I agree! I was guilty of this in my past.. Never getting the enjoyment out of my equipment. But now I’m listening more than buying equipment. That’s the real joy....
I guess most of us don‘t know how the music, that we listen to sounds originally in the studio. So I fully agree with tip #1. It’s really very individual what sounds pleasant to someone’s ears.
Actually, even though the world cultures differ very much in many aspects, most cultures tend to agree on what their members find euphonic and what they find cacophonous: - so while Japanese drumming is very different from African or of native Amazonian drumming, they would to still all agree as to what is good drumming and what is bad drumming. So, no, not so fast with all being subjective. Do read Kant's theory of aesthetics / beauty - he tried to grapple with this fact of both aesthetic beauty and music being an OBJECTIVE quality shared among many without any prior agreement or conditioning, with some minor culturally-inborn preferences of course, but still largely an OBJECTIVE SHARED occurrence. Besides, a sound engineer who sees only sounds over attempting to capture and bring across the essence of MUSIC (i.e. the balance of sounds, rhythm, ambience, the other intangibles - the moments when everything just "clicked", etc) - well, perhaps if I were a musician, I would not want to hire such an engineer to master my art... Cheers!
My number one mistake for a long time in the beginning of my hi-fi quest was: ‘Mistaking brightness for detail.” If you can’t listen for hours and still want more, take it as a bad sign.
Interesting, good point. Related note; w/decades of live mixing FOH, this is something that I have given a great deal of effort to achieve proper balance of detail within the HF. I found the single most critical element in the live mix (except a monster kick😉!), is ABSOLUTE vocal clarity ... clarity that cuts right thru and sits above all else... yet without overly edgy harshness. FOH engineers vary in their approach. However, for me, achieving this would typically require an outboard, single channel parametric EQ*, and careful and constant attention to assure just enough vocal presence/edge, without harshness or sibilance above. I pride myself upon it, and I've got over 30yrs experience too, but the paying customer has to clearly delineate the vocal lines... despite the high dB modern live show, still vocals have to be clear but without harshness... and it's easy to enter into at the modern/high dBSPL events. *(of the highest quality available, transparency of even high-end EQs/comps is discernible over a good rig)
you deserve all the love of the world. man i watched this video 2 days ago because i wanted to adjust my speaker position. since a week a had the impression something is wrong at my setup.. i spend the whole day moving my speakers and my chair today (mainly listening to vinyl with my turntable). at night i decided to put on some spootify music and listened to an herbie hancock album (the same i used for testing during the day). and i was completely confused realizing that the trumpet came out of the left speaker...on my record it came out of my right speaker. i eminently jumped of and jecked my cabes and realized that i plugged in the cables from my turntable into the preamp the wrong way (red to white and white to red) . what can i say, after changing it, EVERYTHING is GREAT! thank you very much for that hint :)
Didn't think it'd ever happen but a couple weeks ago I got some transparent cable and thought it sounded awful. Turns out I had my polarity wrong and my L/R channels switched. I was just so excited. Sounds great again
Use what is marketed as sandbox or playground sand. It's been cleaned and helps to insure you are not bringing organic matter or living organisms into your house.
No, no, so much no. Play sand has soooooo much mud in it. Sand blast sand is clean. I went through this, as did many when adding sand to an aquarium. It takes hours to clean a gallon of play sand good enough.
@@heathhunter5306 For an aquarium yes, for a speaker stand not so much. Playground or sandbox sand is safe for a child to put in their mouth. There are no ill effects to using them in a speaker stand.
My biggest mistake was not buying more used records in the late 90s and early 2000s! People were just practically giving them away. I got Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon for $2!! It was a golden age!!
In March 1973, upon its original release I paid £2.20 for a first pressing UK copy. I still have it and it plays in EX grade condition. The receipt is in the sleeve. It's worth about £150 today.
I GAVE my hundreds and hundreds of records AWAY. because I simply didn't have space for them, they were sitting in storage, and I thought someone should be able to enjoy them. I still hate myself a little bit for that.
#8 is huge. I’ve found lots of companies have good service, but Sweetwater has really blown me away lately. They’re unbelievably helpful. Awesome tips!
Just something to consider. Try covering the top and sides of the speaker boxes with folded towels or blankets if you have full size speakers. It just amazes me at the difference this makes. Speaker housings DO transmit a LOT of sound.
The speakers away from the walls advice doesn't necessarily apply to all speakers. Front ported speakers like Klipsch Cornwalls are specifically designed to to function against a wall and/or in a corner. That is actually why they are called "Cornwall". BTW, Christmas fruit cakes also make excellent sound deadener for hollow speaker stands!
Yes, it doesn't necessary apply all the time. But even with front ported speakers you have take into account wall reflections and resonance of the whole listening room. So the distance from a back wall, front wall and speakers angle matter.
It applies to all speaker, even front ported speakers will sound better when placed away from the wall. The front port just makes them less worse when placed against a wall, but they will still sound better away from the wall.
@@georgemoonman2830 This. Even if the adjustment needed is less, that doesn't change THAT much. Sound waves are still sound waves. The wiggly air isn't any closer just cause it's front ported.
I would say "room acoustics" and "consider reviewers, but trust your own ears " to be two of the most essential, especially when just starting out. Then, "buy new music" is an excellent idea for when your system begins to sound "stale". It also keeps your appreciation for music alive. I use Tidal for exploring new artists. I can try them out before purchasing, and have made many new discoveries that way.
Great advise Ron, but don’t ever forget if you have a local shop, build up a relationship with a local dealer. Great Local dealers are priceless for their experience and when you build up that relationship, spend money with them, they will allow you to take products home. I’m able to do this and no I don’t put a credit card or anything down. I walk in tell them what I would like to try, like the Meze Emphyreans and walk out. I try and not waste their time, but I have been dealing with them for over 10 years and everything except my current turntable and one of my two cassette decks were bought there. A great dealer will tell you exactly what Ron said , they won’t tell you what something sound like, which is why they will let you try the equipment out in your home and they will offer services that will bring them out to your home and set the equipment up for you and tune it to your liking with measurement equipment (and set up the room treatment based on the measurements and use lasers to fine tune placement if you prefer this, I have always set up my own stuff. Keep it coming Ron your work, the production and guest are getting better and better. I can’t wait to see your Axpona coverage if you are going this year, which might be hard with the two little editions to the family.
Well that's just GREAT. Just as I get used to all of the subjective, inane, mumbo jumbo stuff about audio, you come along with an objective, common sense approach. Thanks!
Ron your list is great. One of my mistakes was not making sure my streaming service/devises were set to maximum quality. Free upgrade in source material quality.
Love it! Great advice. Another is don't look at gear individually, break your system into parts: room and speakers; speakers and amp; turntable, tonearm, cartridge and phono preamp, for example. Synergy in each group will make the sum better than the parts.
Listening to new music is a must , i do it when listening to my high end SQ system in my truck. It brings me back to saying to myself this sounds amazing !! I love getting that immersive feeling.
Thanks Ron, #1 particularly resonated. Having purchased a new hifi rig for the first time in 5 years, I too read the reviews, and used those as a basis for auditioning, but my most trusted thing were my ears. I also took copious notes of what I was hearing as I auditioned for speakers. Being able to compare the same few tracks at different stores with notes of what I heard was incredibly valuable, and left me choosing a niche New Zealand manufacturer - Theophany - that I enjoyed more than Dynaudio, Monitor Audio, B&W, KEF etc. I was gob smacked when the staff told me hardly anyone does this, so I'd add that as a clause to your #1, trust your ears and if auditioning, take notes on what you hear! Cheers from Melbourne, Australia, Peter
Spikes only are never right! Speakers should be decoupled from the floor with soft material. Not just anything soft. A sylomer type is ideal. The sylomer feets must be adapted to the mass of the speaker. Might be used in combination with spikes though if there is a carpet under the speakers. It's amazing how widespread the spikes BS is.
I once owned a pair of Bowers & Wilkins DM2 speakers, 1972 vintage. They looked gorgeous and would normally sound gorgeous too. However, Twinkle toes here decided to fiddle around with the speaker cables behind the system while the amp was still on. I'd bargain that most enthusiasts who are familiar with these lovely speakers know what's coming next. The speakers are a three way design, sporting an 8" bextrene coned woofer, Celestion hf1300 tweeter and, last but not least, the venerable, but rather delicate, Coles 4001G super tweeter. I murdered them both, I did. Yes, I am an idiot... So, having cheerfully slaughtered the original forty seven year old items, I ordered a hand built replacement pair from Falcon Acoustics in the UK, and attempted to install them myself. This.... was a mistake! I managed to boil the brand new and rather expensive replacements to death with my soldering iron. It was at this point that I decided that the DM2's were probably not meant for a big klutz like me, and I've been rocking a pair of Mission M71's ever since, and they still work, because the Missions are 100% 'ME' proof... 👍🖖
The mistake you most likely made was not cleaning those old cruddy solder joints before you put an iron on them. Working on old stuff is not the same as working on new stuff. Things happen over the course of time that need to be addressed. Lead and tin solder for example oxidizes exposed to the atmosphere. In the worst case it will get this gray dusty layer on it. But even when you can't see it the oxide on the surface can still have a negative impact on soldering. At 47 years I can just about guarantee the joints were oxidized too. New stuff comes screwed up from the factory today. Because they have to use that lead free garbage. Unless they're aerospace or military contractors. Us poor plebes need to deal with substandard trash. Because reasons. I brighten and tin lead free parts with real solder before I use them. Make Electronics Great Again!
CD's, Vinyls are great source of music but youb need a DAC. Tidal, Apple, Amazon Music has a large variety of songs for you to fall in love with your rig again. This is a must for any audiophile.
The biggest difference I have made to my system is the addition of audiophile power cables, I have modest system comprised of Cambridge, NAD and Yamaha components and Polk audio speakers, but decided to splash out on some cardas clear beyond power cables, for them, as of course the power going into the components is the most important thing, the difference is amazing, I was instantly enchanted.
A cheapo tip from the UK. - source was HiFi World iirc. Go to Maplins and buy their hard rubber feet as used by DIY radio nuts. They're about 50p each and really do the trick at isolating your CD player, turntable etc. They're exactly the right diameter, they work really well. There's only one problem, Maplin went bust a few years ago. Perhaps they should have called themselves "Maplin HiFi" and sold them at £150 a set.
If your looking for a good receiver/amp for the lowest price, Onkyo TX-8220 and TX-8020. I got the 8220 and it's a huge upgrade from my old Pioneer. Don't expect things to be cheap, $200 minimum for good quality.
Hay Ron, great video and some good tips, but one I'd suggest should be near the top, at least is GET YOUR SPEAKERS OFF THE FLOOR. That is, if you have large bookshelves like I do (vintage ADS L810 speakers) that stand 25.5" high or so, get them off the floor onto low stands of 12-15", ideally tilted back slightly about 3* for proper dispersion. This is also to reduce the bass node/boominess that can occur when speakers sit right on the floor. Too many do this and then wonder why their bass is boomy. This goes for most speakers, bass reflex or acoustic suspension or passive radiator is that the upper bass can get over emphasized and with some speaker designs, can sound chestiness in the mid to lower midrange area, not necessarily a good thing. But in the real world, some of us don't have the option (at all) to move our speakers out into the room as far as you'd like. For me, it's due to doorways and a small room I have to work in (stereo sits on the LONG wall as it's the ONLY spot for it as I have the entrance to the front hall, and the kitchen at both ends of the living room to contend with). Besides, it could be much worse. I do have them at minimum 15" from the back wall so that helps, even if they sit close to the corners, but just getting them OFF the floor helps. Bass is tight, articulate and musical. Anyway, a good list overall.
As one who has spent most of my life MAKING MUSIC (that you guys might listen to) I endorse all 10 points.... it's sound advice ( pun 🙂) ..... I have had controversial arguments on my channel over "analog" versus "digital" ..... and after it's all over .... people simply have to go with what sounds good to them.... but they should also accept that psychoacoustic perception affects their conclusion and admit that scientific testing is the only 'ultimate reality' of what actually exists in the world...... as a University lecturer in Electronics (and with background in sound engineering and music) it is my job to EDUCATE the public .... which is how I ultimately ended up on your interesting channel.... good show .... keep it up....
yeah agree with you i prefer analogue sound because its warm but my sibling loves colder digital sound, its probably due to ear shape and preferred taste
@@StephenMendes in music setups cant underestimate anything 😂😂 i mean those custom to ear moulded in ear headphones have to be invented for more than just comfort right but yeah 😂😂😂 we'll learn as we experiance
The really good dealers will come to you or loan you kit to audition in your own system as gear can sound quite different in your system compared to the dealer's setup. They want to make sure you're happy customer as you could be spending a lot of money.
I have my bookshelf speakers sitting on some bricks I found in my back yard with folded paper towels for noise isolation. No need to worry about a hollow speaker stand when it's filled with hardened clay.
great tips!, yes always listen to new music. and different formats. my tips...let your ears "zero Out" before a listening session, say some thing Lo Fi or mono, listen with lights out..
HA! Polarity definitely got me! Left and right placement too! when setting up I accidentally swapped my active speaker placement, AND put the wrong polarity on top. It took playing a pc game to find out what was going on behind the strangeness. Enemies were ACTUALLY coming from the left but I was always looking right, with the weirdest sound environments. Highly recommend
@9:18 once you get things dialed in use some sort of marking system to make positioning them again easy. I used dots of clear nail polish (on my hard floors, some dot of velcro may be required for carpets) to avoid having to measure or experiment every time I want to listen. I have the best position marked and its no fuss to set them up. I found that when i had to measure every time it simply cut into listening time enough I was hesitant to do it. Now it is so easy and simple it only takes 1 minute to position both towers correctly in a repeatably good position.
The biggest mistake I made was when I first got into the hobby and I kept buying and selling stuff like crazy. I had some good stuff and ended up selling it for stuff that wasn't nearly as good. I was like a junkie trying to get my next fix.
just try some Yamaha hs50's with a hs10 subwoofer or just try listening to some Genelec monitors you'll be amazed, espescially for movies or videogames.
I have some metal hollow equipment stands - a bit fiddly to fill with sand/rice, so I drilled a couple of small holes in each 'compartment' and filled with expanding foam, which may be preferable to the 'low mass' brigade anyway.
@@Newrecordday2013 Can't say I noticed anything out'stand'ing (soz!) though neither did I go for analysing the change - just regarded it as 'good housekeeping' . Definitely sounds dead with the hammer test without adding mass...I think Kimber is of the antimassite persuasion and possibly Audio Note with their platters. Someone should saw up some 'Torlyte' and do a diy version perhaps?
While rice may seem a little unorthodox, it provides a cheap material for deadening the hollow body of speaker stands. In my experience I would also recommend lentils as a good alternative. The type of rice you use have have a major impact as well. Depending upon the size of the kernel. The smaller sushi rice provides a more compact area per volume and is relatively inexpensive. Basmati is good however the kernels are a bit longer and do not provide enough area to minimize space. The best however is parboiled rice. The rice had been exposed to enough moisture to slightly fatten the kernel providing a more dense rice. Filling in the micro grains, greatly impacting the deadening to the stand. But the best is uncle Ben’s parboiled Brown Rice. The brown rice features all of the aforementioned but also includes the bran surrounding the kernel , which greatly changes the characteristics of the rice. Bass extension will go at least 6 dB lower. Your highs will, almost magically, become crystalline and smooth. The mids will sounds nice and full without becoming overbearing or drowning out the overall warmth. Or I could just be full of Crap and pulling your leg.
A couple of months ago I bought some new intereconnects to improve the sound of my system. When I went to install the one that went from the DAC to the preamp had the DAC output for one channel and the coax DAC input connected to the preamp!! The coax input was right below the pair of analog outputs. never underestimate your ability to screw things up The balance problem I thought I had with the new dac was fixed!
Since when are we now ‘reaching out’ when we contact anyone? It used to be reserved for when someone was in a desperate state etc. All of sudden people in the UK use it at work now. Before we used to say can you talk to, call/contact, get in touch etc, but know I am reaching out all the time. I feel very compassionate all of a sudden. Apart from that great video! 🤗
My system sounded great in my old house. When I moved it sounded awful. No matter what I did it still sounded horrible. After wasting lots of money on room treatments etc. I moved into a different room. It was much smaller but it sounds great again.
My thoughts on your top 10: #10. Decouple the speaker from the ringing stand with soft feet designed for the specific speaker weight and weight distribution. Consider that speaker enclosure vibrations are not like hammer strikes and ringing is also dampened by the weight of the speaker. #9. Most speaker manufacturers will agree with you but I would recommend trying every possible height above ear level, try flipping speakers upside down when they are higher up. You might be surprised. You will likely lose bass support from the floor boundary - experiment with moving speakers closer to the back wall. #8. See #9. #7. Yes -Having speakers wired out of phase with eachother will make the sound weird and diffuse. If there is anything at all that you like about that sound -consider all of #3 and #5! #6. Use adjustable spikes only under the stands if your carpet is so fluffy or your floor so uneven that your bookshelf speaker otherwise will be tilted in any direction. Your speakers will be standing still and not transmitting vibrations to your stand or floor if you use properly designed soft feet. Don’t bother with feet that don’t come in different sizes tailored for specific speaker weights. Confused? -Ask a friend with a good understanding of physics. #5. Consider consulting with a professional acoustician -not one specialised in noise reduction but in psychoacoustics. It might seem costly but could save you money and time and give you valuable insights. #4. Lacking recordings? Try Tidal! #3. Walls are the trickiest part of music reproduction in the home. View any reflective surface as a potential disaster for the end result, but keep in mind that the proximity of walls to the speakers will affect the bass. Moving the speakers too far out into the room will likely make them sound unnaturally lean. Some distances will make side wall reflections more annoying than others. Try to keep the speakers at 23 degree angles (46 for both) from your listening position, but if that puts them at disadvantageous distances from reflective side walls it might be better to compromise with these optimal angles. Soft materials absorb the reflections and the floor reflection can be blocked with a well positioned coffee table. A long haired carpet covering the whole floor will lessen the reverberation time in the room. I like to use several layers of drapes for dealing with the wall reflections. Don’t forget the wall behind your speakers! Also see #5! #2. Yes. Listen before buying! #1. I would say use reviews to sort out equipment with obvious flaws that the reviewer has backed with measurements. Don’t pay any attention to how much a reviewer likes some gear or how well he seems to be able to describe sound. Forget about good-better-best and think of gear mainly as functioning properly or being flawed. Now, let’s see if I can make a top 10: #1. SET THE GOAL Figure out if you like how unamplified, live music sounds and you want to come as close to that as possible at home, or if you want a very specific sound on everything that’s played. Not being clear about this is a mistake that can make your journey unnecessarily confusing. #2. DON’T BUY BETTER GEAR Don’t buy anything new until you have localised the main flaw in the audio result from your current system. Looking for ”better” without a clear understanding of what, very specifically, you don’t like about your result is sure to make you poorer and no wiser. Resist shopping for ”better”! #3. DON’T THINK OF YOUR SYSTEM AS SOMETHING SEPARATE FROM THE ROOM Learn to view the room and speakers as one unit working together, although the room will mainly be fighting the speakers. Worry less about electronics! #4. AVOID SMALL ROOMS Put the stereo in your biggest room if possible, not crammed in a small room. Softer walls are generally a plus for the bass. #5. DON’T LIE TO YOURSELF No wishful thinking. Be honest with yourself about the results and keep high expectations! Try headphones to hear what the music sounds like without interference from reflective surfaces, but be aware that headphones can have other serious flaws! #6 COLLECT SOUND REFERENCES Go to the concert hall and hear some classical, unamplified music. Don’t make the mistake of not having a good understanding of what unamplified instruments sound like -as a reference even if you only listen to for example pop, rock or techno. #7. RELAX Pay close attention to how you react to different sounds in your room. Are pianos, flutes and soprano singers irritating to your ears? Do you find yourself switching to music that relies more on rhythm than tone? Can you keep fully relaxed even when these instruments are played at realistic levels? Monitor your eye movement and facial muscles! #8. DON’T COVER YOUR MISTAKES Make your bookshelf speaker / room combination sound absolutely beautiful first, without worrying about the bottom range if you have speakers that rely on subwoofers to play 80Hz and down. Don’t be tempted to soften flaws in the upper ranges with bass. #9. DON’T FIDDLE WITH SMALL ACOUSTIC TREATMENT If you decide to experiment with absorbing materials on your walls without professional help -make it as thick and with as large areas as possible -several stacked drapes and/or thick, contoured acoustic foam. Don’t make the mistake of dampening the top range much more than the midrange! #10. GO ONE STEP AT A TIME Listen carefully to each change in the room. Try to only make one adjustment at a time and see if it fixed the flaw you were hearing and if instead some other problem was highlighted -try to fix that too or go back to how things were and try something completely different.
