What has been your costliest mistake in this hobby?

Maybe spending inordinate amounts of time on line trying to decipher what will catapult my system into nirvana.
Champagne tastes on a beer budget is difficult.
Democracy (read as spouse) can be a limiting factor.

Dont be discouraged my friend...

All is possible , champagne taste with a glass of soda budget, i made it for myself, it only need creativity and time, Dont be discouraged and read and think....

I wish you the best....

Maybe spending inordinate amounts of time on line trying to decipher what will catapult my system into nirvana.
Champagne tastes on a beer budget is difficult.
Democracy (read as spouse) can be a limiting factor.

Dont be discouraged.... All is possible, i made it, champagne taste on a glass of water soda budget.... :)

I have a little more trust in reviewers like StereoNETS David Price who’s still regularly refers to classic vintage gear that he owns for comparison purposes.

First cd318 thanks for your interest in my post...

Second, i vouch for your impression and i concur...Reviewers who listen to mythical vintage are more believable and gives us tag and beacons... And a very good amplifier of 1978 like mine is good this year...

The evolution of electronic design has made progress,yes, in the last 60 years, tremendous one sometimes...But the electronic progress in design can in no way explain by itself the enormous disparate audio sound experience different for all of us with comparable products on the same rung of the 3 scales ladder of Quality/ Price....

Other conditions more impactful for the audible experience than only electronic generic design, is the always particular complex embeddings of these designs, in an audio system, in a room, in a house , mechanically, electrically and acoustically...

Many reviewers dont want to kill their product marketing and adding to the price paid the necessary advice and methods linked to a rightful embeddings of their product, these embeddings which alone by themselves can make any electronical device to reach his peak...




The customer:
--Do you said the amplifier i want to pay 10,000 dollars dont sound at his peak connected to the system right out of the box ?

The vendor:
--Yes, you must embed it... It takes some materials, some thinking and working and much time...

The customer:
-- I want a perfect ready made product, your own is not it seems, sorry... The reviewer wrote that it was perfect the first day, only connected to his audio system without necessitating any complex workings at all tough...

The Vendor:
-- Yes but his house , his room, his other audio elements are different than yours.... And the vibrations/resonance problems must be controlled by you and you must treat your house and room electrical grid for controlling the noise floor and the acoustic passive treatment and even active controls is mandatory to listen to this amplifier at his peak S.Q. rightly embed with the other parts of the system also acoustically mechanically and electrically...

The Customer:
-- i only want to listen to music....Audiophiles like you are complete fools sorry....
For me it is simple, i always buy the perfect product, if not, i upgrade it....My favorite reviewer did it and i will did it my way....



« If you want an audiophile experience, you must pay big money, only big money can give you that, everything else is an illusion»- a reviewer to Groucho Marx in an Audio Fiesta showroom or in an audio thread....

:)

Reading and believing reviewers that affirm that Hi-Fi experience and S.Q. experience being related to electronic design quality and progress only is mainly for those who can pay for it...


Totally false, but when you enter in this course to upgrade the electronic design of any part in the audio system, you forgot the essentials : any relatively good system will give to you an extraordinary experience if you embed it correctly, even at a relatively low price...

All audio magazines are market condioning mainly... They sell ready made branded products, they dont explain the basics and the methods to embed them, this will kill the urge to upgrade.... :)


Very costly for those customers who believes the gospel...

:)

My post dont negate the value of a good electronic design and his logical pricing at all, but my post negates the fact that this will constitute the MAIN of all audio factors for the S.Q. experience....

Electronic quality design progress dont exceed the  acoustical embedding  importance... Ask any acoustic engineer,  speakers cannot replace the room.... 

«This worthy grain of salt is a pearl»-Groucho Marx

So true, thanks....

My best to you....

But thanks for your post, it is very important to enlightened others.... 7 years ago i would have read your post and that would made me think seriously.... And perhaps help me to controls my urge to upgrade....  

My best to you,

 i hope you will sell it for a good price for you....

One I just made buying an Aurender N100H which doesn’t sound any better than the raspberry pi4 I using with the same DAC. Don’t fall for the Streamer matters just as much as the DAC, BS

Very sound and precious advice for all.... That confirm my experience , when you have a relatively good audio system upgrading a part is most of the times a bad idea.... Embedding the three dimension of any system gives way more S.Q. What matters is only the embeddings mostly, especially with well choosen basic good gear ....I learn it like you the hard way.... :)

I paid for my dac a small amount of money but well choosen i never look back....

Sorry for your near 2300 dollars lost djones....

Biggest mistake I made was buying a pair of highly regarded floorstanding speakers which got many great reviews without ever hearing them first. They sounded God-awful so naturally it couldn’t be the speakers. I replaced every component and wire in the system at a tremendous cost and after many tens of thousands of dollars, the system still sounded horrible. After many sleepless nights, I sold the highly regarded speakers and started over. Lesson learned. I will never buy something like speakers without hearing them first. That mistake cost me upwards of 40K.

Thanks for this interesting story.... I am sorry for your lost tough really...

One point, what you said is true for any speakers past some price point.... We must listen to them before buying, because past a certain price point there is not so much reviews by not only pro but non pro reviewers...

For low price speakers, i dont want to spell a price here, it is very possible to buy without hearing, i do it successfully, but because especially with older, or past legends, vintage, or very well sold few years one, the ocean of reviews gives to you all the cross information to make a good choice... My best to you....

Going through loads of mid-fi equipment in the vain hope to find, by sheer ’magic’, some satisfying sound quality. Didn’t.

If you are right, then why it was working for me?

The answer: dont upgrade it embed it first..... :)

i made the same mistake exactly with the same sub (Miller and Kreisel) :)

I draw the same exact conclusion....

After that i embark in my intense experiments in listenings 2 years ago....

:)

I never use the sub more than an hour and is here always.... I was too lazy to put it for sale i think....I will never need a sub, neither four one....  :)    

edgewear

Thanks,
sorry for your lost,
but very informative for us all.....

The only big very big mistake i made in buying something, was after reading universal appraisal reviews of a very well known amplifier....I will not name the designer company... They dont deserve my wrath, aome reviewer does perhaps, but even them only win their life and bread then.... I am the only culprit to beat....

The amplifier was so bad that me and my friend were flabbergasted and laughing after one minute listening.... It was a perfectly working unit, i sold it immediately and easily few hours later....

Any piece of trash will be the heaven of some crowd.... :)

I was at this times looking frantically for "upgrade" for my unsatisfied audio system...I have not understood how to improve any audio system at this time.... But sometimes we must change the amplifier we have because it is a limitation.... I am not against upgrading , i am against ignorance disguised in "upgrading costume"...

:)

Sorry i will never reveal the name of this universally loved piece of amplifier....

Reading reviews like if all pro-reviewers know what they talk about....This take me to bad choices...

After that i read simultaneously all non- pro- reviews and not only the pro-one about a product and succeed to buy my actual audio system and i dont look back anymore...Studying non professional reviewers and professional reviewers about a product is mandatory...

The costlier mistakes in this hobby is the universal consensus around the word "upgrade" and the sheeping crowd march toward frustration and the money pit, except for those who can afford the "illusion" given by an "upgrade" to the top of the line product...This is a myth, this is nor true nor false, this is an half truth....Worst than a lie....

The truth is ANY good audio system, not necessarily costlier, to attain his peak, to reach his optimal workings, must be rightfully embedded simultaneously in the mechanical resonant dimension, in the electrical grid and in the acoustical space....

The higher price of electronic components are testimony of their design quality yes, but created the illusion that all electronic design component is perfect to use ready out of the box and will give the better of itself without any other work by us.... This is false...This is a mandatory marketing lie....Nobody can sell a 10,000 amplifier saying that after buying it the job begins and some other works are needed from us.... 

Who will buy a problem instead of a solution?   :)

The price does not give you the audiophile experiences by itself, the rightful triple embeddings controls work will, at almost any relatively low price if you are creative....