What do you care about in this hobby?


Is it:

  1. sound quality only
  2.  cost 
  3. value
  4. measurements
  5. quality of parts
  6. overall design
  7. aesthetics
  8. service and support

All of the above for me.  How about you?
 

Thanks. 

mapman

Showing 1 response by mulveling

Sound quality first, aesthetics 2nd. Value only matters to me when 1. I can’t afford it anymore, and 2. clearcut cases of misplaced expense - i.e. obnoxiously bad engineering / design; ostentatious chassis; misguided product philosophy. 

The others categories matter to me about ZERO. Measurements can be a curiosity & fun read, but I treat them largely as a separate pursuit, with little overlap to listening.

For service and support - keep in mind so many hifi companies are "1-man shows", or close to it. Usually, the proprietor is OLD. What do you think the landscape is going to look like in 10+ years? The only service & support you can count on is having gear with (mostly) replaceable parts that can be reasonably worked on by other technicians. That, and get some spares for the parts that are hard to replace (drivers). You DEFINITELY want your key components to be known to known reliable units. I know my Tannoys are tough as nails because I've had several "oopsie" momemts with them over 15+ years, and they've come out unscathed.