Great list! I mainly connect with the advice on placement. I have a relatively cheap system and correcting the height and toe-in made such a huge difference I’m starting to think that it’s the most important thing.
My biggest mistakes ALWAYS revolve around buying speakers only from good reviews. In some cases I didn't know what I did and didn't like in a speaker. In others I didn't have a dealer where I could listen to the speaker. BUT there have been a few cases where the brain got in the way of the gut. I've gotten VERY lucky in about the last 15 years though and have a outstanding dealer less than a mile from my house. They have a good selection and STRONGLY encourage listening before purchase. They go so far as to tell me to bring in my sources to see if what I'm thinking about will work well.
By "live band" I hope you mean live, unamplified, acoustic intruments and a singer not using a microphone. That is what "live" music sounds like. If a band uses a PA system, you are listening to the PA system and not "live" music.
@@nostradumbass4984 if you get a good sound guy it makes all the difference. 🤙 but they were talking more about autotuned voices and hearing perfectly mixed and mastered instruments all the time. And someone performing the musical piece live. As in, in person. Not after being touched by 5 or more people in the mix and mastering process, then exported at 44.1k then streamed at an even lower quality on even lower quality speakers. When you go live you get the raw signal from the instruments going directly into a high quality speaker system. It's much different. Its amplification vs recording.
You’re awesome thank you very much I can’t wait to see you and Randy tackle each other again, I’m looking for a 12 inch shield affordable subwoofer that does not have a ginormous foot prints, any suggestions sealed subwoofer
Great video! Love all these. I would say for #10, sometimes beginners don't know what to listen for. Or think "lots of bass" is better, or think "bright = detailed." So it takes time to learn and get accustomed to good sound and what is good and what is not. Like wine newbies not knowing what to evaluate and how to tell a $5 bottle from a $50 bottle. You may have a video like this already, but I would recommend some content around "how to train your ear" and "what to listen for" for people to get better at evaluating speakers, acoustics, and equipment. Keep up the great work! I recently found this channel and quickly subscribed.
Concerning your comment about speaker placement and pulling them away from the wall. There are speakers that are designed to be on walls or in corners, Klipsch La Scalas and Klipschorns to name two.
Your 10 suggestions are excellent! I would add: when you record music samples during equipment test (especially speakers), that is THE most helpful single action to me. Keep them coming, please!
Do we really need to fill stands if we de-couple the speakers? Rice has weevils ... add in dried chili to ensure you don’t have a weevil zoo. 😬 The Isoacoustics Gaia does work. Tightened up everything for me.
If we check out angle response, considering a flat FR, an angle from a listening point to a tweeter must be about 15 degrees. Works in most cases. But there are options when a tweeter works differently in a close an a far field.
I can understand why people do not have the time to fully learn electronics but it is well worth the time and effort invested. I think the #1 mistake is not learning the reality of this phenomenon. Then again I do not consider myself to be an audiophile, even though I train with Golden Ears. ;)
Pretty good advice. Agreed filling speaker stands is recommended. What to use is debatable. Best way to determine height of your monitors is first to determine at what position your ears should be in relationship to the drivers. I first recommend listening to your speakers at different heights by sitting at the normal height in your seat then sitting up or using something to sit higher in the seat to help you determine the best location of your ears to the drivers. This will vary from speaker to speaker because of speaker design and cross-overs. You should notice better coherence of midrange bass to higher frequency's. Better tonal balance and detail. So once you determine the best listening height of your ear to the speakers, you have to determine the best height from the floor. This is determined by bass and lower midrange detail. This is where it gets challenging finding the right height of stand, or go by manufactures or audiophiles recommendations. Speaker placement is the single most important aspect in getting good sound. It is both art and science and takes much patience. But spend sometime moving your speakers around at different distances from walls to find the right balance of sound. You will find a place that creates the best overall tonal balance AND when you really know its right you will hear the least issues with room acoustics. That's right you can tune out coloration's of the room with speaker placement, this is when you know you have it right, when you dont hear the room. Everything else he recommends its pretty good and much of it is trail and error. There are many misconceptions with audio and audio tweeks, they all effect sound quality, but the real challenge is finding tweaks or mods that undoubtedly improve the sound and not just change the sound to compensate for weaknesses of the system. To often I see people try things thinking that its better when its really masking other shortcomings in the system. listen to the whole bandwidth and determine if its improving the sound across the board, or is it emphasizing parts of the spectrum that colors the sound that allows you to hear more detail only in that area of the music. This takes time and patience to learn but try not to be fooled and really analyse what its doing before you make the investment in that accessory.
My favorit is explore new music. I agree it is much better to explore how 10 various albums sounds on one system then explore how 1 album sounds on 10 different systems. And of course #1 - trust your ears.
I have a question if you are able to answer it for me? If I really cannot move my speakers six feet from the wall Will adding wall absorbing material and sound insulation panels help? If so to what degree. Thank you for all of your brilliant suggestions.
Hi !! Great video! I have made many mistakes after changing my audio system from vintage stereo to up to date digital audio receiver 5.1 . Due to a budget limitation I kept using same 4 speakers I used in The A and B speakers terminals of my stereo. So I assumed that the same speakers position will be good for the Denon AVR1611. Totally wrong and result was terrible. Later on I added a center speaker and setting the other speakers in the right position thing got better. LOL!
A recent mistake I made: I’m just getting back into audio and recently upgraded my speakers from some ancient Polks to the Klipsch rp600m. These were the first speakers I’ve ever owned with dual inputs. At some point as I was playing around with placement and cables I knocked one of the interconnect bars loose. My ears told me something was wrong but it took days to figure out.
yeah....I experienced #1 about a year ago. "Oh I'll do the right thing and buy stands!" At the same time I had also acquired a new amp and it sounded SO BAD. - shrill and borderline painful high end glare on some tracks. I was thinking it was the amp alone but after trying TWO MORE amps and having equally dismal results, I gave up on the amps. I was also having some issues with the stands not being 100% bomb proof - ok cat proof. He loves to perch on top of the speakers and when he launched himself off, there was often an alarming degree of "wobble" with the stands. So based on that wobble problem alone, I went back to my previous solution, which was just some cork yoga blocks on hard maple stools to arrive at a reasonable height and what do you know? Everything sounded SO much better. I am still kicking myself as I'm curious again about those amps I tried and sent back... After that experienceI am fairly committed to never using "special" speaker stands again. Now I have some nice oak barstools, everything sounds great, they are impervious to cat activity, and it LOOKS so much nicer. for speaker placement it sounds reasonable but in many cases it's really not. Moving speakers back and forth a) presumes you actually have a location like that where there is no other furniture or other obstacles, and b) making sure you get the placement right each time you move them is just pain in the making. Not to mention the risk of moving speakers and inadvertently knocking one over or so. I know my placement is not ideal but I can live with it. Would much rather just listen than obsess over how I placed it every time I want to play some tunes - it already sounds quite nice!
I like to take out the crossovers on speakers I buy and swap them with better parts. Cheap and easy to do. The only speakers I didn't do that to was Magneplanners
Tip #3 question: How do you move your speaker back and forth? Mine weight 48 Kg. I already went to the DIY shop and got some ideas but how do you do it?
I can't believe how many times I made the polarity mistake...and I'm the diy fix it type. To err is human! Most times I was rushing or had other things going on.
Funny thing about this video, I bought a set of metal stands from Bob and Ron’s WWS back in 2007. They cut me an awesome deal on floor models. I went to the Lowe’s right next door immediately after, bought sand, filled them when I got home, and mounted B&W 685’s to them and connected my NAD C326 (both also purchased at WWS). Still have this gear and it still sounds awesome!
11. Mistaking a change for an improvement. Different can seem better, even when it's not. Be experimental, but also methodical and patient with gear changes and upgrades.
A few years ago i blew a wad on the PS Audio Direct Stream DAC. I set it down and hooked up the input and outputs and sat down to listen - something was wrong, but what? After a few hours I found I had one output cable connected to the Coax jack instead of the right output jack because they were close to each other. The improvement in sound was dramatic.
