We all fuss over our systems and listen for the finest detail that may add to the overall presentation. Auditioning cables, swapping out speakers like old girlfriends. On the quest for the best sound we can afford.
But I am amazed at how i can go to a friend's house, or the salon, or a show, and hear different systems. And at first listen you notice that this stereo sounds nothing like yours. The balance is all different, the way the air moves in the room is completely different! One has horn loaded speakers with a tiny tube amp. The other has Goliath speakers with monster SS amps. But! If you settle in and listen to a few songs, you will soon get acclimated and it sounds great! Every one of them sounds great! How could they all sound so different and still all sound so good? Isn't sounding like live music the holy grail? How can this be?
I used to sweat over tiny details, worry about rubber feet and room treatments, but no more. Concentrate on the big things and get the overal sound right, tiny differences may add up over time, but if they are that hard to notice, perhaps they aren't as important as previously thought? Thinking about it too hard was interfering with my enjoyment of the music. I do have tweaks and fancy cables, but I choose what sounded nice at the time and I stick with it, once I have sat there for many ours, it all blends in. If my buddy's stereo can sound so different, and still be fantastic! Makes me wonder.
But I am amazed at how i can go to a friend's house, or the salon, or a show, and hear different systems. And at first listen you notice that this stereo sounds nothing like yours. The balance is all different, the way the air moves in the room is completely different! One has horn loaded speakers with a tiny tube amp. The other has Goliath speakers with monster SS amps. But! If you settle in and listen to a few songs, you will soon get acclimated and it sounds great! Every one of them sounds great! How could they all sound so different and still all sound so good? Isn't sounding like live music the holy grail? How can this be?
I used to sweat over tiny details, worry about rubber feet and room treatments, but no more. Concentrate on the big things and get the overal sound right, tiny differences may add up over time, but if they are that hard to notice, perhaps they aren't as important as previously thought? Thinking about it too hard was interfering with my enjoyment of the music. I do have tweaks and fancy cables, but I choose what sounded nice at the time and I stick with it, once I have sat there for many ours, it all blends in. If my buddy's stereo can sound so different, and still be fantastic! Makes me wonder.