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Observations on Audiogon Posts

There has been something that disturbs me about the posts I see on Audiogon. I am specifically talking about the posts that ask members to make suggestion's on equipment.

Here is the problem I have. I rarely (and I mean I can count on one hand the number of times) see people post what kind of sound they are looking for. Instead people ask if such and such a piece will sound good with these other twenty pieces in their systems. What's the problem? Well, how do we know what you are looking for? Is sound-staging the most important thing to you? For some people it is. Do you like a forward aggressive sounding presentation or do you like a more laid back sound? Is musicality the most important thing to you? Do you want a system that produces accurate timbres? Knowing what you're looking for can save you thousands on equipment that doesn't fit you're criteria. It also helps us in making suggestions.

It seems to me that if more of us spent more time on what we are trying to get from our systems then on what brands we should buy we would all be a lot happier.

Just some food for thought.
nrostov

Showing 1 response by eweedhome

eweedhome
227 posts
 
Frankly, I think it takes a while (and an ear with some real listening time and experience) to figure out that there is not one objectively "right" sound that you can get out of a system at a particular price range for all your purposes and all your music. I think that is what sparks a good bit of the arguing that goes on among audio hobbyists. As noted, the question "which sounds best" is the wrong question. The better question is "which sounds best if my end goal is X." But that's not the one that gets asked much of the time...and that's because it takes some time...maybe quite a bit of time...to figure out (1) that there is no one "right" sound; (2) that each of us tends to value one or the other different characteristics of higher end audio gear, often depending on where we are in our listening histories; and (3) that all of this is affected by what we continue to learn by listening to real, live music.

I have a music degree and 25 years of listening to (relatively) high end gear, and lots of listening to live music is fine venues, and am still surprised at my own listening "stupidity" from time to time. I'm still discovering what I like in reproduced sound, and I'm still discovering its limits. (It's just a recording, after all. It's not the real thing...but every now and then, it reminds me of the real thing...)
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