Your experiences with system synergy
Hi All -
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to demo a top of the line tube amp in my system. This is a summit piece that many audiophiles would consider and end game piece. I was ready to open my wallet and spend a big chunk of money to upgrade my system.
Upon arrival at my home, I set this tube amp and sat back to experience the magic. To my surprise, the amp sounded good, but it did not best my far less expensive current tube amp. I played with speaker placement and demoed lots of different styles of music to find the magic.
Eventually, I plugged my own amp in, the one I was expecting to replace, and there was an immediate sense of rightness. It was if I’d introduced a new dancing partner to my current system and they just could not match rhythms on the dance floor. Now, to be clear, my current system has great components. I don’t think there is a weak link in the system. Thus, I thought the end game amp would be revelatory and transformational, but it wasn’t.
It made me realize the profound importance of system synergy.
I’m wondering if others have had this moment or epiphany when introducing a vaunted and desirable component into their system just be sort of utterly disappointed?
from previous posts: Innuous Zenith, Merason DAC1, Linear Tube Audio Microzotl preamp, Audio Hungary/Qualiton 100 watt tube power amp, and QLN Prestige Three speakers or who knows what by now, OP seems to be upgrading these days :)
On the subject, unfortunately I don't have this problem. Maybe, with my upgrade cycle, in 2028.
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@bluethinker btw I would still love to see your room pic with the mid-century modern furniture matching the Qln Three speakers :) (that was an audiophile way of ordering things - furniture to speaker - I am possessed!) |
btw I was in a friend's house high up in the mountains a few weeks ago and noticed his system, the first time, it was placed so obscurely. It consists of all 30-40-50 year old components. He couldn't get more than $1000 for it on any marketplace, mostly because it was all dinged up, worn, blemished and wasn't much to look at. I asked him to turn it on, he opened a cabinet with 100s of records and told me to pick one. It sounded incredible. I guess it must have been the synergy, the room, the decades of experience of fine tuning things (he is a musician). It was significantly better than a lot of 10-20-30K systems I have heard. |
