The "Getting Sound Right in Your Room" Hierarchy

[whell]

All of this has been discussed before, but I like the way this is "stack ranked" in order of importance in the Audiostream article:

The Hi-Fi Hierarchy List (in order of importance):

• Room/setup
• Speakers
• Amplification
• Sources
• Plumbing (everything that's involved with getting music from storage and the Internet to the hi-fi including hardware and software)
• Cables
• Everything else (like file formats, USB tweaks, etc.)

So, if you want to change the sound of your hi-fi the most, get a new room followed by new speakers (or move your room/speakers around), and so on down the line. Or to put it another way, if you want to change the sound of your system the least, start from the bottom up.

The other side of this is:

"I've heard these speakers before and they sounded like crap to me", and then someone else comes along and says "I've had those speakers for years and they're my favorites." In subjective evaluations like these, the elements in the hierarchy are almost never addressed in the discussion. Likely the individual offering the critique didn't factor the hierarchy into their comments, and often they weren't considered during their - sometimes brief - evaluation.

Hey I'll own this. Several years ago I changed speakers almost as fast as some folks changed their underwear, trying to find the "right sound". I swapped out speakers without paying much attention to room accountants, and probably stumbled on the pair of speakers that I own now by accident: they just happen to perform well given the limitations of my listening room. It probably would have been a shorter - and less expensive - process if I had started with room set up / acoustics first.

Live and learn.

 

[chef free]

Agreed! It took me years to really pay attention to the room effects on playback, but when I did, the overall sound of the system improved dramatically! Now I have (home made) bass traps, panels at first reflection points, dispersion panels behind the listening spot, floor and ceiling treatments, etc.

Having said that, I disagree with Audiostream article's hierarchy. I would put it in this order:
1. Transducers (any mechanical thingy that wiggles to make sound, speakers and cartridge/stylus/tone arm come to mind first since they must be set up correctly.)
2. Original recording quality (Ya can't polish up a turd!)
3. Room treatments.
4. Amplification (The pre-amp has much more effect on the overall sound than the amp.) .
5. Other (the point of diminishing returns!)

 

[darkblue94]

I swapped out speakers without paying much attention to room accountants,

What are "room accountants?"

 

[jrtrent]

Having said that, I disagree with Audiostream article's hierarchy. I would put it in this order:
1. Transducers (any mechanical thingy that wiggles to make sound, speakers and cartridge/stylus/tone arm come to mind first since they must be set up correctly.)

My experience has been the opposite, finding transducers to be, if not the least important, at least the parts of the system I can most economize on. I've found that with a good turntable and tonearm (for example, the LP12/Basik Plus that was my first major upgrade in 1985), even budget cartridges costing well under $100 will perform better than a more expensive cartridge in a lesser turntable. I found the same to be true of speakers--when I first bought the modest Naim Nait, it controlled the drivers in some cheap Jensen bookshelf speakers so well that the combination was better than using an NAD amp hooked up to any of several much more expensive speakers I tried (and even the NAD was significantly better than my Pioneer integrated). As to the room, I've always taken that pretty much as it comes, apart from maybe adding a floor rug or some extra cushions. I have found that speakers designed for against-the-wall placement seem less picky about the room they're in than speakers designed to sit away from the boundaries.

 

[woodj]

What are "room accountants?"

They keep track of how much money you spend hi-fi gear.

 

[patate91]

This list is accurate for me

 

[Tim64]

They keep track of how much money you spend hi-fi gear.

Does that mean Room Accountant = Wife ? (does for me)

 

[ev13wt]

Great

My experience has been the opposite, finding transducers to be, if not the least important, at least the parts of the system I can most economize on. I've found that with a good turntable and tonearm (for example, the LP12/Basik Plus that was my first major upgrade in 1985), even budget cartridges costing well under $100 will perform better than a more expensive cartridge in a lesser turntable. I found the same to be true of speakers--when I first bought the modest Naim Nait, it controlled the drivers in some cheap Jensen bookshelf speakers so well that the combination was better than using an NAD amp hooked up to any of several much more expensive speakers I tried (and even the NAD was significantly better than my Pioneer integrated). As to the room, I've always taken that pretty much as it comes, apart from maybe adding a floor rug or some extra cushions. I have found that speakers designed for against-the-wall placement seem less picky about the room they're in than speakers designed to sit away from the boundaries.

While I won't agree about the speaker part - you certainly have a point about stuff revolving around LP pickup. Here the cart and its positioning, as well as the cable to pre (yes, I said cable sound), are quite important. I would place it directly after source material.

If its a digital chain, then source is way down there.

 

[asilker]

Cool idea.

 

[whell]

What are "room accountants?"

LOL! Ooops. That was meant to be "acoustics".

 

[sqlsavior]

I like @chef free 's take on it more than the listicle's. I'd add that for records, the phono preamp is more important than the rest of the electronics.

But I also liked this post in the comments further down:

"The Hi-Fi Hierarchy List (in order of importance):
1. You (i.e. the audiophile)
2. ...
3. ...

Always put yourself first. Always remind yourself you are the integral part of the audio system. Your audio system is only ever going to be as good as you are.

The rest of the dots will "auto-magically" connect once you understand yourself and truly know what you like and dislike in terms of how you listen, interpret and appreciate music.

Identify your strengths and weaknesses in your active listening skills. Talk to people and understand how they listen. See if you can incorporate their insights into how you listen too.

The better you are, the better your audio system will be."

Know thyself.

 

[twiiii]

Some of us never drive over the speed ,limit, go on long trips, pull heavy loads, are gone for more than a few days or choose some one else to get us there. We buy our cars accordingly.

Hifi owners have their preferences, too. Some want 5.2 , 7.2 or more, others want 2.0 or 2.1. Some want close intimate sound others want wide open spacious sound. Some want to hear from DC to light others its not necessary.

So taking that into consideration and the rooms we places our speakers in means what sounds great for owner A is totally wrong for owner B.

My only thoughts are you should follow what Paul Klipsch use to recommend. That was go out to a live unamplified concert and get your ears tuned up. How can you select a system when you have no clue what real instruments sound like during an actual performance.