impressed as I was… I did not want “that” sound, as much as I appreciated it. It still expanded my horizon as to what is possible. That is really important, as it is really easy to make judgments on what you have heard and not realize the possibilities… like never having left the small town in Kansas (no offense).

I keep reading these posts about diminishing returns. That isn’t the way it works. I recently read an article by Robert Harley in The Absolute Sound called the Law of Accelerated Returns that captures the concept perfectly. March 2022 issue. The possibilities in high end audio is incredible. Everyone interested in it in any way deserves to hear what is possible. It is mind expanding. 

 

 

ghdprentice

Showing 5 responses by stuartk

stuartk
2,436 posts
 

@mahgister 

"Upgrading before that is waste of money and ignorance of what you try to evaluate because you try to evaluate his quality in an uncontrolled room."

I don't believe there's much more I can do (beyond rugs, curtains, soft furniture) to control my room. Nevertheless, the sound of my system has continued to improve over time, via gear upgrades.

I'd agree that upgrades that do not produce significant improvements could be deemed a "waste" and that lack of improvement could be attributed to "ignorance".

In other words, if I had no idea regarding what, exactly, I wanted to improve and just bought gear randomly, hoping something would somehow change for the better, that would be wasteful and ignorant. But that's not my approach. I can't afford that approach! 

I don't upgrade unless I can clearly identify what it is I want to change and I do a lot of research. Also, I generally will not buy anything I cannot return. My main goal the last time around was improving bass grip and clarity in the lower mids. Replacing the integrated I had with a Hegel H390 proved massively successful in these areas but also, dramatically improved resolution, overall. Speaker/amp matching was so much better that it was as though I'd gotten a new set of speakers along with the amp. I am not speaking of subtle improvements, here. 

Would I prefer to have a better-controlled room? Sure. Should I therefore decline to attempt to make any improvements in SQ via gear upgrades ? Not in my opinion, based upon the success I've had so far. It may well be that I will reach a point at which I can no longer compensate for weaknesses attributable to  the room. But if I had never tried upgrading gear, I would be tolerating much, much poorer SQ than I enjoy at present.  The same would be true had I never begun participating, here;  there is no question that AudiogoN forum members have been instrumental in the gains my system has made. 

 

stuartk
2,436 posts
 

...and mine to you, sir!

stuartk
2,436 posts
 

 I don't begrudge anyone with the means to pursue the ultimate. 

That said, I can't help but wonder whether it's not true that "ignorance is bliss".

I can be very obsessive and am not at all sure that being exposed to 100K systems would make me happier, knowing I could never afford one, myself.

Furthermore, as I'm not engineering-minded, were I able to spend 100K, there's no guarantee I'd end up withy a system that I'd enjoy more than my current 25K system. 

I actually haven't heard many systems. I attended a couple meetings of a local audiophile society and felt very out of place, as the emphasis was very much on gear. No-one wanted to talk about music. 

 

 

stuartk
2,436 posts
 

@mahgister 

"We listen to the s[p]eaker/room relation not to an amplifier ALONE....Or to a dac alone...."

Yes!  And along with synergy between room and gear, there is synergy between components. For these reasons, I never buy anything I cannot try out in my room and return, if necessary. 

stuartk
2,436 posts
 

@musicaddict:

"Those are pretty much my thoughts and experience as well, in fact I cannot think of a single sentence you wrote that I disagree with"

Well, thanks. Seems to me what I wrote is pretty much just common sense for those of us who have limited capacity to treat our rooms. BTW-- I live in a forest and no doubt have too much glass, as well!  

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