Sorbothane hemispheres are very cheap and effective under amps, DACs, sources - ensure you have the correct size for the weight you want to isolate. Second hand Russ Andrews power cables and mains blocks are brilliant (and as good as new even if they are 15 years old as long as you De-Oxit all the contacts). Dont ignore ChiFi - there are some great bargain items (eg SMSL SP200 THX AAA headphone amplifier, Weillang linear DC power supplies, Yaqin MS-23B hybrid tube phono stage). After 40 years of audiophillia I can tell you to make sure you actually listen to your system. Endless upgrades are pointless if you don't use it. I have a huge system in a small room and I think the only reason it really works is due to floor carpets. Yesterday the Beastie Boys on vinyl actually shocked me with bass. If your system can make you cry then stop, sit back and enjoy.
I like to use meatloaf inside my stands. It deadens them and confuses my guests when low bass notes make the room start to smell rancid. What's more punk rock than that?
What's more punk rock than that? Putting a dead rat in there so on the bass notes it makes the room smell like Death and everyone thinks you're a Punk Ass Killer.
Fabulous video Ron. Oh yes we’ve all made mistakes but they’re usually fixable unless you’re greatly out of pocket - it’s sometimes a FOMO thing ain’t it. Auditioning gear is a great idea if it’s possible and do take some of your music with you when you do... ✌️🇦🇺
@@ivenhoho Ha! I get it. The music? Never! Jazz, Reggae, Blues, Folk, Baroque & Classical mostly. Actually lead is so heavy/inert you don't hear it, but the blutak is the key. Decoupling from all that mass;-)
I have to say a big thank you not just to you but to also TH-cam algorithm for bringing you to me, because that was some excellent excellent information, you couldn't be more right with your number one choice because I auditioned two previous set of speakers before I finally found the ones which were right for my ears considering my small room acoustics,! One set of them was twice as much as the ones I finally settled on, room acoustics and audios are more subjective than one would have assumed, would love to get some extra info from you or from anybody for that matter, would you recommend unscrewing my standmount spikes which are going into my thick carpet, do I really need them or is the plate which is sitting on my v thick carpet good enough?
Hey I saw the candles today made me think of how they take fancy bubble baths with the candles all around. I think you should do an episode from the bubble bath with all the candles, come on Danny would do it lol❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
OK, well I'm into home theater, so I'll guess based on experience what I think is good. Ummm... If you hear the phone ring in a movie and it makes you get up to answer the phone, If you hear a police siren in a movie, and you're terrified the cops are coming to get you for some reason, If you are watching a gangster movie and you think you're being threatened by somebody (in real life, maybe they're outside) when you hear bad language and violent conversation, if you hear a doorknock and you get up to answer the door, and if you hear dogs barking in a movie or TV show and you have to rewind and play back and pause the same clip five times just to be able to figure out that It's not coming from your neighbour's yard (and it still sounds like it is, even once you're convinced). That's what I'd call good.
Confirmed :). This even is the case for cats, who have a much better hearing than we have. Once I terrified my cat by playing a recording in which a dog was barking :).
For some reason, cats are either confused, puzzled or frightened by surround sound. You can see them moving their ears back and forth and/or turning their heads trying to figure out where the sound is coming from. The thing I don't get about that is I thought cats had better directional hearing than humans.
Speaking of acoustic treatment: I´ve spent a lot of money for a good stereo Setup (Rack, Vinyl Player, CD Player, network Player , Amplifier and Speakers). Meanwhile i´ve tried about a dozen of different speakers from different brands and all sounds great at the dealer room but sound like absolute sh*t in my living room. tried different positions, spikes, plates, absorbers, even other amplifiers from friends. i showed pictures of my room to a dealer and he said that it´s the worst situation room i can have. (bad room shape, tiles on the ground, flat, plain walls, speakers near to the wall) and it would take quiet a bit of changes to optimize the room. in the end, i gave up because i don´t have the motivation to spend more money and time to optimize my room. now i´m listening to music with my echo plus wich even sounds better than the stereo setup. so guys, moral of the story: room accoustic IS REALLY IMPORTANT! optimize this first, before you spent your cash on unnecessary expensive components.
Good idea and smarter to fly to a shop, or doing a try before buy, tthen paying big and not listening to them in your room and not being happy and having to haul them back.
I'd love to see a video on recommended speakers that CAN be placed on or next to a wall. There are just some times that I want good sound and cannot places speakers away from a wall.
@@mickywes3733 I’m not sure Ohm has a thought through philosophy regarding where their speakers should be placed relative to room boundaries. Can’t find any information on their site.
With over 40 years in this hobby I have: My top ten equipment-phile rules: 1. Have fun 2. Buy what you can afford - more money does not mean better sound 3. DIY is great but resale is not. 4. Hype is hype 5. Polarity matters 6. No need to insult other equipment, let your wallet or purse do the talking. 7. Speaker placement 8. Room acoustics 9. Don't be fooled by marketing and salesmanship. 10. Trust your ears; in the end they are you have.
Speaker away from the wall. If you space them just right, they will cancel all the bass due to reflection from the wall. So move them REALLY a lot from the wall ... but does the room allow it? Is not then better to just press them to the wall and reduce bass a little?
With polarity I hate that more often than not Yamaha will tell you polarity if wrong after calibration and you know they are right. Problem is I end up doubting myself and tear into my setup to check it out and of course they were right. I’ve had this happen with aventage model as well as lower level yamahas
Resolution for 2020: Like what I like. Like stuff to sound like I want it to sound. No "how the artist intended." No "highly resolved." No BS snake oil crap. I want it to sound the way I like it. Abosolute Sound had an old saying years ago: All else is boat anchors. HNY, Ron.
@Larry Niles depends on the snake oil. Spray to improve the sound of your CDs, Power cables, audiophile fuses, USB cables, HDMI cables, RJ45 cables at extortionate cost now there is a load of snake oil. Oh the biggest, speaker cable burn in, question then, over time does the speaker cable burn out? 😂 sadly this audiophile stuff comes accross as audio OCD. Listen to the music and enjoy. Stop chasing nonsense. All you need is nice quality cables to a point, after that there is no gain whatsoever. However, feel free to spend your hard earned cash anyway you like. Better improvement in sound can be had by speaker placement, room treatment, upgrading hardware etc.. Each to their own.
Number 1 mistake is..
Not listening to your music and worrying about your system too much, sit back and relax..
Spot on👍
I agree! I was guilty of this in my past.. Never getting the enjoyment out of my equipment. But now I’m listening more than buying equipment. That’s the real joy....
You got it right!
I guess most of us don‘t know how the music, that we listen to sounds originally in the studio. So I fully agree with tip #1. It’s really very individual what sounds pleasant to someone’s ears.
Actually, even though the world cultures differ very much in many aspects, most cultures tend to agree on what their members find euphonic and what they find cacophonous: - so while Japanese drumming is very different from African or of native Amazonian drumming, they would to still all agree as to what is good drumming and what is bad drumming. So, no, not so fast with all being subjective. Do read Kant's theory of aesthetics / beauty - he tried to grapple with this fact of both aesthetic beauty and music being an OBJECTIVE quality shared among many without any prior agreement or conditioning, with some minor culturally-inborn preferences of course, but still largely an OBJECTIVE SHARED occurrence. Besides, a sound engineer who sees only sounds over attempting to capture and bring across the essence of MUSIC (i.e. the balance of sounds, rhythm, ambience, the other intangibles - the moments when everything just "clicked", etc) - well, perhaps if I were a musician, I would not want to hire such an engineer to master my art... Cheers!
My number one mistake for a long time in the beginning of my hi-fi quest was: ‘Mistaking brightness for detail.” If you can’t listen for hours and still want more, take it as a bad sign.
Interesting, good point.
Related note; w/decades of live mixing FOH, this is something that I have given a great deal of effort to achieve proper balance of detail within the HF.
I found the single most critical element in the live mix (except a monster kick😉!), is ABSOLUTE vocal clarity ... clarity that cuts right thru and sits above all else... yet without overly edgy harshness.
FOH engineers vary in their approach. However, for me, achieving this would typically require an outboard, single channel parametric EQ*, and careful and constant attention to assure just enough vocal presence/edge, without harshness or sibilance above.
I pride myself upon it, and I've got over 30yrs experience too, but the paying customer has to clearly delineate the vocal lines... despite the high dB modern live show, still vocals have to be clear but without harshness... and it's easy to enter into at the modern/high dBSPL events.
*(of the highest quality available, transparency of even high-end EQs/comps is discernible over a good rig)
If your feet/foot won't tap along with the music there is something wrong,also emotions come to play
If it's hard to differentiate between two instruments from each other such as ride and hit hat, it means speakers lack in details
@@clickbaitpro
Yes
Or, acoustic distortions of the room.
Through 10 years of DAW experience I can say this is too true. Since I got proper speakers it's like going back to school.
you deserve all the love of the world. man i watched this video 2 days ago because i wanted to adjust my speaker position. since a week a had the impression something is wrong at my setup.. i spend the whole day moving my speakers and my chair today (mainly listening to vinyl with my turntable). at night i decided to put on some spootify music and listened to an herbie hancock album (the same i used for testing during the day). and i was completely confused realizing that the trumpet came out of the left speaker...on my record it came out of my right speaker. i eminently jumped of and jecked my cabes and realized that i plugged in the cables from my turntable into the preamp the wrong way (red to white and white to red) . what can i say, after changing it, EVERYTHING is GREAT! thank you very much for that hint :)
Welcome!
Didn't think it'd ever happen but a couple weeks ago I got some transparent cable and thought it sounded awful. Turns out I had my polarity wrong and my L/R channels switched. I was just so excited. Sounds great again
Yep we’ve all been there
Use what is marketed as sandbox or playground sand. It's been cleaned and helps to insure you are not bringing organic matter or living organisms into your house.
