Aye. Ye smart men raise this place above all others of the breed, methinks. Richard, JLM, I concur with your sentiments and offer a few of mine own, thusly:
I think many of us are confused about what exactly we want from our gears. Ironically, the best way to obfuscate the goal is to think about it. Thought is directed at solving problems, which more often than not lead to additional questions. Why do we focus so much time and attention on a purchase, fall in love with it completely, then sell it on Agon six months later? (hint, I don't know)
We are presumptively chasing accuracy. The boys at AH say that accuracy is 20hz to 20khz response flat, period. If you can deliver that, in-room, you're DONE. Of course, that's very hard to do on any budget. I think a system built to that one parameter without further consideration would be very boring, indeed. Why? I keep Thinking.
It has been pointed out to me that the recording studio is largely responsible for the difficulty in matching the original venue. Holding that, are we then trying to match the sparkling, silver disc? What's on that disc? Our influence is limited to the last half of the process. There is no way to "benchmark" the disc. Familiarization with live sound is thus not a fair measure, unless we endeavor to record our own music.
Even the playback portion is full of compromises. If you could hire Rives Audio to design your listening room, have it built, and spend commensurate dollars equipping it you'd be set. Everything below that is a compromise. Listeners choose their budget thresholds based on personal factors but those elements, like everything else we humans do, is subject to change over time. My audio budget is much higher than it was ten years ago. And, my knowledge of what I want versus my ability to obtain it has grown. Of course, my ears have deteriorated. C'est la vie.
We've all seen deeply irresponsible "professional" reviews. In fact, the most thorough of observations are colored by personal biases as well as system- and room-variables. There is no such thing as "objective" review. The AH boys would chime in and yell "TESTING", but I'm ambivalent at best about such things. Of course science has a role, but putting it too high on the subjective ladder is counterproductive. So, where do we actually Learn about what we want and need?
So many questions. The quagmire of 'empirical truth' pulls you down with every wriggle. Every earnest quest unearths jewels though. A few of mine:
1) Complex crossovers are bad. They might help produce "flat" response, but a side effect is Flat sound. 2) Wattage is overrated. How low does speaker sensitivity have to be to warrant 200-watt amps? See '1)', above. 3) Tubes in the chain, somewhere, are good. They can be overdone and choose wisely. 4) Think of the system as a whole. A "sterile" amp can be mitigated with a "juicy" pre. 5) Believe your own ears and brain; don't discount a good idea because some talking head said it was dumb.
Did anybody make it this far?
