What advice you wish you could have given to your younger self or someone new to this hobby?

[coonmanx]

Don't buy the NAD 7140. It's a gimmick amp that isn't very well made. And your cheap Technics tuner will work just as well for FM...

 

[Multicore]

Lesson to me in the early 80s: CDs are good tech. Don't be such a whinging conservative about your LPs and TT. Sunk cost.

 

[Multicore]

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Krapps Last Tape is a favorite of mine. The film with John Hurt is good

 

[MattHooper]

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I’d do that too for a few idiotic choices I made (especially doing young guy dumb things, including subjecting my ears to sound levels that caused my tinnitus).

But nothing for audio though. I am happy with pretty much all my choices.

 

[Brian Hall]

Don't give away all the vinyl records purchased in high school and college just because CDs are better in every way.

 

[Platypus20]

Avoid

Meridian
PS Audio
Adcom

 

[Palladium]

Didn't stepped on any mines besides a $200 Tripath amp in 2013. I was also lucky to chance upon Ethan's Winer video on placebophilia at that time too.

 

[rgdawsonco]

I got some good advice from my older brother when I was young which has served me well, at least when I followed it. “You don’t need everything. But when you decide you are going to get something, get what you really want. Every time. You’ll be better off in the long run.”

Don’t justify too much why you like something, you just do.

Music is art. It is fun. There is no such thing as perfect. Listen to the art, not the gear.

Learn to play the piano. Don’t wait until you are 60 to get serious about playing guitar.

Nothing, I mean nothing, is ever allowed to be placed on top of a speaker. No plants, no pictures, No nick knacks. Nothing. Not even for a second.

Make your audio system look fantastic, spend the money on good audio furniture and interfaces.

Train your future wife on how to work the gear and play her stuff and get her involved.

Someday you will own Klipsch Cornwalls, and you will love them.

Listen to something new every day.

Take good care of your hearing, you are going to need it, and it doesn’t last forever.

These are all things I should have known earlier Than I did.

 

[CleanSound]

Avoid

Meridian
PS Audio
Adcom

Why and on?

 

[Platypus20]

Why and on?

Meridian - 508.24 cd player, they had it more than I did, went back 5 times, over 3 years

PS Audio - the reliability of the (2) Lambda CD transports made the Meridian look stellar, both had multiple trips back, work a week or 2, then fail again

Adcom - GFA-555, bad transformer buzz, from day 1, told that was normal by Adcom, hissed terribly with no music playing, sold to my cousin, the last I knew it was still working in the camp. Switched to a Conrad-Johnson solid state amp, that was flawless for 25+ yrs, until I bought the Benchmarks.

 

[srrxr71]

Avoid

Meridian
PS Audio
Adcom

At least Paul was honest about how the name Adcom came about: additional commission haha.

 

[TheBatsEar]

To my younger self:
The Canton Digital 1 is worth it and 30 years ahead of it's time.

To people new in the hobby:
Get a microphone, get a subwoofer and learn how to EQ your stuff. Your room is 70% of the sound, your speakers are 29% and the rest of your kit is 1%.

 

[DMill]

Not nearly as profound as others… But just chill. Unless you have unlimited money, pick your spots and relax. The differences are pretty small in real life.

 

[SonicSleuth]

Present me to past me: "Just don't bother, walk away".

 

[restorer-john]

Spend more money at earlier stage and not throw it away on mediocre or poor products. Better to save up for something great.

This is great advice.

Skip all the cheap entry-level, gateway junk and buy gear that will last 30-40 years.

 

[Doodski]

This is great advice.

Skip all the cheap entry-level, gateway junk and buy gear that will last 30-40 years.

I agree with that regarding the longevity of the gear that I've handled but the new gear I'm not so hip on the life expectancy. I'm not so sure we can expect 30 to 40 years from much of it. I'm very hesitant.

 

[restorer-john]

I agree with that regarding the longevity of the gear that I've handled but the new gear I'm not so hip on the life expectancy. I'm not so sure we can expect 30 to 40 years from much of it. I'm very hesitant.

Sure, much of the modern gear simply won't last that long. That's why I'd be looking at conventional amplifiers with full size componentry, vertically mounted boards protected from environmental ingress (bugs, moisture, dust, etc).

I've seen way too much catastrophic damage caused by horizontal boards, covered in high density SMD sitting under grilles. It's a deliberate decision IMO.

Through hole is way more tolerant to such problems, but that ship has sailed.

With digital sources, I'd be wanting minimal power consumpton to keep internal temps low and sealed casework.

We will never see the general quality of gear like we have worked on, ever again. There will be outliers of great gear, but the mainstream buyer is getting absolute crap now. Not our problem. LOL.

 

[Doodski]

Sure, much of the modern gear simply won't last that long. That's why I'd be looking at conventional amplifiers with full size componentry, vertically mounted boards protected from environmental ingress (bugs, moisture, dust, etc).

I've seen way too much catastrophic damage caused by horizontal boards, covered in high density SMD sitting under grilles. It's a deliberate decision IMO.

Through hole is way more tolerant to such problems, but that ship has sailed.

With digital sources, I'd be wanting minimal power consumpton to keep internal temps low and sealed casework.

We will never see the general quality of gear like we have worked on, ever again. There will be outliers of great gear, but the mainstream buyer is getting absolute crap now. Not our problem. LOL.

I find it amazing that the general public is taking the right to repair up the whazoo...

 

[MattHooper]

This is great advice.

Skip all the cheap entry-level, gateway junk and buy gear that will last 30-40 years.

I can see a certain sense in that.

However, for many the audiophile hobby is a learning process, which involves trying various types of gear, as a way of finding out what you want out of a system. So it may not be easy to always just skip all those steps and splurge on something, knowing you'll own it for 30 years. Not many audiophiles have owned the same gear for 30 to 40 years.

(And I highly value all the gear I've owned over the years. I'm happier having tried and owned all sorts of different sonic presentations, than if I'd just had one set up all this time. But that just speaks to how one-size-doesn't-fit-all in terms of that advice).

 

[DavidMcRoy]

1. Trust the science

2.Tubes should be regarded as signal processors, not transparent devices

3 Forget enclosed speakers except for subwoofers;dipoles are the way to go, but commit to studying room acoustics to get them to work properly

4 It’s the 21st century; passive crossovers are like gas light now