Thank you for the reminder about this I totally forgot to mention this
Make sure you dry it in the oven before you pour it in your steel stands, the moisture can cause issues down the road
Use dried silica sand! You can get it already bagged up.
No, no, so much no. Play sand has soooooo much mud in it. Sand blast sand is clean. I went through this, as did many when adding sand to an aquarium. It takes hours to clean a gallon of play sand good enough.
@@heathhunter5306 For an aquarium yes, for a speaker stand not so much. Playground or sandbox sand is safe for a child to put in their mouth. There are no ill effects to using them in a speaker stand.
My biggest mistake was not buying more used records in the late 90s and early 2000s! People were just practically giving them away. I got Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon for $2!! It was a golden age!!
I bought an audiophile pressing of "DARKSIDE OF THE MOON" for $50.00 back in early 80's. Still have it😸😸😸
@@bootsarmstrong8421 i got it for $5 in the 90s.
@@bootsarmstrong8421 You were robbed.
In March 1973, upon its original release I paid £2.20 for a first pressing UK copy. I still have it and it plays in EX grade condition. The receipt is in the sleeve. It's worth about £150 today.
I GAVE my hundreds and hundreds of records AWAY. because I simply didn't have space for them, they were sitting in storage, and I thought someone should be able to enjoy them. I still hate myself a little bit for that.
I threw my old out of the house.
Best tuning tip.
Finally, listening to music is fun again 🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼
Greetings from Vienna
Terrific ideas. Serious sound people will say 50 % on gear. 50 % on room acoustics. MOST people miss this entirely. 101. Put curtains over glass.
#8 is huge. I’ve found lots of companies have good service, but Sweetwater has really blown me away lately. They’re unbelievably helpful. Awesome tips!
Also a Sweetwater fan! Thanks for watching dude!
Sweetwater are criminally underrated
Just something to consider. Try covering the top and sides of the speaker boxes with folded towels or blankets if you have full size speakers. It just amazes me at the difference this makes. Speaker housings DO transmit a LOT of sound.
Excellent point. Eye in the Sky --- Allan Parsons. The guitar player has a moving blanket over the sides of the speaker box.
The speakers away from the walls advice doesn't necessarily apply to all speakers. Front ported speakers like Klipsch Cornwalls are specifically designed to to function against a wall and/or in a corner. That is actually why they are called "Cornwall". BTW, Christmas fruit cakes also make excellent sound deadener for hollow speaker stands!
Yes, it doesn't necessary apply all the time. But even with front ported speakers you have take into account wall reflections and resonance of the whole listening room. So the distance from a back wall, front wall and speakers angle matter.
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It applies to all speaker, even front ported speakers will sound better when placed away from the wall. The front port just makes them less worse when placed against a wall, but they will still sound better away from the wall.
@@georgemoonman2830 This. Even if the adjustment needed is less, that doesn't change THAT much. Sound waves are still sound waves. The wiggly air isn't any closer just cause it's front ported.
I would say "room acoustics" and "consider reviewers, but trust your own ears " to be two of the most essential, especially when just starting out. Then, "buy new music" is an excellent idea for when your system begins to sound "stale". It also keeps your appreciation for music alive. I use Tidal for exploring new artists. I can try them out before purchasing, and have made many new discoveries that way.
Great advise Ron, but don’t ever forget if you have a local shop, build up a relationship with a local dealer. Great Local dealers are priceless for their experience and when you build up that relationship, spend money with them, they will allow you to take products home. I’m able to do this and no I don’t put a credit card or anything down.
I walk in tell them what I would like to try, like the Meze Emphyreans and walk out. I try and not waste their time, but I have been dealing with them for over 10 years and everything except my current turntable and one of my two cassette decks were bought there. A great dealer will tell you exactly what Ron said , they won’t tell you what something sound like, which is why they will let you try the equipment out in your home and they will offer services that will bring them out to your home and set the equipment up for you and tune it to your liking with measurement equipment (and set up the room treatment based on the measurements and use lasers to fine tune placement if you prefer this, I have always set up my own stuff. Keep it coming Ron your work, the production and guest are getting better and better. I can’t wait to see your Axpona coverage if you are going this year, which might be hard with the two little editions to the family.
So true! Thanks Sid!
Well that's just GREAT. Just as I get used to all of the subjective, inane, mumbo jumbo stuff about audio, you come along with an objective, common sense approach. Thanks!
The number one mistake (and yes I fell for it to a degree) is listening to your rig in a way that the actual music becomes secondary.
I used atabite - high density filler to increase the the mass of my speaker stands. Improved the sound and very pleased with the outcome.
Thats one ive never heard before!
02:50:
Me: **boiling 50lbs of rice** "OH COME ON!"
Hahahahaha! 😂🤣😆
@@Newrecordday2013 Was it fried rice or white?
It better have all been at once in some gigantic stock pot that makes witch's cauldrons look small.
Ron your list is great. One of my mistakes was not making sure my streaming service/devises were set to maximum quality. Free upgrade in source material quality.
Yup! I’ve done that one as well!
Love it! Great advice. Another is don't look at gear individually, break your system into parts: room and speakers; speakers and amp; turntable, tonearm, cartridge and phono preamp, for example. Synergy in each group will make the sum better than the parts.
Listening to new music is a must , i do it when listening to my high end SQ system in my truck. It brings me back to saying to myself this sounds amazing !! I love getting that immersive feeling.
What gear are you running in your truck ?
Heigh Ho is such an excellent record. Great songs, really well engineered and mastered.
Amen!
Thanks Ron, #1 particularly resonated. Having purchased a new hifi rig for the first time in 5 years, I too read the reviews, and used those as a basis for auditioning, but my most trusted thing were my ears. I also took copious notes of what I was hearing as I auditioned for speakers. Being able to compare the same few tracks at different stores with notes of what I heard was incredibly valuable, and left me choosing a niche New Zealand manufacturer - Theophany - that I enjoyed more than Dynaudio, Monitor Audio, B&W, KEF etc.
I was gob smacked when the staff told me hardly anyone does this, so I'd add that as a clause to your #1, trust your ears and if auditioning, take notes on what you hear!
Cheers from Melbourne, Australia, Peter
Spikes only are never right!
Speakers should be decoupled from the floor with soft material. Not just anything soft. A sylomer type is ideal. The sylomer feets must be adapted to the mass of the speaker. Might be used in combination with spikes though if there is a carpet under the speakers. It's amazing how widespread the spikes BS is.
I find spikes reduce bass from speakers. Best to use isolation pods, like isopods.
I once owned a pair of Bowers & Wilkins DM2 speakers, 1972 vintage. They looked gorgeous and would normally sound gorgeous too. However, Twinkle toes here decided to fiddle around with the speaker cables behind the system while the amp was still on. I'd bargain that most enthusiasts who are familiar with these lovely speakers know what's coming next.
The speakers are a three way design, sporting an 8" bextrene coned woofer, Celestion hf1300 tweeter and, last but not least, the venerable, but rather delicate, Coles 4001G super tweeter. I murdered them both, I did. Yes, I am an idiot... So, having cheerfully slaughtered the original forty seven year old items, I ordered a hand built replacement pair from Falcon Acoustics in the UK, and attempted to install them myself. This.... was a mistake! I managed to boil the brand new and rather expensive replacements to death with my soldering iron.
It was at this point that I decided that the DM2's were probably not meant for a big klutz like me, and I've been rocking a pair of Mission M71's ever since, and they still work, because the Missions are 100% 'ME' proof... 👍🖖
The mistake you most likely made was not cleaning those old cruddy solder joints before you put an iron on them. Working on old stuff is not the same as working on new stuff. Things happen over the course of time that need to be addressed. Lead and tin solder for example oxidizes exposed to the atmosphere. In the worst case it will get this gray dusty layer on it. But even when you can't see it the oxide on the surface can still have a negative impact on soldering. At 47 years I can just about guarantee the joints were oxidized too. New stuff comes screwed up from the factory today. Because they have to use that lead free garbage. Unless they're aerospace or military contractors. Us poor plebes need to deal with substandard trash. Because reasons. I brighten and tin lead free parts with real solder before I use them. Make Electronics Great Again!
CD's, Vinyls are great source of music but youb need a DAC. Tidal, Apple, Amazon Music has a large variety of songs for you to fall in love with your rig again. This is a must for any audiophile.
The biggest difference I have made to my system is the addition of audiophile power cables, I have modest system comprised of Cambridge, NAD and Yamaha components and Polk audio speakers, but decided to splash out on some cardas clear beyond power cables, for them, as of course the power going into the components is the most important thing, the difference is amazing, I was instantly enchanted.
The biggest mistake is buying magic power cords.
A cheapo tip from the UK. - source was HiFi World iirc. Go to Maplins and buy their hard rubber feet as used by DIY radio nuts. They're about 50p each and really do the trick at isolating your CD player, turntable etc. They're exactly the right diameter, they work really well.
There's only one problem, Maplin went bust a few years ago. Perhaps they should have called themselves "Maplin HiFi" and sold them at £150 a set.
I do miss Maplins👍
My problem is I always buy music lol. I loved the tips. I’m building a budget hifi system. Thanks for the info!
Glad you enjoyed it!
If your looking for a good receiver/amp for the lowest price, Onkyo TX-8220 and TX-8020. I got the 8220 and it's a huge upgrade from my old Pioneer. Don't expect things to be cheap, $200 minimum for good quality.
Hay Ron, great video and some good tips, but one I'd suggest should be near the top, at least is GET YOUR SPEAKERS OFF THE FLOOR. That is, if you have large bookshelves like I do (vintage ADS L810 speakers) that stand 25.5" high or so, get them off the floor onto low stands of 12-15", ideally tilted back slightly about 3* for proper dispersion.
