This content offers five essential truths for aspiring audiophiles, aiming to prevent common mistakes and guide them toward a more enjoyable and cost-effective hi-fi journey by emphasizing personal preference, practical considerations, and the often-overlooked impact of the listening environment.
Mind Map
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If I had the chance to go back in time,
you know, build a time machine or
something and sit down with Ron Bnee 10
or 15 years ago, there are a number of
things I would want to tell him about
everything I've learned in hi-fi. Being
an audio file can be confusing, and
heaven knows I've made a long list of
mistakes along the way. So yeah, in
today's video, let's hypothetically
build that time machine and run through
five audio file truths that I'd love to
mention to a young, confused, and often
misguided audio file. And who knows,
maybe these five things might help keep
you from making some of the same
mistakes as well. And with a warm
welcome back to New Record Day, that's
Coming in at number five, let's crack
open this can of worms with the hot
topic of measurements. You know, all
that fancy data that's supposed to mean
something super duper important. A
guiding light to help us lost audio
files find our way through the dark and
figure out what speaker to buy and why.
And look, for some folks, measurements
alone might be enough to feel confident
pulling the trigger. But for this
cowboy, I tend to treat measurements
more like a map. And to be clear, not
necessarily a map of where I'm going,
but more of a map of where I've been.
because measurements become way more
useful to me once I had enough listening
experience to understand what I liked
and what I didn't. So, let me explain
that. When you're brand new to hi-fi,
you might not actually know what you
like yet or why you like it. Sure, you
can stare at graphs all day and listen
to the measurement guys ramble on about
the coveted Harmon curve, but at the end
of the day, only you can decide what
flavor of hi-fi candy you tend to enjoy.
Maybe you love a little bit of bloom in
the midbase. Maybe you like a BBC dip in
the mid-range. Maybe you want a little
extra sparkle up top. Maybe you like the
softer presentation of a fabric dome
tweeter instead of a metal dome. There's
no right or wrong answer here. The point
is this. Taking a chance on a speaker
based only on measurements before you've
really heard enough gear is like
ordering mint ice cream and getting
handed pistachio instead. It might be
great, but if you don't know your own
tastes yet, how would you know? So, my
advice is this. Explore as much as you
can. Listen to your buddy system. Take a
trip to Texas and come to the sound
shed. Take notes. Pay attention when
something really stands out to you. And
when you find a speaker that sounds
incredible for whatever reason, that's
when I would suggest rolling up your
sleeves and digging in to the
measurements. Maybe that speaker had a
gentle downward slope in room. Maybe it
had a little extra energy in the bass.
Maybe it had a soft dome tweeter with a
relaxed top end. Maybe it had some
stored energy that you actually liked
because it added a little bit of extra
something here or there. I don't know.
But once you start connecting what you
hear with what you see, those graphs
become way less intimidating.
Eventually, scanning a frequency
response or pulling up a spectral decay
become second nature. So, let me be a
map that helps you learn from the gear
you've loved and the gear that you
haven't. Because if you know that you
hate a speaker that sounds, I don't
know, a little bit too hot or shouty,
and you start seeing a rise around 2 kHz
or a bunch of stored energy in the upper
mid-range, well, chances are you've just
saved yourself a whole lot of money and frustration.
On to number four, and this one might
ruffle some feathers. Audio files can
usually sit down at the table and have a
pretty reasonable conversation about
their favorite demo tracks, why they
love the sound of tubes more than solid
state, or heck, why open baffle changed
their lives and they can never go back
to box speakers again. But the second
somebody mentions cables,
>> your system distorts, take eyes, yours
clips, O YOUR CABLES TRIP ME.
>> My goodness me. We know how this goes.
the claws come out and the conversation
turns into a stacked UFC card. So, how
would I handle that as a young audio
file? Honestly, folks, it's easier than
you might think.
Stay open-minded about things that are
not fully understood. While cables can
be measured using null tests and other
methods, it's been my experience that
even after all of those tests are
complete, there are indeed times where
I've still noticed differences. Whether
it's a speaker cable, power cord, heart
device, Uber bus, or other tweaks, I've
had to remain open-minded enough to sit
down, give it a listen for myself,
listen some more, and only then
determine whether or not it's time to
crack open the wallet. And look, there
are plenty of times where I feel
absolutely crazy in those situations.
But alas, if something seems to open up
the sound stage a little bit more or
gives me one or two more feet of depth,
I'm going to be honest with you, I don't
give a rat's rear end if it's a cable or
freaking moon rocks tied to my speakers.
I'm going to stay open-minded enough to
at least give it a try. And I'm not
asking you to agree with me. I'm just
asking you to stay curious enough to try
things out for yourself. Because at the
end of the day, your system is for you,
not the comments section at AudioScience Review.
Review.
All right, folks. Number three, and this
is a big one. Expensive does not
automatically mean better. As an
example, these speakers sitting just
over my shoulder are up for review this
Sunday. And with the stands, they're
going to set you back around $14,000.
That is a ton of money. There's no
getting around it. And look, it's rare
that I get to play with toys at this
price point. But let me up the ante for
a second and remind you I've reviewed
the Daniel Hertz M4 system which comes
in north of $2,000.
