@switzer145 and @jond
And what jond says also makes sense, too... a Naim Unity or something like that
What I wish I knew before starting my audiophile journey
I’ve considered myself an audiophile for over 3 years now. In those 3 years I’ve owned over 12 pairs of speakers, 10 amplifiers, 4 pre amplifiers, 7 DACs all in search for the perfect sound. What I’ve come to learn is I knew nothing when I started and now have some, not all of an understanding of how this works. Im passing this on to anyone that’s getting into this hobby to help fast track them to a better sound and learn from my experience. If I were to do this all over again, here is where I would start and invest my money.
1. Clean power- I wasted a lot of time and probably sold very good gear thinking it wasn’t good enough because I didn’t have clean power. I installed a dedicated 8 gauge power line with 20 amp breaker and hospital grade plugs for approximately $800. This was hands down the single biggest upgrade. You really have no idea what your gear is capable of delivering until you have fed it with clean power.
2. Speakers-this is where I would spend the a big chunk of my budget. I could make tweaks all day to my system but until I had speaker resolved enough to hear them, it all seems a waste of time. I discounted many things like cables because I couldn’t hear the difference until I had speakers that could actually produce the differences. Keep in mind the room size. I believed that bigger was better. I actually now run a pair of very good bookshelves that have no problem energizing the room.
3. Amplifier power. Having enough power to drive the speakers is crucial in being able to hear what those speakers are capable of delivering. Yes different amp make different presentations but if there’s enough power then I believe it’s less of an issue and the source determines the sound quality more.
4. Now that I have the power and resolution to hear the difference between sources, cables, pre amplifier, streamer, DACs ect. This is where the real journey begins.
On a side note, my room played a huge roll in how my system sounded but not a deal breaker. I learned that it’s possible to tweak the system to the room by experimenting with different gear. I learned that speaker size based on room size is pretty important. Have good rug!!
For reference my set up
Dedicated power
Lumin U1 mini
Denafrips Venus 2
Simaudio 340i
Sonus Faber Minima Amator 2
cables, AQ full bloom. NRG Z3, Earth XLR, Diamond USB, Meteor Speaker cables.
Showing 11 responses by curtdr
@akg_ca "An affordable speaker with high-end amplification and source makes more sense in audio performance, than an expensive speaker matched up with a cheap amp and source." I must disagree. The speaker is where the rubber hits the road. The sound that reaches your ears can be no better than the speaker itself, full stop. It will not matter how expensive your amplifier is, if the speaker isn't up to task. as far as "garbage in, garbage out"... well, you don't have to spend a lot of money to NOT have garbage, when it comes to amplifiers and cd players or streamers... Decent but inexpensive amps and cd players can sound marvelous, but only with good speakers. There is much bigger bang-for-the-buck in upgrading speakers. |
but "weakness of the source and amp" is far more subtle than better speakers... even resolving speakers still sound great on something like the Marantz n40, or even my Pioneer Elite. Would speakers sound even better w a more expensive amp than those? eh, maybe, depends on the ears more than the amp diminishing returns kick in hard more w amps than speakers, likewise w source like cd player (my old Sony cd changer still sounds excellent, even w its own built in dac, though my Marantz Ruby cd player does sound better the "better" is quite subtle: $50 used for the Sony, $2400 open box deal for the Ruby... definitely huge diminishing returns)... though diminishing returns on speakers is also a very real rule. good speakers make music sound good even from a "lesser" amp and cd player, but a great amp cannot make bad speakers sound good. |
You’re right to start with the nice speakers. Think about something like the Marantz n40 amp... old school/new tech: has a streamer and all the modern hookups, plus has bass, treble, balance controls right on the face. That’d sound really nice with your Grahams. You can tack on an over the air tuner like a Teac for about $125, if you like radio, and the Marantz 60 cd player if you want to stay "matched" or even an inexpensive Yamaha CD player will do you fine. Or even a decent receiver; I have a Pioneer Elite sx-84 from about 1999 aprox that has hdmi, optical, and coax inputs, bass/subwoofer management, surround sound though I only use it for stereo... 140 watts of deep rich power; really sounds very nice with a decent pair of speakers... and it already has a decent over the air tuner too; you can get one for less than $300 on ebay, and then tack on a Bluesound Node for your streamer and you’re good to go for less than $1000. |
@pwayland +1 on building around the speakers. |
@jimmyblues +1 sir.. "Ironically, after all these years my hearing is not what it used to be and I listen less critically now, and simply enjoy the music itself. The high end gear is long gone, yet I have settled with some nice components that faithfully honor the music without breaking the bank. 😊" |
@jgandy +1 "I have always been audiophile atheist regarding wires, power conditioning, audiophile magazines (although I have subscribed to both since their inception), and most of the myriad other ancillary devices marketed to the audiophile." right... such things might be tiny tweaks, though I too am an educated skeptic..., but the bang for the buck is proper speaker-amp-room synthesis |
"An interesting observation I've made is that the older audiophiles tend to focus on things lower in the chain, like speakers and amps. The digital generation values and focuses on cleaning up the source and thinks that makes more of a difference in their setup." Maybe the "older" audiophiles have been around the block and know a thing or two about proper - or at least best bang for buck - priorities? There is that possibility. |
@musicaddict +1 on both your posts above |