This is also to reduce the bass node/boominess that can occur when speakers sit right on the floor. Too many do this and then wonder why their bass is boomy. This goes for most speakers, bass reflex or acoustic suspension or passive radiator is that the upper bass can get over emphasized and with some speaker designs, can sound chestiness in the mid to lower midrange area, not necessarily a good thing.
But in the real world, some of us don't have the option (at all) to move our speakers out into the room as far as you'd like. For me, it's due to doorways and a small room I have to work in (stereo sits on the LONG wall as it's the ONLY spot for it as I have the entrance to the front hall, and the kitchen at both ends of the living room to contend with). Besides, it could be much worse.
I do have them at minimum 15" from the back wall so that helps, even if they sit close to the corners, but just getting them OFF the floor helps. Bass is tight, articulate and musical.
Anyway, a good list overall.
Thanks for the advice and adding to the conversation! Super helpful!
My original (audio) sin was the same as most people's.
"Plug & play"!
It took me years to figure out that I had a menu built into my gear.
I am a starter; could you elaborate?
As one who has spent most of my life MAKING MUSIC (that you guys might listen to) I endorse all 10 points.... it's sound advice ( pun 🙂) ..... I have had controversial arguments on my channel over "analog" versus "digital" ..... and after it's all over .... people simply have to go with what sounds good to them.... but they should also accept that psychoacoustic perception affects their conclusion and admit that scientific testing is the only 'ultimate reality' of what actually exists in the world...... as a University lecturer in Electronics (and with background in sound engineering and music) it is my job to EDUCATE the public .... which is how I ultimately ended up on your interesting channel.... good show .... keep it up....
yeah agree with you i prefer analogue sound because its warm but my sibling loves colder digital sound, its probably due to ear shape and preferred taste
@@akeelshah7904 just music taste is correct..... it doesn't have anything to do with ear shape 😂
@@StephenMendes in music setups cant underestimate anything 😂😂 i mean those custom to ear moulded in ear headphones have to be invented for more than just comfort right but yeah 😂😂😂 we'll learn as we experiance
Some really good advice I would add if you can hear gear in your own setup especially speakers
The really good dealers will come to you or loan you kit to audition in your own system as gear can sound quite different in your system compared to the dealer's setup. They want to make sure you're happy customer as you could be spending a lot of money.
Great advice Ron. I make the same mistake all the time with polarity too!
Thanks Thomas! Happy New Year amigo!
New Record Day hello from Belgium ,
If I try to the polarity from my speaker, it’s possible to make trouble?
Thx
What do you mean?
New Record Day if I change the positive and the negative, can it cause problems with the speakers?
Fat Rat clear 🎧
I have my bookshelf speakers sitting on some bricks I found in my back yard with folded paper towels for noise isolation. No need to worry about a hollow speaker stand when it's filled with hardened clay.
great tips!, yes always listen to new music. and different formats. my tips...let your ears "zero Out" before a listening session, say some thing Lo Fi or mono, listen with lights out..
HA! Polarity definitely got me! Left and right placement too! when setting up I accidentally swapped my active speaker placement, AND put the wrong polarity on top. It took playing a pc game to find out what was going on behind the strangeness. Enemies were ACTUALLY coming from the left but I was always looking right, with the weirdest sound environments. Highly recommend
Dude it’s happened to me more than once!
@9:18 once you get things dialed in use some sort of marking system to make positioning them again easy. I used dots of clear nail polish (on my hard floors, some dot of velcro may be required for carpets) to avoid having to measure or experiment every time I want to listen. I have the best position marked and its no fuss to set them up. I found that when i had to measure every time it simply cut into listening time enough I was hesitant to do it. Now it is so easy and simple it only takes 1 minute to position both towers correctly in a repeatably good position.
The biggest mistake I made was when I first got into the hobby and I kept buying and selling stuff like crazy. I had some good stuff and ended up selling it for stuff that wasn't nearly as good. I was like a junkie trying to get my next fix.
Happens to the best of us man!
@Larry Niles ose are some pretty high end speakers.
just try some Yamaha hs50's with a hs10 subwoofer or just try listening to some Genelec monitors you'll be amazed, espescially for movies or videogames.
[[
I have some metal hollow equipment stands - a bit fiddly to fill with sand/rice, so I drilled a couple of small holes in each 'compartment' and filled with expanding foam, which may be preferable to the 'low mass' brigade anyway.
Clever idea! Did it make an improvement?
@@Newrecordday2013 Can't say I noticed anything out'stand'ing (soz!) though neither did I go for analysing the change - just regarded it as 'good housekeeping' . Definitely sounds dead with the hammer test without adding mass...I think Kimber is of the antimassite persuasion and possibly Audio Note with their platters. Someone should saw up some 'Torlyte' and do a diy version perhaps?
While rice may seem a little unorthodox, it provides a cheap material for deadening the hollow body of speaker stands.
In my experience I would also recommend lentils as a good alternative. The type of rice you use have have a major impact as well. Depending upon the size of the kernel.
The smaller sushi rice provides a more compact area per volume and is relatively inexpensive.
Basmati is good however the kernels are a bit longer and do not provide enough area to minimize space.
The best however is parboiled rice. The rice had been exposed to enough moisture to slightly fatten the kernel providing a more dense rice. Filling in the micro grains, greatly impacting the deadening to the stand.
But the best is uncle Ben’s parboiled Brown Rice. The brown rice features all of the aforementioned but also includes the bran surrounding the kernel , which greatly changes the characteristics of the rice. Bass extension will go at least 6 dB lower. Your highs will, almost magically, become crystalline and smooth.
The mids will sounds nice and full without becoming overbearing or drowning out the overall warmth.
Or I could just be full of Crap and pulling your leg.
A couple of months ago I bought some new intereconnects to improve the sound of my system. When I went to install the one that went from the DAC to the preamp had the DAC output for one channel and the coax DAC input connected to the preamp!! The coax input was right below the pair of analog outputs.
never underestimate your ability to screw things up The balance problem I thought I had with the new dac was fixed!
Wow! Thanks for sharing your experience! I’ve made similar mistakes myself!
Since when are we now ‘reaching out’ when we contact anyone? It used to be reserved for when someone was in a desperate state etc. All of sudden people in the UK use it at work now. Before we used to say can you talk to, call/contact, get in touch etc, but know I am reaching out all the time. I feel very compassionate all of a sudden. Apart from that great video! 🤗
Great advice. I've been into audio gear for over 30 years and this is a good list indeed.
My system sounded great in my old house. When I moved it sounded awful. No matter what I did it still sounded horrible. After wasting lots of money on room treatments etc. I moved into a different room. It was much smaller but it sounds great again.
If a room is more or less a square rather than rectangle it'll sound horrible. The only decent solution in that case is diagonal speaker placement.
My thoughts on your top 10:
#10. Decouple the speaker from the ringing stand with soft feet designed for the specific speaker weight and weight distribution. Consider that speaker enclosure vibrations are not like hammer strikes and ringing is also dampened by the weight of the speaker.
#9. Most speaker manufacturers will agree with you but I would recommend trying every possible height above ear level, try flipping speakers upside down when they are higher up. You might be surprised. You will likely lose bass support from the floor boundary - experiment with moving speakers closer to the back wall.
#8. See #9.
#7. Yes -Having speakers wired out of phase with eachother will make the sound weird and diffuse. If there is anything at all that you like about that sound -consider all of #3 and #5!
#6. Use adjustable spikes only under the stands if your carpet is so fluffy or your floor so uneven that your bookshelf speaker otherwise will be tilted in any direction. Your speakers will be standing still and not transmitting vibrations to your stand or floor if you use properly designed soft feet. Don’t bother with feet that don’t come in different sizes tailored for specific speaker weights. Confused? -Ask a friend with a good understanding of physics.
#5. Consider consulting with a professional acoustician -not one specialised in noise reduction but in psychoacoustics. It might seem costly but could save you money and time and give you valuable insights.
#4. Lacking recordings? Try Tidal!
#3. Walls are the trickiest part of music reproduction in the home. View any reflective surface as a potential disaster for the end result, but keep in mind that the proximity of walls to the speakers will affect the bass. Moving the speakers too far out into the room will likely make them sound unnaturally lean. Some distances will make side wall reflections more annoying than others. Try to keep the speakers at 23 degree angles (46 for both) from your listening position, but if that puts them at disadvantageous distances from reflective side walls it might be better to compromise with these optimal angles. Soft materials absorb the reflections and the floor reflection can be blocked with a well positioned coffee table. A long haired carpet covering the whole floor will lessen the reverberation time in the room. I like to use several layers of drapes for dealing with the wall reflections. Don’t forget the wall behind your speakers! Also see #5!
#2. Yes. Listen before buying!
#1. I would say use reviews to sort out equipment with obvious flaws that the reviewer has backed with measurements. Don’t pay any attention to how much a reviewer likes some gear or how well he seems to be able to describe sound. Forget about good-better-best and think of gear mainly as functioning properly or being flawed.
Now, let’s see if I can make a top 10:
#1. SET THE GOAL
Figure out if you like how unamplified, live music sounds and you want to come as close to that as possible at home, or if you want a very specific sound on everything that’s played. Not being clear about this is a mistake that can make your journey unnecessarily confusing.
#2. DON’T BUY BETTER GEAR
Don’t buy anything new until you have localised the main flaw in the audio result from your current system. Looking for ”better” without a clear understanding of what, very specifically, you don’t like about your result is sure to make you poorer and no wiser. Resist shopping for ”better”!
#3. DON’T THINK OF YOUR SYSTEM AS SOMETHING SEPARATE FROM THE ROOM
Learn to view the room and speakers as one unit working together, although the room will mainly be fighting the speakers. Worry less about electronics!
