I remember the first hi-fi setup that sat in our living room back in the early 90's. It was a NAD 510 CD player, Denon PMA250III amplifier, Harman Kardon TU930 and a pair of Mordaunt-Short MS20i bookshelf speakers. It was decent, it sounded good and that was it. Then I got into the habit of reading hi-fi reviews and was quite annoyed that most of the equipment I had only garnered 3 or 4 star ratings instead of the highly coveted 5 stars.
5-stars must mean its good...right?
What Hi-Fi?, Hi-fi World, Hi-fi Choice, Stereophile...heck, even our local daily; The Sun's Perfect Pitch pullout, any magazine I could get my hands on, I bought and gobbled up everything the reviewers had to say. These guys were gods, they must have had perfect 20-20 hearing (guessing with sound its 20Hz to 20Khz? Haha...)!
But then I started to notice something. If two magazines reviewed the same amplifier or speaker, both the reviews would be slightly different or in some cases, worlds apart! One magazine would give it 2 stars and another magazine would give it 4 stars. What's going on here?
Back to zero. Back to basics. Back to our own ears.
Fact of the matter is this; the reviews serve as a guide. Nothing more. They do not mean that if you took a 5-star CD player and paired it with a 5-star rated amplifier and speakers, you'll get the best sounding system in the world, it just means that you probably have a slightly better chance of getting an "ok" sounding system. It could sound great but most of the time, it will sound just alright.
The best judge of any piece of equipment is ourselves, or to be more precise, our very own ears. Not the ears of some person sitting thousands of kilometers away writing about some new piece of gear. End of the day, we are the ones who are going to be sitting down listening to our favorite tunes.
Yup, those two things sticking out the sides of your head are your best friends
Forget the number of stars and the bundled discount sets you see advertised. Listen to various pieces of gear, make use of the sales attendant, ask to listen to different combinations. Try listening to two different sets of speakers using the same amplifier. This will give you an indication of the character of that amplifier. Same goes for speakers, sources and everything else in between (cables). Bring along your own CD's for listening.
A pinch of salt with every opinion is just what the chef ordered
Ask for opinions but take each one with a pinch of salt. People are biased. They do not intend to be and most would recommend something from the bottom of their hearts but what's dear to them may not be to you so always keep that in mind. Do not get influenced by the latest trends. Set aside a realistic budget. Also list out what you need your system to do and also make notes of what you do not need. Ultimately, there is a system out there with your name on it.
The best piece of advice I can give is to enjoy the process. Its a hobby after all. A very satisfying one when you get it right and a very frustrating one which can be very expensive when you get it wrong so take your time. Good luck out there and have fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment