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Old 25th Apr 2019, 9:46 am   #778
bikerhifinut
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Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Penrith, Cumbria, UK
Posts: 1,993
Default Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler View Post
An interesting question is "What is phoolishness?"

I suppose we all have different views. It's one of those things like "I can't define what art is, but I can recognise it when I see it"

David
I'll tell you what it is for me, to give an example.
It's when someone, quite often with even less practical electronics experience than even me, a self confessed utter amateur, decides to chuck exotic or supposedly "better" capacitors, (it's usually capacitors I find) more or less at random at an at best average performing design that has no chance of really getting any better as an unavoidable function of its basic design either in circuit topology or wiring layout, or frequently both, in the belief that it will somehow "transform" the performance of the item.
I had a bit of an animated exchange on another hi fi related forum over this sort of thing. A few seemed to be on my side of the fence but a couple just could not seem to understand that fiddling with a bit of wire etc does not necessarily improve matters. I believe my comment was along the lines of "It doesn't matter how much you varnish a t*rd, all you'll get is a shiny t*rd."
So it is possible to be an Audiophile, music lover, and still have a sensible amount of scepticism on certain aspects. I try to keep an open mind, and I have tried using different wires etc to see what I personally could hear, but obviously not to the extent of silly money stuff, most of which on visual examination looks very ordinary in a fancy sleeve.
There are, however I believe, some things that are unavoidably expensive but worth the money. The Quad Electrostatic Loudspeaker is one, it's been honed and developed over the last 60 years but fundamentally it's the same technology and I just love the way they lay the music bare. It's a pity they are so large and need space to work in but that's how it is with them. Another for me is the Quad 405, in particular the later 405-2 which I think is a brilliant design that even now is difficult to better. And well constructed and serviceable should it need work. There are a lot of other items from other makers too both from the past and some in current production. The hard part is identifying it.
I don't subscribe to the belief that certain combinations of equipment are necessary in order to get themost from a particular musical genre, if its good then it should be able to handle and reproduce anything thats chucked at it.
Another thing that needs to be borne in mind is that everyones perception will differ and given that a good well balanced system should sound acceptably pleasant to everyone, some will inevitably prefer a slightly different emphasis to the sound they hear. I also often think my stereo sounds better on some days than others, my personal thinking is that its probably got as much to do with my state of mind at the time as any other possible factor, especially given that music is meant to be an emotional experience and perhaps there are times when I am more receptive to that stimulus?

Andy.
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