#4. AVOID SMALL ROOMS
Put the stereo in your biggest room if possible, not crammed in a small room. Softer walls are generally a plus for the bass.
#5. DON’T LIE TO YOURSELF
No wishful thinking. Be honest with yourself about the results and keep high expectations! Try headphones to hear what the music sounds like without interference from reflective surfaces, but be aware that headphones can have other serious flaws!
#6 COLLECT SOUND REFERENCES
Go to the concert hall and hear some classical, unamplified music. Don’t make the mistake of not having a good understanding of what unamplified instruments sound like -as a reference even if you only listen to for example pop, rock or techno.
#7. RELAX
Pay close attention to how you react to different sounds in your room. Are pianos, flutes and soprano singers irritating to your ears? Do you find yourself switching to music that relies more on rhythm than tone? Can you keep fully relaxed even when these instruments are played at realistic levels? Monitor your eye movement and facial muscles!
#8. DON’T COVER YOUR MISTAKES
Make your bookshelf speaker / room combination sound absolutely beautiful first, without worrying about the bottom range if you have speakers that rely on subwoofers to play 80Hz and down. Don’t be tempted to soften flaws in the upper ranges with bass.
#9. DON’T FIDDLE WITH SMALL ACOUSTIC TREATMENT
If you decide to experiment with absorbing materials on your walls without professional help -make it as thick and with as large areas as possible -several stacked drapes and/or thick, contoured acoustic foam. Don’t make the mistake of dampening the top range much more than the midrange!
#10. GO ONE STEP AT A TIME
Listen carefully to each change in the room. Try to only make one adjustment at a time and see if it fixed the flaw you were hearing and if instead some other problem was highlighted -try to fix that too or go back to how things were and try something completely different.
Great list! I mainly connect with the advice on placement. I have a relatively cheap system and correcting the height and toe-in made such a huge difference I’m starting to think that it’s the most important thing.
My biggest mistakes ALWAYS revolve around buying speakers only from good reviews. In some cases I didn't know what I did and didn't like in a speaker. In others I didn't have a dealer where I could listen to the speaker. BUT there have been a few cases where the brain got in the way of the gut.
I've gotten VERY lucky in about the last 15 years though and have a outstanding dealer less than a mile from my house. They have a good selection and STRONGLY encourage listening before purchase. They go so far as to tell me to bring in my sources to see if what I'm thinking about will work well.
Exellent presentation, congrats on your great articulation as well.
Thanks!
Trust your ears but listen to live bands whenever you can. It's easy to forget what instruments and voices sound like in real life.
@Fisher Man My parents named me after Martin of Tours but I respect your point about Martin guitars.
Especially if you're an electronic music aficionado.
Martin Tousignant
Great point, it is night and day!
By "live band" I hope you mean live, unamplified, acoustic intruments and a singer not using a microphone. That is what "live" music sounds like. If a band uses a PA system, you are listening to the PA system and not "live" music.
@@nostradumbass4984 if you get a good sound guy it makes all the difference. 🤙 but they were talking more about autotuned voices and hearing perfectly mixed and mastered instruments all the time. And someone performing the musical piece live. As in, in person. Not after being touched by 5 or more people in the mix and mastering process, then exported at 44.1k then streamed at an even lower quality on even lower quality speakers. When you go live you get the raw signal from the instruments going directly into a high quality speaker system. It's much different. Its amplification vs recording.
You’re awesome thank you very much I can’t wait to see you and Randy tackle each other again, I’m looking for a 12 inch shield affordable subwoofer that does not have a ginormous foot prints, any suggestions sealed subwoofer
Great video! Love all these. I would say for #10, sometimes beginners don't know what to listen for. Or think "lots of bass" is better, or think "bright = detailed." So it takes time to learn and get accustomed to good sound and what is good and what is not. Like wine newbies not knowing what to evaluate and how to tell a $5 bottle from a $50 bottle. You may have a video like this already, but I would recommend some content around "how to train your ear" and "what to listen for" for people to get better at evaluating speakers, acoustics, and equipment. Keep up the great work! I recently found this channel and quickly subscribed.
Concerning your comment about speaker placement and pulling them away from the wall. There are speakers that are designed to be on walls or in corners, Klipsch La Scalas and Klipschorns to name two.
That’s true
Great tips. Thanks Ron. Glad you didn't say to fill speaker stands with tuning forks.
Your 10 suggestions are excellent! I would add: when you record music samples during equipment test (especially speakers), that is THE most helpful single action to me. Keep them coming, please!
Thank you!
Great video Ron!!
Joe paid you off. I knew it!!!
Do we really need to fill stands if we de-couple the speakers?
Rice has weevils ... add in dried chili to ensure you don’t have a weevil zoo. 😬
The Isoacoustics Gaia does work. Tightened up everything for me.
Lead shot is good at not supporting life 😄
If we check out angle response, considering a flat FR, an angle from a listening point to a tweeter must be about 15 degrees. Works in most cases. But there are options when a tweeter works differently in a close an a far field.
I can understand why people do not have the time to fully learn electronics but it is well worth the time and effort invested. I think the #1 mistake is not learning the reality of this phenomenon. Then again I do not consider myself to be an audiophile, even though I train with Golden Ears. ;)
You can use washing machine dampers for speakers if the floor is carpeted, or with rugs. Cost very little.
The stand example is a good point… however your point would be more effective if it was the same stand empty vs filled.
Pretty good advice. Agreed filling speaker stands is recommended. What to use is debatable. Best way to determine height of your monitors is first to determine at what position your ears should be in relationship to the drivers. I first recommend listening to your speakers at different heights by sitting at the normal height in your seat then sitting up or using something to sit higher in the seat to help you determine the best location of your ears to the drivers. This will vary from speaker to speaker because of speaker design and cross-overs. You should notice better coherence of midrange bass to higher frequency's. Better tonal balance and detail. So once you determine the best listening height of your ear to the speakers, you have to determine the best height from the floor. This is determined by bass and lower midrange detail. This is where it gets challenging finding the right height of stand, or go by manufactures or audiophiles recommendations. Speaker placement is the single most important aspect in getting good sound. It is both art and science and takes much patience. But spend sometime moving your speakers around at different distances from walls to find the right balance of sound. You will find a place that creates the best overall tonal balance AND when you really know its right you will hear the least issues with room acoustics. That's right you can tune out coloration's of the room with speaker placement, this is when you know you have it right, when you dont hear the room. Everything else he recommends its pretty good and much of it is trail and error. There are many misconceptions with audio and audio tweeks, they all effect sound quality, but the real challenge is finding tweaks or mods that undoubtedly improve the sound and not just change the sound to compensate for weaknesses of the system. To often I see people try things thinking that its better when its really masking other shortcomings in the system. listen to the whole bandwidth and determine if its improving the sound across the board, or is it emphasizing parts of the spectrum that colors the sound that allows you to hear more detail only in that area of the music. This takes time and patience to learn but try not to be fooled and really analyse what its doing before you make the investment in that accessory.
My favorit is explore new music. I agree it is much better to explore how 10 various albums sounds on one system then explore how 1 album sounds on 10 different systems.
And of course #1 - trust your ears.
I have a question if you are able to answer it for me? If I really cannot move my speakers six feet from the wall Will adding wall absorbing material and sound insulation panels help? If so to what degree. Thank you for all of your brilliant suggestions.
Hi !! Great video! I have made many mistakes after changing my audio system from vintage stereo to up to date digital audio receiver 5.1 . Due to a budget limitation I kept using same 4 speakers I used in The A and B speakers terminals of my stereo. So I assumed that the same speakers position will be good for the Denon AVR1611. Totally wrong and result was terrible. Later on I added a center speaker and setting the other speakers in the right position thing got better. LOL!
Thanks for watching!
Another thing. Use the watts for dynamics, peaks and quality, and not for playing excessively loud.
Great tip!
A recent mistake I made: I’m just getting back into audio and recently upgraded my speakers from some ancient Polks to the Klipsch rp600m. These were the first speakers I’ve ever owned with dual inputs. At some point as I was playing around with placement and cables I knocked one of the interconnect bars loose. My ears told me something was wrong but it took days to figure out.
yeah....I experienced #1 about a year ago. "Oh I'll do the right thing and buy stands!" At the same time I had also acquired a new amp and it sounded SO BAD. - shrill and borderline painful high end glare on some tracks. I was thinking it was the amp alone but after trying TWO MORE amps and having equally dismal results, I gave up on the amps. I was also having some issues with the stands not being 100% bomb proof - ok cat proof. He loves to perch on top of the speakers and when he launched himself off, there was often an alarming degree of "wobble" with the stands. So based on that wobble problem alone, I went back to my previous solution, which was just some cork yoga blocks on hard maple stools to arrive at a reasonable height and what do you know? Everything sounded SO much better. I am still kicking myself as I'm curious again about those amps I tried and sent back...
After that experienceI am fairly committed to never using "special" speaker stands again. Now I have some nice oak barstools, everything sounds great, they are impervious to cat activity, and it LOOKS so much nicer.
for speaker placement it sounds reasonable but in many cases it's really not. Moving speakers back and forth a) presumes you actually have a location like that where there is no other furniture or other obstacles, and b) making sure you get the placement right each time you move them is just pain in the making. Not to mention the risk of moving speakers and inadvertently knocking one over or so. I know my placement is not ideal but I can live with it. Would much rather just listen than obsess over how I placed it every time I want to play some tunes - it already sounds quite nice!
great tips, speaker angles are another biggie, I like my psb cs-180s straight forward facing in a near-field listening setup, roughly 2 meters apart.
I like to take out the crossovers on speakers I buy and swap them with better parts. Cheap and easy to do. The only speakers I didn't do that to was Magneplanners
You really have to know what you're doing. The consumer grade rigs are always prone to improvement.
