use of ChatGPT for HIFI

After a friend repeatedly encouraged me to try ChatGPT, I thought the deep end of audio might be where it has little to work with...  I have searched mightily for "best tube" recommendations for my 300B amp with new release WE power tubes.  I also have 12au7 input and 12bh7 plate drivers and a 5u4g rectifier.  Based on Dealer's recommendations I had changed input and rectifier from the stock EH to some other options...  So I laid out the situation for Chat and it came back with 2 inputs, 3 plate drivers, and 2 rectifiers, then it asked for more details.

I described the system...  speakers, vinyl front end, and streamer/dac.  Chat narrowed each recommendation to a specific tube mfg and date range....  it also pointed out where they could be obtained from the internet along with confidence level in seller (only recommended "reliable" sources for what they advertise).  Even asked if I needed help ordering some tubes...

Intrigued to say the least, I acquired the recommended tubes (Telefunken 12au7, Sylvania 12bh7, and RCA 5u4g) and began to be amazed as I carefully rolled in the "new" tubes.  Chat had offered very detailed explanations of why each tube was chosen with the source/amp/speaker and power tubes I have.  

Amazed isn't a strong word for what Chat did for my system...  it was already quiet, resolving, and very capable of giving me chills routinely.  There were very few places where it seemed the music was just not "right"...  occasionally too bright, mostly it would lose some musicality as the source material got very busy.  I'd always attributed this to the 300B/SET harmonics and just targeted the music it "liked" to play.  Almost anything sounded really engaging, but there was a gap that I wanted to close.

My outcome summary...  with the tubes recommended my system entered a new era.  I can appreciate easily the changes in noise floor/tonal balance/dynamics/etc...  astonishing to me given I had already invested years in getting this system right.  Years searching for tubes with the advice of other audio folks, dealers, and even the mfg of the amp...  ChatGPT appears to have nailed exactly what I was looking for over the course of a couple conversations.

Even my buddy that was pushing me to try AI is pretty amazed by the level of detailed knowledge demonstrated on such an esoteric query.  I've since gotten into a little more detail, Tectronix Spec Telefunkens/Yellow vs White label Sylvanias/etc) and Chat continues to provide valuable insight.  He's now attacking my phono stage (Line Magnetic LP-33) as the reason my vinyl's currently losing out to my Lumin X1.

FWIW...  I still prefer to form my own opinions based on research I do, but in some cases AI seems able to summarize all the crap out there and come up with some great conclusions. 

What are your experiences in using this groundbreaking tool?

@emergingsoul It can be grossly inaccurate. For example it described our class D amps as zero feedback, which they are not; no idea where it got that from but it wasn't from our website... AI can hallucinate and so you can get incorrect results. I've seen it do that a number of times. Its free though; you get what you pay for. 

@fburkeen

I also have a lumin x1, what a great job combining a dac with a great streamer. 

Very impressed with chat Gpt but always keep in mind the accuracy aspect and upon challenging it at times it can either improve the results or correct itself.  After all, it’s entering a jungle of knowledge every time it pursues a response. And has no capacity to determine right from wrong which is why you should never trust robots with kids

To be clear...  I was not blindly following anything.  I thought my buddy’s urging at least deserved an experiment.  I came up with something I consider very obscure, even among audio enthusiasts...  Also happened to be a question I’ve been chasing answers for from within "our community" and gotten nothing concrete.  I'd get a direction to explore, procure a couple tubes, and make an incremental improvement on occasion.  I also never got anything like a complete analysis of my amp with my WE300Bs from sources through speakers with very specific tube recommendations.  Sounded compelling, but we've all become aware of the BS potential of AI.

Given the relatively cheap experiment to see if Chat’s recommendations were worth considering, I bought the tubes and ran the test.  I was skeptical, but for a few hundred bucks I’d rather take the next step and have an answer for my buddy when he asked about my AI experience next time.  The amazing part for me is I’m not sure how long it would have taken or even if I would have ever landed on the recommended tubes.  I was considering an upgrade to the latest "R" version of my amp, chasing the few remaining veils...  a $15K adventure... but think I’m going to be happy for a very long time with this tube mix.

Anyway, enjoy the ride and use AI if it can help you achieve that goal!

@fburkeen 

Thank you for sharing your experience. I've often found it valuable on audio topics. 

AI is an incredible tool and is great fun learning its strengths and weaknesses. I have been employing it in more philosophy / forest and trees thoughts where it is simply incredible. While it isn’t usually good as the final word, it often is, provided you check its answers.