This is a subject worth discussing in more detail I think. How should we compare components to evaluate them for possible purchase or even to just expand our reference base.
I have been given quite a bit of pepper for adding lists of possible components as suggestions when other people ask for recomendations on specific types of components. The common critical voice is that how can you have heard all of those components in your own system. My answer is usually that I of course have not but usually I have heard them in a familiar system.
However if we think about this a bit further, are we sure the most fair evaluation would be in a familiar system or even in your own system?
It is quite obvious why most will think listening in your home system is the best way. You will be in a position to hear exactly what the new component is bringing and what it is releaving you of compared to your own component.
However that might not be the ideal setting to test the new component in. When we evaluate a new component I certainly think it is only fair that the new component is tested in an environment with components suited to show its best performance. That certainly might not be in the system at home.
If you on the other hand audition the new component in a system set up by the dealer/distributor the rest of that system might be totally unfamiliar and you might not have a clue what exactly is the contribution of the component you want to evaluate.
Some might say that it is after all in your home system the new component might be used. You should do the evaluation there. However the fact is that if you knew of any possible weakneses in the home system making the new component not perform at optimum, you might discard the new component for the wrong reasons and the chance to make more changes to your system to improve on those shortcomings might never be detected.
What do you think?
I have been given quite a bit of pepper for adding lists of possible components as suggestions when other people ask for recomendations on specific types of components. The common critical voice is that how can you have heard all of those components in your own system. My answer is usually that I of course have not but usually I have heard them in a familiar system.
However if we think about this a bit further, are we sure the most fair evaluation would be in a familiar system or even in your own system?
It is quite obvious why most will think listening in your home system is the best way. You will be in a position to hear exactly what the new component is bringing and what it is releaving you of compared to your own component.
However that might not be the ideal setting to test the new component in. When we evaluate a new component I certainly think it is only fair that the new component is tested in an environment with components suited to show its best performance. That certainly might not be in the system at home.
If you on the other hand audition the new component in a system set up by the dealer/distributor the rest of that system might be totally unfamiliar and you might not have a clue what exactly is the contribution of the component you want to evaluate.
Some might say that it is after all in your home system the new component might be used. You should do the evaluation there. However the fact is that if you knew of any possible weakneses in the home system making the new component not perform at optimum, you might discard the new component for the wrong reasons and the chance to make more changes to your system to improve on those shortcomings might never be detected.
What do you think?