Question: What are some of your best pieces of advise to someone new to the hobby?


I have a friend who is interested in putting together a system and am putting together a little guide for him, compiling information I’ve found over the years, plus some of my own personal tips and tricks. However, I am by no means the end-all-be-all of knowledge and want to incorporate information, tips, and tricks from the community - however basic they may seem - into a nice reference resource.

Without specifically naming any pieces of gear or brands (this isn’t a product recommendation question), what are some of the biggest tips, tricks, important pieces of info to keep in mind, caveats, etc. that you would have for someone new?

*side note - hopefully this post can also serve as a nice reference point for people in the future, as well!

128x128mmcgill829

I mentioned acoustic without (s) for years here...I forgot that in english the noun need an (s)... Written in the singular it is more an adjective and refer to "room acoustic" for example...

Witten with an (s) it refer to the science "acoustics"... It  what was i meaned to say all these years... But many read me as if i was speaking merely on room acoustic...

Acoustics , the science INCLUDE psycho-acoustic and neuro-acoustic  and not only material acoustic and great Hall acoustic architecture and small room acoustic control and design ...

The reason why audiophiles MUST STUDY acoustics concepts in general not only room acoustic is EVIDENT but rarely explained : No sound experience is understandable and describeable without these concepts... Most audio vocabulary refer to the gear system, for exemple "warm" and "cold" are associated to the gear alleged sound properties as with tubes or S.S. or dac and turntables,  ( which is preposterous because all pieces of gear differ especially coupled in different conditions or modified ) instead of refering to the "timbre" experience" which cannot be understood  anyway at all without understanding  the 5 conditions defining timbre in acoustics and their control in a space....

Then most audiophiles as i am, begun to be open completely victim of  marketing methods instead of being put  on the road to understanding ... Gear had no sound in itself only specific  potential characteristics manifested more or less , positively or negatively when coupled with other components and specific acoustic conditions ...

Tthe system /room had a sound quality and a synergy making it able to give some TIMBRE impressions ... The same is true for all spatial characteristic of sound and of immersiveness which is the relation between the sound source width and the listener envelopment... No gear possess these characteristics as claim marketing conditioning , only the specific  system/room/ears as a whole , working in a specific room for specific ears/brain,...

Buy what sounds good to you.

As others have said; don’t be afraid to buy lightly used gear. Your money goes a lot further. But, also be careful not to pay for the other guy's usage and his time owning the gear.

Reach a little on your initial purchases. It should slow down upgrade-itis. And, when you do upgrade, make several jumps (or quantum leaps) up the chain. Don’t get nickel and dimed to death with a never-ending cycle of small upgrades.

When you get to "Damn, this sounds good with almost everything I listen to," stop buying stuff for a while and just listen to the music.

Most strongly suggest, "Don’t buy SHRILL." It may sound spectacular in the showroom, but it’ll be hateful in your room. I strive for smooth, now that I’m in pretty deep.

Post removed