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Lessons learnt over a few years along the ‘Hi Fi / Vinyl’ Journey!

I don’t expect or want a studio album to sound like a live performance and vice versa.

This. This. This.

Went to a BBQ and gig at our local last night, both were excellent (cloudburst notwithstanding), thoroughly enjoyable - but if my hifi, or a studio album, or even a live-in-concert album by that band sounded anything like last night, I would hire a skip and be rid of it immediately.

There was nothing technically wrong with the rig they were using - it wasn't cheap Maplins-tier garbage - and the band were passionate and technically proficient, they even had a decent little sound-desk and someone who knew what he was doing tweaking the sound for some time before they played. It's just not the same, nor should it be, and nor would most of us want it to be.
 
take offence at the cold play and U2 are shit tho haha, great live bands and some really good live recordings are hiding out there. Early U2 up to mid 90's some real gems, not really inti kuch after that bar the odd thing. Coldplay recorded ok, live i really enjoyed them over may years.

also to refence the point about go see live music to understand hifi, in principle yes, as you highlight small pub type gigs are amazing as you can actually hear what instruments sound like, acoustic stuff is really good as well. Big stadium type gigs are hit and miss the mixing is so poor in some. Yet to hear any band sound good in the Glasgow SECC or Hydro. some old school venues do sound amazing tho Glasgow royal concert hall can sound superb when done right, O2 Academy as well, the affectionately known armadillo in Glasgow again can sound immense the Aussie Pink Floyd are out of this word in that venue,

point I am making is yes live music is real and the reference point, but a lot of it is not good and representative of the sound.
 
A few lessons over the years. Mainly that well-designed competent equipment is not necessarily that which carries the highest price tag, and there is a point where the quality of the equipment outweighs the mastering/recording / pressing quality of the music or media. Most of all I've learned that I don't want ot be an audiophile, and that I'd rather enjoy music than equipment which doesn't seem to be what being an audiophile is about any more.
 
When it comes to goals with hi-fi, my original goal was quite different from that of most of people in hi-fi, from what I understand. Actually, I listen mostly to music that is some sort of "sound sculpture", minimalism, electroacoustic music, various sound textures, found-sounds, musique concrete, avantgarde electronic music etc. I like rock as well, both from the 60s/70s and modern avantgardish rock, black metal etc. and I'm starting to get into classical a bit too. But those first musical forms I mentioned are the closest to me.

So, actually, while I've heard many audiophiles claim that "you don't need hi-fi for that music", i think it's their ignorance talking because those are exactly musical forms where hi-fi is most needed. You need resolution, right tonal balance, right recreation of spatial properties of sound, great dynamics and especially microdynamics, to even hear what's in that music. Seriously, with muchbof that music you don't even hear some important sound elements if you listen on a boombox or some stuff like that.

So, this is what got me started and I firmly believe you need hi-fi to really experience those musical forms. This all also shows how music we listen to determines what we want from hi-fi. For example, since most of my music is a studio-creation, I want a system that's as much as possible transparent to the source medium and neutral, because I want to know what the studio-artist put in there, in its intended proportion, with all the nuance etc.
 
After 50 odd years playing the game, in my experience for classical/jazz music-

Flavour of the month equipment can be unreliable.
Buy equipment that you think should be reliable for 20 years. Use it for that period then move on.
Get a good relationship with a dealer who carries interesting equipment.
Use contact cleaner occasionally.
Read the magazines and forums with intelligence, people have agendas.
Go to live acoustic instrument concerts when possible.
Above all trust your ears, ignore those who call you an idiot for hearing things that are 'impossible'.
The kit exists for one purpose only, to enjoy your music.
 
Pfm is good at highlighting that people have different requirements, hence there are plenty of disagreements.

I don't really need hi fidelity. Happily grew up listening to an old Akai system, AM then FM car radio and a Sanyo walkman.

