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referencing vs plug & play

This last couple of months more of you have been getting ahold of me, it's cool don't stop. I enjoy working on your systems and especially enjoy some listening together. Something though is coming up often and it's making me wonder if somewhere along the way someone has dropped the ball when it comes to comparing components. In talking with a few of you I've learned that a lot of you are dropping components into your systems and comparing without dialing your system into the new set of conditions. Back in the early days of referencing, before plug & play, when we made changes to a system we treated the system as if everything was starting from scratch. We knew that if making a component swap took place that we were going to need to make the rest of the audio chain suitable to accommodate the new signal path. "make a change anywhere in the flow and you've made a new flow"

When the plug & play audio clubs started popping up my friends looked at me as if these folks were off their rockers. I just figured they were doing something interesting but weren't really serious about club night, more than a chance to mingle. It's kind of the same thought as a trade show. You don't really take them serious, but it gives a chance to meet and greet. Saying this, I'm starting to think possibly I was wrong and plug & play has become the norm over actually referencing systems. My mind tells me this is nuts, right, but I'm hearing more and more that HEA folks are actually simply dropping components in mid chain and that's it. So I have to ask.

You do realize plug & play is different from referencing a system change don't you?

please be respectful to each other, thanks

Michael Green

128x128michaelgreenaudio

Showing 9 responses by glupson

glupson
7,842 posts
 

geoffkait,

I do not employ a spell checker. Not even a spelling-checker.

I do not know what Beavis and Butthead routine is. I will check it, but first have to get to checking that Tar Baby.

As far as school goes, you are right, it’s not too late to go back to school so feel free to attend. You can even ask questions and I will guide you to answers.

glupson
7,842 posts
 

geoffkait,


Not to go to deep into explaining it to you, but material an item is made of does influence its properties regarding vibration. I could not quantify it, but I would guess it is more influential than loosening the screw (unless you go to inconvenient extremes elizabeth referenced above).


Don't you wish you could come up with more than one variable to take care of? You do it so well but it’s such a narrow range.


glupson
7,842 posts
 

Loosening electrical outlet screws may be to someone's liking, but what is the point talking about it without first establishing what material they are made of?

glupson
7,842 posts
 
Amplifiers are just one proof our hearing is quite limited.

Sure, hearing is important and all that, but once we start hearing leaves falling, we may be overestimating ourselves.
glupson
7,842 posts
 
I am with geoffkait on...

"Unloosening the wall outlet screws is an excellent idea."
Tighter does seem like a wiser idea. Less dust in there will affect the sound less, I suppose. So, tighter they should be.

glupson
7,842 posts
 
Reading elizabeth’s posts above, and not going into theory and practice of loosening electrical connections, one has to conclude major differences between people who prefer "referencing" (as described by elizabeth) and those who prefer plug-and-play.

Those who do not mind "referencing" have much more free time, or less of other interests.

"Plug-and-play" crowd is less dedicated to the hobby of hunting what might have been.

In other threads, people talk how "audiophilia" is an aging hobby. How wouldn’t it be? If it would require such measures as working on your outlets or changing something for each record/CD/file played, who would have time? Young people rarely have time to play with that, unless their job is to sell whatever is needed for "referencing". This is a "hobby" for retirees. Nothing wrong with that, but it surely is time-consuming when done any other way but plug-and-play.
glupson
7,842 posts
 
Is everyone aware that hearing is a fairly limited sense?
glupson
7,842 posts
 
michaelgreen,

Thanks for the explanation. I really would have not guessed that. Now, I just have to reread it a few times to grasp everything, but I have a starting point.
glupson
7,842 posts
 

Can we go a step or two back?


What does the word "referencing" mean here? How did it find its place in this context?

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