What if the best sound is not the goal

Mark W.

Mark W.

Nut house of the Universe
A recent thread in speakers got me thinking.

What if the reason a person collects vintage gear or even buys new or newer gear the goal is not to find the "best sound possible" It seams as if many many people here are constantly trading up trading across changing teams changing from sand to glass or glass to sand all looking for the best possible sound. What ever that is to them.

But what if the goal is not to go through this process and instead (I'll use myself as the example) to have a really nice really impressive stereo system to enjoy and maybe to do a little showing off with the friends while collecting and listening to music. Not to test drive every amp, CDP and TT made.

Is there room here for the guy who is satisfied with his toys?

If someone enjoys the speaker they own do they need to audition the 25 others best speakers mentioned in a thread?

And how does one achieve this mystical goal cause what I have seen in the last 4 years here is that there is no such thing. If you ask 20 people what is the best anything on average you will get about 17-18 different choices almost always based on either something the responder wants but can't afford or what the responder happens to have in his constant rotation at the time.

So since no one or no 20 ideal systems actually exist how does one march towards this goal.

And why do people have to crap on those who aren't on the same perceived level as they are. If one person enjoys the Amp, Speakers, TT, etc. they have why does that have to bring out the herd of people to tell them what crap they have and that they should listen to A B or C.

On a personal note I don't think I have ever gone out of my way to judge another's system. Except for saying how something being demoed sounded to me. When someone posts a thread saying I really like A B or C I don't see the need to go in and tell them their taste sucks and their A B or C sucks and they should instead be listening to E F and G

Sorry for this if it bothers you but for 4 years now I have been annoyed at the practice I see daily
 
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You ask an interesting question. I had a higher end system and I found that I didn't really like a high resolution system. I wasn't enjoying the music as much when I reached a certain level. My system is now lower end but I enjoy it more. Actually I have two systems. One for winter (tube) and one for summer (SS) I dont think rock music for instance sounds good on a high resolution system.....JMHO
 
I don't ever feel carped on around here, but yes you hit the ole nail right on the head. I enjoy good sound but mostly I'm a record geek. I do want to uprade to a system that I don't have to work on all the time.
 
Mark, I think you hit the nail right on the head. I have had every piece of my stereo bashed since the day I joined AK. But only by a certain few that always say I should be getting rid of these speakers and getting those speakers and I won't even metion what they say about my 901's.

I've evn had some say my lascalas would sound better "face down". Now isn't that a nice thing. I can't ever remember a time I bashed or went out of my way to put down someones equipment. I can't understand why people do that. Why they have to go out of their way it seems to make others feel their gear is inferior to theirs. Or why they make others feel for lack of a better word...stupid. Maybe they need to feewl superior Well, Just so they know, I don't impress easy. My gear sounds great to me and it's what I can afford.

It rocks my house and thats what I care about. It's only "Vintage Junk" and it's "Loud, Proud, Clean and Mean"
 
I'm with you, Mark. It's a matter of what you enjoy - with your ears, eyes, fingers, etc. We all collect for different reasons and what satisfies me probably won't be too pleasing to some others. C'est la vie! BTW, I try not to disparage others choices.
Bob
 
I think a lot of folks, myself included, just like collecting old gear that fits our budget. Then moving parts around to get the best sounding combination out of the stuff we got.

Sorta like an erector set with tunes. And if we get a good combination leave it alone or pass it on. I just gave the 14 year old son of a friend of mine an old sony receiver and a set of Norman 8 speakers. Threw in a pioneer cassette deck and some old tapes of stuff he had never heard in the CD/ipod world.
 
Simple, or so it seems...

If one is satisfied with what they have there is no logical reason to search out something else, nor feel the need to defend their choice.

Technical merits, validity of tweaks, the definition of what sounds or is "best", etc. all can be debated ad infinitum. However, there really is no argument or debate for "I like what I have".
 
You are wise my friend. It all comes down to the "All audio, no attitude..." mantra.

Lately we have been seeing a slide from that, reflections of our society I'm afraid.
 
I agree, be happy with what you have and what you like...to each his own. I too have different receivers/amps that i kinda mix and match with my telefunken klangbox wb-60 wood speakers, that my brother gave to me. they aren't modern but i just love the sound they give off and don't wanna toss them.

What is cool though is what patokapirate did...to give a system that has never maybe seen or heard of and explore it. I remember by cousins kids, mezmerized at a round thing playing a record...they knew only of cd players and this opened their eyes!

fabs
 
Excellent post.
Bottom line if you like the sound of your gear its all good. Anyone elses opinion is just that.

