Do You Regret Your Pre-ASR Audio Gear Choices of the past?

[Chrispy]

I fall into the category of my “objective” views predate ASR, and am more glad to find ASR reinforcing such.

 

[RalphB]

My first premium setup was a Carver Receiver with Bose 501 speakers. I don't regret because I enjoyed listening to music at high volume. Almost everything at the time had lots of distortion. The B&W 702 and P9 paired with Cambridge amp and DAC I use now don't compare. I still enjoyed that Carver and Bose.

 

[Audionaut]

My main interest is in very good, active and powerful loudspeakers with high efficiency.
I build them myself and ASR is not really helpful in this niche. There are other options for that.

What I take away from ASR is the internationality of the audience and the desire to make verifiable statements about hi-fi equipment.
As with loudspeakers, this can only be achieved through comparative measurements under the same circumstances and conditions.
Science, after all.

I have never been able to do anything with sweet sounds, but more with measurable radiation angles and frequency responses.

 

[RalphB]

My main interest is in very good, active and powerful loudspeakers with high efficiency.
I build them myself and ASR is not really helpful in this niche. There are other options for that.

What I take away from ASR is the internationality of the audience and the desire to make verifiable statements about hi-fi equipment.
As with loudspeakers, this can only be achieved through comparative measurements under the same circumstances and conditions.
Science, after all.

I have never been able to do anything with sweet sounds, but more with measurable radiation angles and frequency responses.

100%

 

[PristineSound]

Actually, if I can be perfectly honest and this is not as a ding on ASR. This is my own mistake and I own up to it.

I actually made few purchases that I regret based on ASR reviews. And almost sold an amp because of ASR's measurement only mantra.

Brought a lot of Topping and SMSL products, the QC on them were less than stellar, there were some design bugs. I also didn't have the satisfaction and pride of ownership, because I'm not a fan of desktop form factor, feels like a little kid's toy.

I got so caught up with SINAD, almost sold my Yamaha A-S2200, totally disregarded that steady and consistent power, load and frequency invariant is probably just as important as SINAD. And no, you do not need 105dB SINAD, if you are playing at a volume like a normal person. It probably is highly unlikely that I can tell the difference between the .07% THD+N on my Yamaha vs. my Benchmark ABH2. I don't believe even Amir uses an amp of that high SINAD on his Salon.

Not to mention, I love how my Yamaha looks, the aesthetics gives me a sense of satisfaction when I listen on it, a pride of ownership.

Now, there is no doubt I benefitted more with ASR.

I made this post on another thread. This is what I meant when I said I got caught up with SINAD. While I still want the SINAD, because it makes me sleep better at night, but I'm glad I didn't sell some gear that didn't have high SINAD, but had high aesthetic, quality and craftsmanship value.

Audibility of SINAD differences?

After a gazillion of tests with all kinds of distortion (including IMD,TIM,etc) I now care only about the noise part of SINAD. Seems like the old 0.1% THD limit in the pro world is legit and plenty. Something must be seriously broken or deliberately made to exceed that. I find gain structure...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[Bleib]

Not really. Swedish LTS has similar goals of objectivity and it already lead into the right path. Obviously for instance DAC reviews have made it easier to find right with newer stuff as well, so it's been helpful.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

Yes. Emotiva.

 

[alexeyi]

To an extent, yes, there is a bit of regret but as other mentioned it was part of the learning process.
Sold everything and now I own just one headphone setup - D90SE->XLR->original A90 and Sundara rev.2021. Could not be happier and I'm not having that constant urge to buy stuff anymore.

 

[RalphB]

To an extent, yes, there is a bit of regret but as other mentioned it was part of the learning process.
Sold everything and now I own just one headphone setup - D90SE->XLR->original A90 and Sundara rev.2021. Could not be happier and I'm not having that constant urge to buy stuff anymore.

To an extent, yes, there is a bit of regret but as other mentioned it was part of the learning process.
Sold everything and now I own just one headphone setup - D90SE->XLR->original A90 and Sundara rev.2021. Could not be happier and I'm not having that constant urge to buy stuff anymore.

Ignore the naysayers.

 

[30 Ounce]

Not at all! This is a hobby for most of us, a job for a few. As long as the noise floor is sufficiently low (and by that I mean silent) and distortion is reasonably low then I have a good starting point. Set up and room have a more important role in sound reproduction than electronics.

 

[DoctorRobert]

As more people on this forum, I never had the money, or were too frugal, to overspend on hifi gear. So, no, there is not much I regret to spend money on, based on ASR. I have a background in electronic engineering so I always knew that cables were never that important. I still can remember how surprised I was that at some point a salesman tried to sell me an expensive RCA interconnect for a subwoofer. He sinserely seemed to believe that a subwoofer puts a higher demand on an interconnect than a normal (full-range) stereo does. And working in the CD industrie, I knew that DA-conversion was most of the time the least flawed element of the hifi chain. I never understood why people would spend so much effort in optimizing that almost perfect step.

