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Vital hi Fi accessories that don't cost all that much?

:D


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This should be posted at the beginning of every audio thread on pfm :)

There is certainly one member I can think of who would hang anyone for suggesting such a thing really exists. You know who you are :D
 
Cheapest is always best praised on pfm, surely you know that by now, if it's a cable, it has to be the cheapest, an accessory of any kind, downloaded music has to be the worst possible rate that sounds no different to the highest rate etc.. etc..even cheap whole hifi systems get more praise here, it always makes me smile as I imagine most of it eventually ends up on ebay for peanuts, I have been down the road of "look how cheap I purchased this & it sounds better than my main system" route, it doesn't work out in the end but nice while it lasts until you realise it sounds shite.

The times I have read "good on yer" or similar to an op who has sold his 10,000 system to make way for a beer budget disaster, all praised by some who own systems costing way more but wouldn't dare to go down this route as they know it only leads to spending more in the end. Funny.

Brilliant!

And it nearly made me spit a gobful of Brewers and Union beer at my phone! 😆
 
This should certainly go at the beginning of every cable thread :D

Quite the opposite actually. I would love all cables to sound the same. It would make life so much simpler.

There's no buyer's remorse driving my views on cables any more. They were bought and paid-for too long ago.
 
This should go at the beginning of every cable thread.

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Joe
 
Cheapest is always best praised on pfm, surely you know that by now, if it's a cable, it has to be the cheapest, an accessory of any kind, downloaded music has to be the worst possible rate that sounds no different to the highest rate etc.. etc..even cheap whole hifi systems get more praise here, it always makes me smile as I imagine most of it eventually ends up on ebay for peanuts, I have been down the road of "look how cheap I purchased this & it sounds better than my main system" route, it doesn't work out in the end but nice while it lasts until you realise it sounds shite.

The times I have read "good on yer" or similar to an op who has sold his 10,000 system to make way for a beer budget disaster, all praised by some who own systems costing way more but wouldn't dare to go down this route as they know it only leads to spending more in the end. Funny.

Some truth to this, however, more expensive doesn't always mean better. Also, some people may just prefer something they have picked up for a song to something they paid a fortune for because it suits their tastes better.... Never happened to me mind. Never say never though.

You're right though, I think a lot of people are exited about how good something sounds for what it cost and then get carried away... This is followed by a "sh!t, what have I done?" reaction.

The closest I have come is when I brought some focal speakers after being impressed in a demo. They would have allowed me to sell three power amps, my existing speakers and my crossovers. So glad I didn't sell them before I took receipt of the focals! The focals stayed a few day and then I moved them on... Not as impressive as I initially thought.
 
It's 'ard being a Linn owner. :) I guess i don't understand why anyone cares what other people listen to or enjoy. If we assume that it's ridiculous to question another person's taste in music (we all see that, don't we?), why not extend it to equipment?

All I know is, I would have given my left nut to have something like Spotify premium when I was a kid, and streaming services are the sort of thing I've been waiting for my whole life. I don't need to own things, am happy to pay a monthly bill for access, and enjoy having someone else maintain everything. For the last week, I've only been listening to the Goldberg Variations. Spotify has about 50 versions. Before streaming services, I would have had my few versions, and I would have to search out reviews before deciding if I should take the plunge on any other. Instead, I can listen to them and decide if I feel it's worth being bothered with owning a physical copy. A lot of the time, even if I like it. I can't justify a purchase. Whether it was 320kbps or lossless is irrelevant for that decision because, as you say, the mastering is what counts and 320kbps lets me know about the mastering.

I just don't get slagging something so wonderful. Viva la stream!

Spotify premium was an eye opener for me. I'm not saying it's perfect, it isn't and the same mastering will sound better at a higher resolution through the same equipment but the difference isn't as great as some would have you belive.

plenty of times I have heard vinyl, CD, high res files sounding awful and spotify sounding great.
 
Some truth to this, however, more expensive doesn't always mean better. Also, some people may just prefer something they have picked up for a song to something they paid a fortune for because it suits their tastes better.... Never happened to me mind. Never say never though.

You're right though, I think a lot of people are exited about how good something sounds for what it cost and then get carried away... This is followed by a "sh!t, what have I done?" reaction.

The closest I have come is when I brought some focal speakers after being impressed in a demo. They would have allowed me to sell three power amps, my existing speakers and my crossovers. So glad I didn't sell them before I took receipt of the focals! The focals stayed a few day and then I moved them on... Not as impressive as I initially thought.
This is what most do in the end but some have made the huge mistake of already selling.

I agree about price, more expensive does not always mean better but I think when someone sells off 10.000 worth of gear for a system costing a couple of hundred I have to take issue with it really sounding better which I have read on here quite recently, i once purchased a Marantz cd player from some grotty shop for peanuts, I realised in the end the only reason I was jumping for joy was the silly price, it sounded ok for a few hours until I replaced with my usual gear, bliss & reality returned.
 
Then the 'consensus' is wrong. I use spotify premium and it's pretty mediocre. Sometimes I despair at the easy acceptance of mediocrity. Any normal person can surely hear that 320kps is inadequate.
Why do people on enthusiasts forums actively praise a lowering of quality? Surely, we should be pressing, always, for better quality. Excellence is the goal, not commercial pap inflicted on us because it is more profitable.

This has taken light hearted banter to a new and unpleasant level.

It suggests that high quality is the preserve of the rich and well heeled. It doesn't follow that an expensive 20MB camera takes better pictures than a cheap 3MB camera by default. There is so much more to it. Just as there is so much more to well recorded music than the bit rate or resolution.
 
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It's good to have a back-up cable picture in case the thread gets heated.

Joe
 
This is what most do in the end but some have made the huge mistake of already selling.

I agree about price, more expensive does not always mean better but I think when someone sells off 10.000 worth of gear for a system costing a couple of hundred I have to take issue with it really sounding better which I have read on here quite recently, i once purchased a Marantz cd player from some grotty shop for peanuts, I realised in the end the only reason I was jumping for joy was the silly price, it sounded ok for a few hours until I replaced with my usual gear, bliss & reality returned.

Haha, I fully agree and I have done the same as you a few times. I recently picked up a yamaha CDX 496 for £2. It got pretty good reviews when new in the late 90s at around £200. It's a massive bargain now at £2 but can it compete with my linn kit...? Nope, not even close.
 
They do so you should be happy :D

In a badly designed system they won't, amps that cannot drive a reactive load properly will ring and sound bright, a high impedance potentiometer used as a passive volume control seeing a long cable with a high capacitance will sound a bit duller. Basically I think people are using cables as not very good and very expensive tone controls, and how is it that recording studios are quite happy using standard 600 ohm balanced line cable, if you look at a studio catalogue it cost peanuts to buy in comparison to "hi-fi" cable, if it was no good, all recordings would sound awful. Has any one seen an album with the words "all balanced cables in this studio are made from six nines copper and are connected according to the arrows".
 
I once purchased a Marantz cd player from some grotty shop for peanuts, I realised in the end the only reason I was jumping for joy was the silly price, it sounded ok for a few hours until I replaced with my usual gear, bliss & reality returned.

I like Marantz stories, too.

I once purchased a Marantz tuner from some grotty shop for £30, I realised in the end the only reason I was jumping for joy was the great sound it made. I sold the £1k tuner I had and I'm listening to the 2130 now - and it's still the best I've ever heard. I spent seven times the purchase price on a wood case for it - sometimes you have to spend a bit to get the best.
 


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