BTW Mark I haven't changed my main set up in 2 years so your not the only one.
 
I agree too.. I buy what I buy because I like it. Yep, it might make things sound better, and some times it might actually make things sound worse, but I liked it, so I bought it..

We all know I don't have the best speakers out there, but I do like the sound, the crankability, and the coolness of the vintageness... that's all that matters to me..

I like big pro and PA type stuff.. that sure takes me a long way away from being an audiophile, but just like you, it's how I enjoy the music the most playing it through the kind of gear I like.

Yep.. I get hammered on too because I use a lot of other gear in the chain between the source and speakers, but they add fun stuff to play with... and that's what I like... lots of knobs dials, switches and sliders... and the funniest thing about it is, the times I do get crap about it, it comes from someone that hasn't heard it, so has no idea of the possibilities..
 
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I hate the crapping on mentality. The one that I see a lot is the standard "your CD player is so old it has to suck cause the new ones sound so much better" argument. There are a lot of "vintage" cd players out there that still sound very good. What's funny is you don't see that with speakers. I'm sure that speaker technology has advanced, but people don't bag on vintage speaker like they do CD players. It seems to me that one or two people probably started the old CD players suck, new ones are better statements & then everybody else joined the bandwagon (usually without even hearing the cd players in question).

OK, rant over. Sorry.

deaner
 
Mark, you seem to be putting a very nice human touch into your hobby, bravo!

For myself this is a hobby, it provides enjoyment and pleasure in my spare moments.

I have pride in my equipment, but mostly it's about how it makes me feel and how it takes me back to a place or time when I'm listen to a favorite song.
 
Good post!! I'm with you Mark!! The Music makes my system sound good not the gear and that's what I'm after. I was perfectly happy listening to Purple Haze on my transistor radio in 1967. Although I always had decent gear. Music comes first!! :yes:
 
I am very happy with my system(s). I have upgraded my components. I had a Sansui P-D10 TT. Now I have a Sansui SR-838.

I picked up a B-2201 amp and C-2101 pre to try out. But so far am happy with my AU-719.

I collect a few Sansui pieces because I have always enjoyed their gear.

I guess I miss a lot of the gear crapping threads.
But, if someone says "I just got a Sansui B-3000, how does it compare to the BA-3000?", I don't think people giving the facts about why the B-3000 is far inferior is gear crapping. They did ask after all.

If there are threads where someone says "here is my system, I love it" and people start knocking their gear, I guess I have been lucky enough to miss them.

I only hit a few forums.

The main reason I joined AK and don't visit other audio sites, is that I would read posts by total jerks on other sites, and it turned me off.

The mods have their hands full and can't catch every bad post.

Rob
 
Excellent post Mark. There are a lot of us here who feel the same.

Personally, I like kabuki and I don't care what anyone says about them. I like my kabuki and I say that with pride. Maybe with a little smirk....

I buy for myself, and only myself. (unless it's to flip and pay for what I want) I do appreciate other peoples gear and opinions, but when it comes to what I want or like, my opinion trumps all others. I can appreciate any gear for what it is and I never put down anyone's gear. That's just elitist snobbery BS. :thumbsdn:

The endless pursuit of "the" system is a waste of time and money because it can never be found. It's a hole that can never be filled.

Get what floats your boat because what sounds "best" is a very personal thing.
 
Robisme said:
I guess I miss a lot of the gear crapping threads.

Rob
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If I'm not mistaken, Mark brought this up because of a Speaker thread, where someone stated their speakers were the best, without much data to back that up.. and so everyone started trashing the certain speakers.. Normally I wouldn't do that, but as I had stated, while giving examples of others that would kick those to the curb, I said to expect a harsh rebuttal by making a bold statement with nothing to back it up..

While in that case, yes, the OP was kind of asking for us to do that (and basically states in in his OP) there has seemed to be a bit more of it happening lately too... Not sure if it's a case of "my balls are bigger than yours", or "I wish my balls were as blue as yours" causing the mentality behind putting down so much gear in a very negative way.
 
This hobby is what you make of it. If the pursuit of "your" absolute sound is what drives you in this hobby then so be it, if you are happy with what you have and aren't in pursuit of any "absolute sound" then that too should be fine. I'm not any more bothered by one than the other as this a personal hobby and each of us has our our own ideas around what drives us.
 
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