Audio Community Phrases or Sayings that Make You Cringe.....

"Comes from a pet free, smoke free home." (How would a potential buyer confirm that?)
"Recently professionally serviced" (No receipts to prove what work IF ANY actually done, or by whom)
"Works great, but needs work"
"Just recapped, but has small problem"
"Your buying guide to..."
"MONSTER RECEIVER!!!!!!"
"Under rated"
"Puts out way more power than specs say"
"This one won't last long!"
"Flies under the radar"
"A sleeper"
"Known for their buttery sound"
"I have no way of testing this" (seller's home/place of business lacks electricity?)
"I'm no audiophile, but this is a great piece of stereo"

"Punches way above it's weight class"! WTF is THAT all about? :crazy:
 
alright, i will contribute what i think is a distraction to the idea that wire sounds different (it does). the term is FAIRY DUST. whereas a lot of people cannot discern a difference in sound between cabling, be it speaker or interconnect, or especially power wire, those differences do exist.

of COURSE, you won't likely hear differences with a receiver but as you move up the food chain to separate components, the differences become evident. one of the keys is to set a limit to how much to pay and mine is $100 for an interconnect. for speaker wire, i like to recommend audioquest type 4. here is a quick link:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_703T4...a&awnw=g&awcr=47661861145&awdv=c&awug=9031181

i have used this wire as it was given to me gratis when i bought my adcom 555II amp. the difference between it and the moster twin lead came after i listened to the monster with the new amp for a week, then i changed it to the type 4 and my first impression was that there less bass. but after another week of listening, i realized that the bass overhang caused by the monster was obscuting how deep the aq wire was allowing me to hear and the clarity and imaging were noticeably better.

because both my adcom amp and ARC SP3a1 have captive power wires, i haven't personally experimented with power wire in my system.

so-FAIRY DUST? not. once a certain level of quality is reached with your components, like a better lens on a camera, improvements to the system are evident. that is not to say that all changes are audible. if you buy new, you can ask the dealer for an approval period after which you may return or exchange the product.
 
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alright, i will contribute what i think is a distraction to the idea that wire sounds different (it does). the term is FAIRY DUST. whereas a lot of people cannot discern a difference in sound between cabling, be it speaker or interconnect, or especially power wire, those differences do exist.

of COURSE, you won't likely hear differences with a receiver but as you move up the food chain to separate components, the differences become evident. one of the keys is to set a limit to how much to pay and mine is $100 for an interconnect. for speaker wire, i like to recommend audioquest type 4. here is a quick link:


i have used this wire as it was given to me gratis when i bought my adcom 555II amp. the difference between it and the moster twin lead came after i listened to the monster with the new amp for a week, then i changed it to the type 4 and my first impression was that there less bass. but after another week of listening, i realized that the bass overhang caused by the monster was obscuting how deep the aq wire was allowing me to hear and the clarity and imaging were noticeably better.

because both my adcom amp and ARC SP3a1 have captive power wires, i haven't personally experimented with power wire in my system.

so-FAIRY DUST? not. once a certain level of quality is reached with your components, like a better lens on a camera, improvements to the system are evident. that is not to say that all changes are audible. if you buy new, you can ask the dealer for an approval period after which you may return or exchange the product.
Just make sure the "approval period" is longer than the suggested "break in period".
 
All the verbiage used immediately gets processed fast and comfortably it all gets accepted.....except one word.....audiophile. Like it or not the use of it infers "finer listening" and can be very off putting for more than just a few. If you can appreciate the different pitches of a cat's scream (compared to the last time it complained?) it can be argued that you indeed are "an audiophile". Simply growing into understanding sound for yourself is where the truth starts and? I have a dream.
The phrase "critical listening session" bugs me for some reason
 
There is a combination of phrases that makes me cringe.

"...record is in NM condition..."
followed by "...with only a few hairline scuffs..."

Maybe I should lower my expectations, but NM shouldn't have hairline scuffs.
 
"critical listening session"

think about it, if you are evaluating a component, there must be something about it that you are looking for that will lead to improvement in your system. you would be critically listening for that factor that would lead to you doing a change in your system, whether it would be the positioning of speakers, tt, isolation of some component or another.

not everything is immediately apparent or readily audible without concentration.

"Punches way above it's weight class"


that means that the component is seemingly underpriced for its performance level. a good example fo this are the Andrew Jones designed speakers for ELAC and Pioneer in the last couple of years. once you hear them, you KNOW that you don't have to spend a fortune to get GREAT performance.


also, please note the change in my post above, #287. i had plopped the wrong link in for the aq type 4 speaker wire that i like to recommend.
 
I agree with you on the A.J. speakers, good sound doesn't have to cost a lot. But if you have a decent system, it's easy enough to get all that they are capable of. To truly better the performance, at least with new speakers, is going to require a larger financial outlay. The next step up is the one that costs you. In my opinion.

When I read "punches way above its weight class", I see "sounds better than it has a right to at its price". Keeps me from going completely bonkers.

Like when someone asks 'what's the best...' cheapest whatever it is they're asking about this time...
 
i have actually heard people prod him to make more costly speakers because they know that at a higher cost, he will deliver an equal value at the higher echelon of sound they were looking for. his new $5k Andante is spectacular at its price.

 
It does make you wonder. If Andrew Jones can develop speakers at $500, $1000 and $5000 price points, what are these other yahoos up to?
 
.... component is seemingly underpriced for its performance level. a good example fo this are the Andrew Jones designed speakers for ELAC and Pioneer in the last couple of years. once you hear them, you KNOW that you don't have to spend a fortune to get GREAT performance....

All I know is IMO, the Pioneers were truly horrible speakers, I bought the small bookshelves and the large floorstanders just for fun, and they weren't fun at all. Easily the worst sounding, inefficient pieces of Chinese crap I've ever had. I tried to give them away as it would be a sin to sell them to some other poor sucker. The bookshelves are in a box in a cupboard someplace.

I didn't expect much but I was actually bitterly disappointed- that says a lot.

No chance I'd play the same game with his Elac Debuts speakers.
 
i have no explanation for what you heard unless they were defective. in my system i used an audio research sp3a1 and adcom 555II (200wpc) so if they were going to fail, i gave them every benefit of the doubt. what amp etc did you use?
 
Several amps (main system bridged Sony TAN77es amps x2, TAE77es preamp, CDPX7esd CD) , compared them to several other competent bookshelf two ways, each on identical 600mm stands, side by side and they were utterly embarrassed. They aren't in the least bit faulty- trust me, they are just total crap. I gave the floor standers to my father and he thought they weren't even worthy of the term 'HiFi', I'll have to pick them up as he'll never listen to them again. :)

Both he and I have a few hundred speakers and amps between us, and we both like high performing bang-for-your-buck bookshelf speakers (they are fun to play with and move around without getting a hernia). They were outperformed by Wharfedale Diamond IIIs, Small Bic Venturis, Jamo E800s, some Mirage 6.5" two ways, some Celestion 5s, a few small Wharfedale cheapies, some nice Sony APM-44?es square cone 2 ways, and some little Energy 2 ways I can't remember the model of.

I wish they were nice sounding, because I generally can find something good to say about every competently designed small two way, but they just weren't. They were nicely made and finished, the drivers look respectable enough and some effort has been put into the crossovers, but it was all in vain IMO.

That said, I'm glad someone likes them, they may work well in certain systems and rooms. :)
 
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