The myth of "best" in audio needs to be addressed by all of us

There is so much interaction between a system and room as well as the interaction between components, wires, power cords, power conditioners, etc. that there is no best in every case just the best you have heard in your situation.

It is not a question about the "best"...Save for the fact that we all hope to buy the best possible components and the gear make a difference for sure...

BUT the room acoustical controls are the more powerful upgrade possible for ANY system...So huge that if you had the best possible room controls you dont need and dont dream to upgrade even with relatively good average components...

And it is not necessary to listen to other system to be sure about that...

If you want to know if your room is good, listen to The Three penny opera 1958 by Kurt Weill with Lotte Lenya and if you could listen the orchestra playing in front of you, seating in front of your speakers, but the singers voices coming from your back wall where there is no speakers, your room is under acoustic controls....If not, buying a cable AT ANY PRICE will not give you this nor buying most tweaks or a costly dac or amplifier.... Acoustic is key....

I will not speak about voice timbre or instrumental timbre which sound unnatural even in many very costly systems or very tweaked one i listen to...

Then in audio forget price, think acoustic....

And audio is not about "taste" but about acoustic.... 

@mijostyn - my point is that "best" in audio is impossible, given the subjectivity involved. There is no "best." Even with all the optimal measurements involved, my "best" will differ from yours. It’s a flawed concept, a myth, that serves only to keep up insecure in our pursuit.

You are right...

The best cannot be established by measures in electronic design ONLY like some pretend nor mainly by  pricing....It is an illusion at best and blinders at worst....

The best in audio is determined by a ratio: S.Q./price...

I own one of the best system if i use this infaillible criterion....

The S.Q. is defined by the qualitative presence of the main acoustical factors: imaging, timbre perception, soundstage, listener envelopment and source width mainly...If they are there in a relatively satisfying way at low cost the goal is reached....

And it is my sole criterion....

@mahgister - you certainly seem to be one of the posters with the highest reported satisfaction from their system on the forum... not taken in by the industry hype of “best” gear.

It is simple why this is so...

With the same gear system i go from frustration to ecstasy, in a set of hundreds incremental steps each day for the last 2 years, improving my controls methods in mechanical, electrical and especially acoustical working embedding dimensions...I created a thread where i documented all my "silly" or wise experiments during 24 pages....

Then i know why and how my system transformed itself from night to day in clarity, imaging, soundstage, timbre perception. listener envelopment and source width and all other acoustical factors...

All that at almost NO cost....Then NO SYSTEM at any price can impress me even if it is a better one....Because my ratio S.Q./price is over the roof...And anyway the orchestra filled my room with each instruments distinctively perceived... Then .... There is  many systems better than my 500 bucks system for sure but the price is very high compared to it....

Then my satisfaction is not a resignation nor a relative satisfaction....But truly an ecstasy because i create it myself....

My most powerful device is my "mechanical equalizer" inspired by Helmholtz workd and modern acoustical research... Cost: peanuts....

And i dont boast about the piece of gear i bought like many here, any piece of my gear is replaceable by another one of the same quality anyway, i dont sell costly "tweaks" and branded name electronic design, speakers,or dac or amplifier...All that is half deceptive and illusory, hiding the essential: acoustic....

I sell the idea of listening experiments and homemade devices ONLY and i want to motivate creativity, self confidence, and hearing learning and experiments....

Audiophile experience is more related to acoustic control than to dac, speakers or amplifiers, whatever their price or name...

Most people here dont know that and save for me nobody claim that simple truth clearly nowhere on any thread i know of...

Then people chase their tail or worst they chase the moon....And they par the price in money and deception...

The only two things that are asked for is a dedicated room and time for experimenting....

My best to you....

The best system for me, if there is one, is a "relative best one" determined by a ratio :

I use the ratio S.Q./price....

I am pleased then to own one among the best system in the world....Thanks to my "no cost" embeddings controls.... And vintage gear....

😁😊😎

Anybody else want to fight the harmful myth of "best" in audio?

If anybody read my posts i went  fighting that for the last 2 years...

There is no absolute best, speakers,dac,or amplifiers....

There is no absolute supremacy of tubes over S.S.

There is no vinyl supremacy over digital nor the opposite either...

BUT

There is an absolute supremacy of ACOUSTIC science and experience over electronics products, because we all listen to our speakers/room/ears with our two EARS....The most important part of this family being the room/ears by a huge gap....

Fine tuning the audio system, and controlling in the right way the 3 working embeddings dimensions where ANY system is immersed, mechanical,electrical and acoustical, this is the KEY....

Especially ACOUSTIC controls....

Anybody boasting about his alleged superior electronic design, speakers, amplifier, dac, turntables, is naive, not because this is not true, but because this is not ENOUGH.... Any good design at any price must be rightfully embedded to work optimally....

Especially in his acoustical working embedding dimension....

Then i boast about my listening experiments....  😁😁😊😊😎😎

 Do the same, seat and listen, trust yourself and trust your ears and be creative....No cost here....

My best to all....