What I can't cope with are systems where I struggle to make sense of the music. Its like I'm musically dyslexic. I had company car in the late 90s and a lot of modern digitally recorded CDs were a cacophony to my ears. AAD Cds and the radio were better but it was all very laboured. Hateful thing.
 
lessons...

1) listen to your music obsessed friend's recommendations and mix tapes, upsettingly he's usually right, but don't be afraid to say when he's not!
2) have a system that works for you, from quiet to loud
3) no speaker is too big! A recent one that...
4) have several different sources to suit the level of interaction you are up for, LP for constant, CD/rips for album duration wake ups and streamer/R2R for press go and sit down..
5) Spotify is great place to discover/validate new music
6) NEVER GET RID OF OLD LPS, EVER!!!!
7) bands change over time, accept it
8) quite often less is more, looking at you Mr Naim
9) play more damn music
10) don't spend what you don't have on kit, save it for more music

here ends the lessons
 
1} Good measurements don't always lead to enjoyable sonics
2) Poor measurements don't always preclude enjoyable sonics
3) A cheap, budget cartridge cannot be turned into a giant killer by throwing money at the turntable. Crap is crap.
4) Panel speakers can work great in small rooms
5) Most reviewers and social media tech 'influencers' spout utter tosh
6) High end, very high cost and high performance often have a tenuous link, especially these days
7) Peter Walker was right, most things in audio electronics can be reduced to the application of Ohms Law + common sense
8) A hi-fi system is somewhat akin to an impressionist painting of the original scene. Celebrate this, don't try to bring the original performance into your listening room - you can't and you wouldn't like it if you could
9) A nerdy one learned over decades but here goes. A stylus must have a minor radius no larger than 5um to stand any chance of tracing records without gross distortion
10) If you walk into a demo room and hear the sound of Diana Krall - leave immediately, it's a trick!
 
8) A hi-fi system is somewhat akin to an impressionist painting of the original scene. Celebrate this, don't try to bring the original performance into your listening room - you can't and you wouldn't like it if you could
10) If you walk into a demo room and hear the sound of Diana Krall - leave immediately, it's a trick!

The 'impressionist painting' was a very good analogue (yes, pun intended) to what HiFi can be.

I actually like Diana Krell (pun intended, again), but it's the type of 'demo music' that sounds good on any system and that makes it worthless for that intent.
 
The 'impressionist painting' was a very good analogue (yes, pun intended) to what HiFi can be.

I actually like Diana Krell (pun intended, again), but it's the type of 'demo music' that sounds good on any system and that makes it worthless for that intent.

Exactly, Krall sounds wonderful on a Roberts portable radio :)
 
Even though you've sold that valve amp, keep hold of those spare valves as you'll almost certainly want them again in the future and next time they'll be more expensive.
 
^^^^ I'd also add that phone speakers sound bloody awful, probably the worst thing I've ever heard, even on speech, Tracy listens to quite alot of podcasts on hers and it sounds truly woeful.

I presume that by "phone speakers" you refer to the ones internal on a mobile phone.

I have a Chinese smartphone. Your description of the sound is not far off what is produced by the phone on its speaker.

However, when plugging in good headphones it is a different matter. I bought AKG, a couple of other brands and then a few 'Punk Funk'. The Punk Funk brand just blew away all the others. I would happily describe the sound as 'hi fi'.

Punk Funk have developed a new design. This combines two coaxial drivers in each earphone bud. The bass is improved. Transparency is improved. It is sometimes a treat for me to listen to favourite stations on internet (Radio World- -Radio Online). The best station for jazz I have found is Maknet Jazz. This comes from Martinique. There are a number of other good ones.
 
1. Ignore flavours of the month.
2. Listen to it first, at home, if you can and trust your ears.
3. If you can’t do 2, be OK with the fact you’re gambling with your money. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
4. Hi-tech all-in-ones will end up at the recycling centre. Good quality separates are much less likely to.
5. If you’re not enjoying the music, it doesn’t matter how accurate you think it is.
 


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