The Illusive Mistress
The more exciting the Mistress, the more demanding. Maddeningly elusive, she is always on the look out for a bigger player. Her preferred method is to tantalize with brief encounters: always leaving her suitor longing for more.
To woo her, at all, you must show your devotion with ever more exotic gifts. Momentarily appreciative, your reward- a seductive glance, perhaps a whiff of her intoxicating perfume. Occasionally she will run her fingers slowly through your hair, maybe a soft kiss on the cheek- never enough, then pouf, this Temptress is gone. Your question is always the same “Will I ever see her again?” That depends.
You see, there are Mistresses for every player. Choose one you can afford, learn to treat her right, and you will know a level of happiness. Do not waste your time in pursuit of a Mistress you cannot afford. One outlandish offering will seldom get you very far. Worse you are likely to lose what you already have!
“Who is this Mistress that you speak of, that I might know her?” You ask. Ah, Grasshopper, you have taken the first step, but be careful for she delights in your naiveté. Her name you already know, but you have refused to understand. I give it to you now, that you might finally come to terms with her, and strike a balance. We, who have walked in your shoes, have come to know her as Synergy.
Synergy is very Zen, but typically it seems we are destined to find it the hard way, searching the four corners, traversing uncharted waters, beaten, bloody, exhausting ourselves, before we let go, and let Zen. What exactly does the sound of one hand clapping sound like?
In audio, Zen is the understanding that musical systems are the sum total of the interactions between power, vibration, isolation, cabling, components, as well as the room in which they are hopefully, skillfully assembled. The sole purpose being to reproduce music in our homes in order to cleanse or energize our minds and bodies, as well as to enrich our spirit. It was never about the equipment.
Start with your room. Who among you has done so? Clap your hands. Does your room sound- bright or dull? This is the first brick in building your musical house. Deny its importance, and you are destined to fall short.
Too many so–called hobbyists belong to the “component of the month” Club. They attempt to assemble their systems peace meal- one disparate component at a time- missing the fact that too many chefs spoil the stew. Worse, they expect one component to make the magic. Basically, they are lazy. Seldom do they listen to music. Such behavior leads to the huge number of classified ad cast-offs, that sadly, few bargain hunters actually know what to do with.
Money, audio magazine reviews, and a lack of knowledge, is a more potent cocktail than a Long Island Iced tea! While reviews provide an important service, “we” must put their musings in proper perspective- compared to what? New is not necessarily better. If we first learned to extract every last ounce of magic from what we own, we wouldn’t need to be chasing that silver bullet. And if we weren’t so hung up on “new”, the new prices might not be so high!
Contributing to the frustration are impedance, capacitance, and inductance differences inherent in interconnect and component designs. Phase and polarity correction controls should be incorporated into all electronic components. Why?; because the recording industry has no set format. What purpose does the AES serve if not to mandate the most basic of recording requirements? We would all benefit from such standards, as well as packaging codes to identify impedance, inductance, and capacitance. I would like to see the magazines lead this charge. Who else... a grass movement? Perhaps Clark Johnson could head up another brigade to Boston Harbor.
Money does not buy happiness!
What purpose does a “Recommended Component” article actually serve? Let’s use magazine X’s “Recommended Component’ s issue. Under each category you will find a ranking system. But guess what, just because your ship came in, and you can actually afford to buy one of each from say the “Class A” list, in no way does that insure that you will end up with class A sound! Take a break and get your mind around that.
We used to offer a “free system analysis” on our website. More often than not, it was hard to be tactful. The overwhelming majority of respondents’ did not have hi-performance power conditioning, and were using the supplied power cords (Why can’t manufacturers design their products to be impervious to this?). Neither have most respondents paid any attention to cabling, isolation/vibration control, or room treatments: Most had such a bizarre mix of components that you wonder how they managed to assemble them, let alone derive any musical enjoyment. A typical note “ What will improve this for $100?”!
Should money be burning a hole in your pocket, take the time learn, then prioritize. Had the majority of classified sellers done so, they would be thousands of dollars, and hundreds of hours of musical enjoyment ahead. Their systems would cease to be a revolving door in search of. Sadly, they are probably not audiophiles at all, just homebodies addicted to needing something new, or different. Earth to hobbyists - It’s about the MUSIC!
“I was in the right vein, must have been the wrong arm.” Dr John
Whether you have a $1,000 amp, or a $10,000 amp, unless you give it the right juice, the right isolation/vibration control, and couple it to the right speakers and room, you won’t be getting your money’s worth! In fact a $1,000 amp properly pampered, will sound significantly better than a $10,000 amp with little or no attention paid to the details. Ditto for every component in your system.
This is a hi- performance hobby! You want stock, go mid-fi. You want one musical system to last, then buy it as a system. You want to experiment? Then get with the program. That means educating yourself. Like any “hi-performance” hobby, success is in the details, these details require some serious out-of- pocket money. All the more reason to have a plan. Unless you know you are just one component away, you will get far more sonic benefit out of a $5000 investment in power conditioners/ cords, cables, isolation /vibration and room treatments products than you ever will by spending $5 large to “upgrade” one single component. The classifieds should be loaded with, accessories, cables, and interconnects, not components.
The beauty of this hobby though, is the abundance of both new and used equipment, that will allow you to put together a surprisingly good, highly musical, “simple” system, for under $10Gs. You can’t even buy a good used hi-performance boat, or car, for that little money. Ever check out the cost of their parts and accessories? And unlike those toys, once you have your system together, your main expenses are music, and beverage of choice.
No matter what synergistic level of the hobby you have attained, should the “upgrade” bug bite you, be mindful that it is unlikely that you can replace one component and expect a significant leap in performance- The whole is greater than the sum of its’ parts. Most likely it will require wholesale changes- including power conditioning, power cords, interconnects, isolation/vibration control devices AND components!
Over 30 something years, many fine audio reviewers/writers have enlightened me. My musical experience is all the richer for it. Most of them hint at Synergy. I think it’s time to make it the cornerstone of their musings.
Music is a great healer. It can bring you closer to your loved ones, most of whom would embrace your hobby more, if you settled down and made music the priority. Imagine. Your lover at your side, wonderful music flowing through your home. That would be better than a Mistress!