What this site may have done, is remove some of the magic of products that I probably never would buy, but I still could long for. But that is a small price to pay for knowing where to spend my money and the affirmation that common sense still also works in the audio field. There is always other gear one can dream of.

 

[RalphB]

Not at all! This is a hobby for most of us, a job for a few. As long as the noise floor is sufficiently low (and by that I mean silent) and distortion is reasonably low then I have a good starting point. Set up and room have a more important role in sound reproduction than electronics.

I agree, but for the uninitiated, it can be a little confusing. The important thing is to put everything in context. Vinyl recordings have about 60db dynamic range and are loved by many. But a DAC with a second harmonic 100db down is considered bad.

 

[RalphB]

Not at all! This is a hobby for most of us, a job for a few. As long as the noise floor is sufficiently low (and by that I mean silent) and distortion is reasonably low then I have a good starting point. Set up and room have a more important role in sound reproduction than electronics.

Tongue in cheek...totally agree with you

 

[Mart68]

What this site may have done, is remove some of the magic of products that I probably never would buy, but I still could long for. But that is a small price to pay for knowing where to spend my money and the affirmation that common sense still also works in the audio field. There is always other gear one can dream of.

I still have that it's just mostly not rational. Which is no consolation. For example I have long wanted a Yamaha CX 10000 although due to rarity, there's very little chance of it.

 

[RalphB]

I still have that it's just mostly not rational. Which is no consolation. For example I have long wanted a Yamaha CX 10000 although due to rarity, there's very little chance of it.

Nice

 

[Waxx]

I agree, but for the uninitiated, it can be a little confusing. The important thing is to put everything in context. Vinyl recordings have about 60db dynamic range and are loved by many. But a DAC with a second harmonic 100db down is considered bad.

It's not, it's just not technical SOTA. But i don't know if you know, but a CD has a dynamic range of 16bit, and that is a SINAD of (theoretical) 98dB maximum, and in reality probally a few dB lower at least. If you pass that mark, your dac is higher resolution than most of the media you will play trough it. And that is the goal. But SOTA is today +120dB for a dac, of which 25dB at minimum is overkill in most (almost all) casss. Also because your amp (probally) and your speaker (certainly) does not even come close to that.

But people also buy sports cars that can often go above 300km/h while speed limits in Europe are mostly arround 120-130km/h (depending on the country and the road you're on)...

 

[RalphB]

It's not, it's just not technical SOTA. But i don't know if you know, but a CD has a dynamic range of 16bit, and that is a SINAD of (theoretical) 98dB maximum, and in reality probally a few dB lower at least. If you pass that mark, your dac is higher resolution than most of the media you will play trough it. And that is the goal. But SOTA is today +120dB for a dac, of which 25dB at minimum is overkill in most (almost all) casss. Also because your amp (probally) and your speaker (certainly) does not even come close to that.

But people also buy sports cars that can often go above 300km/h while speed limits in Europe are mostly arround 120-130km/h (depending on the country and the road you're on)...

Thanks for your explanation.

 

[Henry53]

A common theme here on ASR is how many feel they managed to escape the ideas that drive the purchases of many other audiophiles. Getting rid of the woo-woo, no more being influenced by golden ear reviewers, getting off the gear merry-go-round, and finally making more knowledgable decisions that have led to their current system.

So my question to the crowd is:

How do you view your “ pre-ASR life?” (and perhaps your own more “objective” views predate ASR).

Do you regret much of the gear that you owned in your past audiophile journey?

Do you look back on it as a waste of time and money?

(my quick answer: no not at all. But I’m curious about others)

Technical reviews can be most useful, however in over 50 years I have never bought any hifi without listening to it, most often in my own home. The data can tell you things about a component, its power handling, its frequency response, compatibility 'perhaps', however these tests are not at all reliable regarding how things actually sound to the individual. For example at uni, engineering, our design professor literally worshipped Klipsch speakers, I first heard them in a private session organised by him. I have listened to every Klipsch speakers since trying to hear what he describes, unfortunately it's hard to do that when they are so bright they make my eyes water! You see a test bench may measure any electrical parameter, it just doesn't measure what I am hearing, or what you , or anyone else hears.

 

[PristineSound]

unfortunately it's hard to do that when they are so bright they make my eyes water! You see a test bench may measure any electrical parameter, it just doesn't measure what I am hearing, or what you , or anyone else hears.

So the Klipsch you listened to are elevated in the high frequency range?

Klipsch aren't known to measure well.

 

[BeeKay]

I regret having bought the AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt.
Too expensive.
Too poor performance.
Too AudioQuest.
Too poor quality (the glued in PCB decided to leave its housing at some point).