The elites and intellectuals in this industry have set ideals for great sound in this hobby. HP famously has come up with the Absolute Sound. Valin has come up with "transparency to source" standard. Of course, unless either guy is the "decider", there will never be agreement on what is the "absolute sound" or what is more "true to source".
Regular guys in this hobby, many of whom are experienced, pride themselves on being great "system builders". Sometimes their systems sound great, but other times you walk out shaking your head... But is there really such a thing as a system builder? Is there an idea of a "concept of a system", or do these guys just get lucky occasionally, based on their room, the music they play that you happen to enjoy, etc.? How many different concepts of a system have you come across?
And of course, we also know guys who are constantly buying, selling, and swapping gear. They visit audiogon and various audio sites, and some guy is gushing about the latest cool piece of gear they got. They throw in this speaker, that tube preamp, that SS amp, and some funky looking cables to "cook up" a sound... Yet when they get used to the sound of a piece of gear, the thrill is gone. Some combinations are more interesting than others. But always on to the next....This gear churning is a lot of fun, and psychology studies confirm this, but a lot of time these guys are very frustrated.
My impression is that this hobby is an ultimate individual pursuit. No two rooms are the same. Very, very, very rarely 2 systems are the same. All tastes, reinforced by experience, differ, and most people do not trust the engineers who swear they are giving us the most pure sound.
What do you guys think?
Regular guys in this hobby, many of whom are experienced, pride themselves on being great "system builders". Sometimes their systems sound great, but other times you walk out shaking your head... But is there really such a thing as a system builder? Is there an idea of a "concept of a system", or do these guys just get lucky occasionally, based on their room, the music they play that you happen to enjoy, etc.? How many different concepts of a system have you come across?
And of course, we also know guys who are constantly buying, selling, and swapping gear. They visit audiogon and various audio sites, and some guy is gushing about the latest cool piece of gear they got. They throw in this speaker, that tube preamp, that SS amp, and some funky looking cables to "cook up" a sound... Yet when they get used to the sound of a piece of gear, the thrill is gone. Some combinations are more interesting than others. But always on to the next....This gear churning is a lot of fun, and psychology studies confirm this, but a lot of time these guys are very frustrated.
My impression is that this hobby is an ultimate individual pursuit. No two rooms are the same. Very, very, very rarely 2 systems are the same. All tastes, reinforced by experience, differ, and most people do not trust the engineers who swear they are giving us the most pure sound.
What do you guys think?