Suggestion for thread for new members/beginning hobbyists

[Blake Klondike]

As someone who has spent the last two years trying to figure out how to invest wisely in audio equipment, just wanted to make a suggestion: perhaps it would be of value to start a centralized "buying guide" thread re: which specs/factors actually make an audible difference when it comes to different types of gear? (i.e: what to look for in a turntable/pre-amp/dac/phone stage/integrated/power amp, etc)

The ultimate message of all the assistance and expertise on ASR seems to be that you don't always have to spend a lot of money to get good sound. Given that, It would be great to have a straight-forward resource that discusses how to spend your money well.

Just a thought, and as always thanks for all the fascinating and helpful work!

 

[RayDunzl]

*finds himself unable to compose a cogent reply

Participate, ask again in a year.

(there, I tried)

What do you want to buy?

 

[M00ndancer]

I don't know how that would be a good thing. People here are extremely kind and helpful and doing few searches on the site will get you a lot of good results. On the DAC side it's more about features than SQ if you choose one of the tested DACs in the upper half of the list Tested DACs you will have a good product. Stand-alone headphones amps are basically down to two units, the Atom and the THX one. Amps and speakers are harder, all because of a lack of testing. (Expensive to transport for testing) Still some searches and finally asking is the way to go. I've only been here for a short while but the knowledge of the members is the best I've seen.

 

[JJB70]

Plenty of good reviews and commentary on this site. I'd offer four pieces of general advice:

1. You may assume that sound quality is linked to price, forget this. There is plenty of very good budget gear and for DACs and amplifiers in particular you really don't need to spend much to achieve audible transparency;

2. I know this is an objective minded website, but use your ears - if you are happy with your set up and don't really notice a difference when you listen to more expensive equipment then be happy with what you've got. Don't let magazine reviews, bloggers, people on internet forums etc convince you that you need to spend spend spend to get something good;

3. Ignore all the stuff about cables and power chords etc lifting veils, moving you three rows forward blah blah blah blah, as long as your speaker cable is of an appropriate gauge and your power chord fits into the socket then they'll work just as well as stuff costing $$$$$$$$$$$'s; and

4. The bits that really make a difference are speakers and set up in your listening room, or if you listen using headphones then headphones. Therefore that's where you should put your money and effort.

Fundamentally this is really quite a simple hobby which doesn't have to cost much at all full of shills trying to make people think they need to spend $$$$$$$$$$$$'s and trying to create a mystique around it all. The great aeronautical engineer R.J.Mitchell once gave the following advice to test pilot Jeffrey Quill:

If anybody ever tells you anything about an aeroplane which is so bloody complicated you can't understand it, take it from me: it's all balls.

I think you could say the same about audio gear.

 

[Ron Texas]

Quit while you are ahead...LOL

 

[TG1]

I actually know nothing on the technical side, but I have found one or two things out just by trial and error. Since I got converted to vinyl fairly early on my energy has been spent trying to get this source to play as well as possible. I found out the more you invest in isolation the better it is.
Take something like floating a deck (and amp/pre amp) on partially inflated bicycle tyres. I'm not doing that, because it is crazy, you may think, but if you do it you can immediately hear the difference. I've now found a way to get just the speakers in my listening room and all the components in the adjoining stairwell, positioned high enough that I can just reach the record deck. Everything is on inner tubes and the deck is on its own platform, isolated, and also seated on two extremely heavy steel cross sections I got from a local blacksmith. All so that as few as possible vibrations screw with the signal. And it does make an audible difference.
So what I have concluded is that at least some of the money that goes into an expensive deck is spent on isolation. I don't think there is a lot of point spending a shed load on a turntable that is then carelessly placed in the listening environment.

Second thing I have learned is that taking steps to optimise the room set up pays dividends.
Third thing I have learned is that it is worth it. It's not just what you can hear in the music it is what you can feel as a result of hearing what you otherwise wouldn't hear.