And here's the kicker. I would take
these speakers over that entire system
any day of the week and laugh my way to
the bank. In fact, for me, it's not even
kind of close. Now, that doesn't mean
the Daniel Hertz system is bad. There
were certainly things about it that I
appreciated. But the point is this.
Price alone did not make me love it
more. And that is a really important
lesson to learn early. Because when
you're brand new to hi-fi, it's easy to
assume that if something costs more, it
must be better. that if a speaker is
$20,000, it must absolutely destroy a
speaker that cost $5,000.
But that just isn't always true. A lot
of this hobby comes down to personal
taste, system matching, room setup,
driver materials, and understanding your
own preferences.
Some people love a warmer presentation.
Some people want a sharper, more
detailed sound. Some people want huge
dynamics and chest thumping bass. Others
just want a speaker that disappears and
melts into the room. So just because a
speaker is expensive, don't think for a
second that it's automatically going to
kick the snot out of your humble and
reasonably priced booarts because the
truth is it might not.
Rounding the corner at number two, buy
used or consider doing it yourself.
Folks, the profit margins in hi-fi can
be just plain ridiculous. And much like
buying a car, the second you roll that
shiny hunk of metal off the lot, a lot
of the value just went straight down the
drain. Hi-fi equipment is no different.
And that's exactly why guys like Big Jay
do so well with buying and selling ultra
high-end gear. Heck, his entire channel
and livelihood is based on this alone.
And there's nothing wrong with that at
all. In fact, I think we can learn from
it. Whether it's the latest DAC or some
fancy pants amplifier, I would strongly
suggest cracking open US Audio Mart,
Audio Gone, or the classifides over on
Audio Circle to see what's hanging out
there. Audio files are constantly
flipping gear and trying new things. So,
it's not uncommon to snag yesterday's
hot amplifier for half the price the guy
who posted it originally paid. Even more
than that, if you're not terrified of a
soldering iron, I would really encourage
you to consider speaker kits instead of
buying something brand new off the
shelf. For one, you will learn way more
about how a speaker actually works than
I could ever cram into this video. But
beyond that, when that speaker takes its
first breath, there is something
incredibly satisfying about knowing you
built it yourself from start to finish.
And in many cases, do-it-yourself kits
use much higher quality components
because those companies are not jacking
the price up for labor, for dealer
markup, fancy cabinets, or marketing.
They're putting the money where it
matters. the drivers, the crossover
parts, the cabinet bracing, and the
design. And that folks is when you start
to realize that not all capacitors are
indeed the same. Not all inductors are
the same. Not all cabinet construction
is the same. Do I fully understand every
reason why one capacitor can sound
different from another? Nope. Not fully.
But when you build a speaker kit for
less money than some bigname brand that
is loaded with electrolytic cap,
sandcast resistors, and a crossover
network less impressive than what's
controlling the windshield wipers in
your car? Well, chances are you're not
going to care because what you hear out
of a good do-it-yourself speaker can
And just like that, we have made it to
the number one spot. And it's here for a
reason. By far, this is the most
important lesson I've learned. And I
cannot stress enough how important it
is. But before we get to it, I'm dying
to know what lessons or wisdom would you
share with your former audio file self?
Please be sure to let us know in the
comments section down below. And while
you're at it, if you appreciated this
video, make sure you hit the like button
and subscribe for more content like
this. Now, with that out of the way, our
number one spot is none other than the
elephant that tends to get in the way of
every audio file building a system. And
funny enough, it's often the very last
thing we tend to tackle or even take
seriously. That's right, the room. And
no, I'm not here just to preach acoustic
treatment, even though that is a huge
part of it. I'm here to tell you that
even speaker positioning alone can make
or break a system. In fact, your room
has more control over what you hear from
an amplifier, the DAC, the cables, and
sometimes even the speaker itself. I
mean, do you want something that sounds
>> Or would you rather listen to something
that sounds like this?
>> Keep in mind, folks, the only thing that
changed in those two examples is where
the speaker is in the room. And that, my
friends, is free. It costs nothing. So
roll up those sleeves and check out our
comprehensive guide to speaker
placement. We call it lots or
loudspeaker optimization techniques for
sound stage. And after that, head on
over to the five-part series that covers
the entire build of this sound shed,
complete with realworld examples of what
acoustic treatment actually does and
what it sounds like before and after.
Because at the end of the day, if your
room is working against you, even the
best gear in the world,
it simply doesn't matter. you might as
well have just gone to a thrift store
and, you know, grabbed some beat up
advents and call it a day. None of that
matters unless you really tackle the
room. And there you have it, folks. Five
audio file truths that I wish somebody
had sat me down and told me 10 or 15
years ago. And the funny thing is, none
of this is really about chasing
perfection. It's about making fewer
mistakes, saving a little money, staying
open-minded, and figuring out what
actually matters to you. Because at the
end of the day, this hobby is supposed
to be fun. It's supposed to be about
discovering music, getting lost in your
favorite albums, and building a system
that makes you want to stay up too late
listening to just one more song. And if
I can help save you from wasting a
little bit of money, chasing the wrong
things, or overlooking the stuff that
matters the most, then hopefully this
video did its job. And with that, folks,
my name is Ron. This is New Record Day,
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