Tip #3 question: How do you move your speaker back and forth? Mine weight 48 Kg. I already went to the DIY shop and got some ideas but how do you do it?
I can't believe how many times I made the polarity mistake...and I'm the diy fix it type. To err is human! Most times I was rushing or had other things going on.
Great video had my fair share of mistake now have a system I spent £8000 in 2012 and am enjoying to the max into2020. Been in home cinema since 1996.
Funny thing about this video, I bought a set of metal stands from Bob and Ron’s WWS back in 2007. They cut me an awesome deal on floor models. I went to the Lowe’s right next door immediately after, bought sand, filled them when I got home, and mounted B&W 685’s to them and connected my NAD C326 (both also purchased at WWS). Still have this gear and it still sounds awesome!
That’s awesome! What are the chances. Ha!
New Record Day I know! Shoutout for World Wide too. They are a great outfit. Been going there since 1995!
I,m Asian and I LOVE cooked rice! But not for filling speaker stands hahahaha
11. Mistaking a change for an improvement. Different can seem better, even when it's not. Be experimental, but also methodical and patient with gear changes and upgrades.
A few years ago i blew a wad on the PS Audio Direct Stream DAC. I set it down and hooked up the input and outputs and sat down to listen - something was wrong, but what? After a few hours I found I had one output cable connected to the Coax jack instead of the right output jack because they were close to each other. The improvement in sound was dramatic.
don't use rice if your place is at all prone to pests. Why give mice a grain silo? Use Sand or pea-gravel.
How will the mouse chew through metal?
Had to caulk some seams in my speaker stand and rack tubes to keep the sand in.
Sorbothane hemispheres are very cheap and effective under amps, DACs, sources - ensure you have the correct size for the weight you want to isolate. Second hand Russ Andrews power cables and mains blocks are brilliant (and as good as new even if they are 15 years old as long as you De-Oxit all the contacts). Dont ignore ChiFi - there are some great bargain items (eg SMSL SP200 THX AAA headphone amplifier, Weillang linear DC power supplies, Yaqin MS-23B hybrid tube phono stage). After 40 years of audiophillia I can tell you to make sure you actually listen to your system. Endless upgrades are pointless if you don't use it. I have a huge system in a small room and I think the only reason it really works is due to floor carpets. Yesterday the Beastie Boys on vinyl actually shocked me with bass. If your system can make you cry then stop, sit back and enjoy.
I like to use meatloaf inside my stands. It deadens them and confuses my guests when low bass notes make the room start to smell rancid. What's more punk rock than that?
I would do anything for sound, but I won't do that
No, I won't do that
@@CrankyBonesGaming lol
What's more punk rock than that? Putting a dead rat in there so on the bass notes it makes the room smell like Death and everyone thinks you're a Punk Ass Killer.
Fabulous video Ron. Oh yes we’ve all made mistakes but they’re usually fixable unless you’re greatly out of pocket - it’s sometimes a FOMO thing ain’t it. Auditioning gear is a great idea if it’s possible and do take some of your music with you when you do... ✌️🇦🇺
So true! Thanks Markie!
Solid advice 👌
I filled my Acoustic Energy STAE1 stands with LEAD!
Spiked to floor and pea sized blobs of BluTak under the KEF LS50s. Heavenly ;-)
Awesome! Good work!
Do you listen a lot to Heavy Metal? ;-)
@@ivenhoho
Ha! I get it.
The music? Never!
Jazz, Reggae, Blues, Folk, Baroque & Classical mostly.
Actually lead is so heavy/inert you don't hear it, but the blutak is the key. Decoupling from all that mass;-)
@@carlitomelon4610 Yes, the BluTak is a great idea!
Digital candles? I'm more the analogue candles kind of guy.
Holy crap that was funny. Well done!
They are class D candles. looks cozy, create lights but no heat. welcome to digital era !!! 😝😝😝
Used to be a time every town has stereo shops and everyone listened to speakers before purchase
I have to say a big thank you not just to you but to also TH-cam algorithm for bringing you to me, because that was some excellent excellent information, you couldn't be more right with your number one choice because I auditioned two previous set of speakers before I finally found the ones which were right for my ears considering my small room acoustics,!
One set of them was twice as much as the ones I finally settled on, room acoustics and audios are more subjective than one would have assumed,
would love to get some extra info from you or from anybody for that matter, would you recommend unscrewing my standmount spikes which are going into my thick carpet, do I really need them or is the plate which is sitting on my
v thick carpet good enough?
If you have thick carpet, I recommend the spikes for sure!
Once you find the proper placement of the speakers is that going to be the proper place for all speakers you ever replace them with in that space?
Hey I saw the candles today made me think of how they take fancy bubble baths with the candles all around. I think you should do an episode from the bubble bath with all the candles, come on Danny would do it lol❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I have an amplifier and speakers with SpeakON connectors.
Never had the polarity issue.
really enjoyed the video & totally agree with your number one .. hearing is believing .. that is most important to everyone...
The new music advice is #1 for me!
OK, well I'm into home theater, so I'll guess based on experience what I think is good. Ummm... If you hear the phone ring in a movie and it makes you get up to answer the phone, If you hear a police siren in a movie, and you're terrified the cops are coming to get you for some reason, If you are watching a gangster movie and you think you're being threatened by somebody (in real life, maybe they're outside) when you hear bad language and violent conversation, if you hear a doorknock and you get up to answer the door, and if you hear dogs barking in a movie or TV show and you have to rewind and play back and pause the same clip five times just to be able to figure out that It's not coming from your neighbour's yard (and it still sounds like it is, even once you're convinced). That's what I'd call good.
Confirmed :). This even is the case for cats, who have a much better hearing than we have. Once I terrified my cat by playing a recording in which a dog was barking :).
For some reason, cats are either confused, puzzled or frightened by surround sound. You can see them moving their ears back and forth and/or turning their heads trying to figure out where the sound is coming from. The thing I don't get about that is I thought cats had better directional hearing than humans.
just received the IsoAcoustics Aperta Isolation Stands to try out. Will look into filling out my stands next. Thks for the tips!
Keep us posted!
yes...would like to know how it went for you as well!
Words of wisdom. Thanks for pointing these things out to everyone!
No, thank you for watching!
Speaking of acoustic treatment: I´ve spent a lot of money for a good stereo Setup (Rack, Vinyl Player, CD Player, network Player , Amplifier and Speakers). Meanwhile i´ve tried about a dozen of different speakers from different brands and all sounds great at the dealer room but sound like absolute sh*t in my living room. tried different positions, spikes, plates, absorbers, even other amplifiers from friends. i showed pictures of my room to a dealer and he said that it´s the worst situation room i can have. (bad room shape, tiles on the ground, flat, plain walls, speakers near to the wall) and it would take quiet a bit of changes to optimize the room. in the end, i gave up because i don´t have the motivation to spend more money and time to optimize my room. now i´m listening to music with my echo plus wich even sounds better than the stereo setup.
so guys, moral of the story: room accoustic IS REALLY IMPORTANT! optimize this first, before you spent your cash on unnecessary expensive components.
Sad story
Good idea and smarter to fly to a shop, or doing a try before buy, tthen paying big and not listening to them in your room and not being happy and having to haul them back.
I'd love to see a video on recommended speakers that CAN be placed on or next to a wall. There are just some times that I want good sound and cannot places speakers away from a wall.
Klipschorn?
Look up ”Orthoacoustics/Ortho-Acoustics/Orthoakustik” (The principle).
Companies: Carlsson, Larsen and Bremen. All swedish.
@@Ronnie.Ericsson ohm Walsh?
@@mickywes3733 I’m not sure Ohm has a thought through philosophy regarding where their speakers should be placed relative to room boundaries. Can’t find any information on their site.
With over 40 years in this hobby I have:
My top ten equipment-phile rules:
1. Have fun
2. Buy what you can afford - more money does not mean better sound
3. DIY is great but resale is not.
4. Hype is hype
5. Polarity matters
6. No need to insult other equipment, let your wallet or purse do the talking.
7. Speaker placement
8. Room acoustics
9. Don't be fooled by marketing and salesmanship.
10. Trust your ears; in the end they are you have.
Love this list!
@@Newrecordday2013 ... forgot # 11 Subscribe to New Record Day!
The checks in the mail!
Perfect.
Spot on👍
Speaker away from the wall. If you space them just right, they will cancel all the bass due to reflection from the wall. So move them REALLY a lot from the wall ... but does the room allow it? Is not then better to just press them to the wall and reduce bass a little?
With polarity I hate that more often than not Yamaha will tell you polarity if wrong after calibration and you know they are right. Problem is I end up doubting myself and tear into my setup to check it out and of course they were right. I’ve had this happen with aventage model as well as lower level yamahas
Resolution for 2020: Like what I like. Like stuff to sound like I want it to sound. No "how the artist intended." No "highly resolved." No BS snake oil crap. I want it to sound the way I like it. Abosolute Sound had an old saying years ago: All else is boat anchors. HNY, Ron.
Thanks Joe!
Sounds like you want to get rid of addiction😂😂
@Larry Niles depends on the snake oil. Spray to improve the sound of your CDs, Power cables, audiophile fuses, USB cables, HDMI cables, RJ45 cables at extortionate cost now there is a load of snake oil. Oh the biggest, speaker cable burn in, question then, over time does the speaker cable burn out? 😂 sadly this audiophile stuff comes accross as audio OCD. Listen to the music and enjoy. Stop chasing nonsense. All you need is nice quality cables to a point, after that there is no gain whatsoever. However, feel free to spend your hard earned cash anyway you like. Better improvement in sound can be had by speaker placement, room treatment, upgrading hardware etc.. Each to their own.
Andy Abraham ..you forgot the old battery,sir!!!
@@georgemendoza3798 😂