How to Assemble a High-End Audio System

[bonzo75]

How do you draw that line?

I am imagining that you heard one component that was very detailed, and another component that was emotionally-engaging, but you did not buy either of those. You found a component that somehow was in the middle? Is that how your decision process works?

the most detailed and emotional system both Bill and I heard was the Mayer pnoe vyger red sparrow (I would put Yamamura marginally up on both counts)

 

[Ron Resnick]

the most detailed and emotional system both Bill and I heard was the Mayer pnoe vyger red sparrow (I would put Yamamura marginally up on both counts)

That's ideal if the same component satisfies both sides of the equation!

 

[Ron Resnick]

I think another logical solution is to select whichever component maximizes the sum of both variables.

 

[Alrainbow]

I think Ron’s video and dare I say natural in nature
what he says is counter to many here I think including myself. hyper details at any given volume is what I strive for.
Reg emotional response this is where I get off the train in some ways.
I own a few Wi-Fi boom boxes I use for outside work and enjoyment.
a little eq and im playing air drums or guitar
my point is emotional reaction for me is not about quality it’s the music mixed with mood to give me the feeling.
blues travelers or Black Sabbath while working is awe inspiring to me.
now In my systems or headphones or buds it’s still music but then quality
If I think about my own pursuit of my view of quality
Ron and my self are way apart. his comment of live concerts is spot on our home systems can perform much better in details. but this begs the questions Ron speaks of is it correct.
As always great videos any of yours are appreciated
Ron maybe start moving your hands as you speak and video a few feet back to see a little more of
You
sorry had to post this but your videos are among the best I see

 

[bonzo75]

I think another logical solution is to select whichever component maximizes the sum of both variables.

You mean like burns fat and adds muscle?

 

[bonzo75]

I think another logical solution is to select whichever component maximizes the sum of both variables.

maybe we need to discuss what is detail and resolution

 

[Alrainbow]

I think first is room size you want
Then speakers to fill that room properly
Then amps to drive them well.
too many buy amps that cannot drive the speakers in a given room / size and seat loudness level

reg amp size and given the size of your room and speakers
the headroom of your amps is both sound and capacity even if you like the sound quality can it play loud enough over all.

 

[Alrainbow]

I

 

[Ron Resnick]

Ron maybe start moving your hands as you speak and video a few feet back to see a little more of
You
sorry had to post this but your videos are among the best I see

Thank you for the kind words, Al!

Eeehhh, moving my hands around is not my style.

 

[exupgh12]

How do you draw that line?

I am imagining that you heard one component that was very detailed, and another component that was emotionally-engaging, but you did not buy either of those. You found a component that somehow was in the middle? Is that how your decision process works?

Over the past decade, I explored listened and auditioned various audio systems, initially favoring emotionally rich setups like Italian speakers and tube amplifiers.

However, exposure to different systems broadened my audio preferences.

I now have a setup with Magico speakers, Luxman amplifiers, and quality components that balances detail and emotion, providing a satisfying listening experience for hours without fatigue or missing recording nuances.

 

[Kingrex]

Thanks Ron.
FWIW, this launched by accident way to soon so my thoughts are not complete.

I like how you in a way support the Steven Stone philosophy. Expense does not equal perfomance or enjoyment.

Al made the first comment that to me is aligned with assembling a high end system. Assembling a high end system is not the same as making any system perform to its highest potential. People go running around buying band aids and slapping them all over the wounds, never adressing the underlying issues. Its a simplistic set of process but difficult and expensive, so people seem to opt for easy and expensive. In my opinion, if your going to assemble a system, you can support it properly or not. Its up to you. If you don't, spending more will never reach the full potential of what you buy. People should also be very aware of the following. Maybe it can end up in your video over time.


1. You need a room. I mean a real room. One built to react properly to loading of sound waves.

2. You have to have good power. I mean all of it. The line voltage and low voltage.

3. You have to use tools to measure frequency reaponse. You have to know how the room is loading and get to a "Flattish " reaponse.

4. You have to use vibration sensores to know if your injecting vibration into your equipment and creating distortions.

5. You need to follow some basic principles of cabling. Appropriate sized and type of cables for the demand and lengths to be run.

All the rest of buying gear to me is personal taste. Being an audiophile has 0 to do with Natural Sound or recreating a live event. That is a subjective measure a few people ascribe too. That objective will impact the type of equipment you purchase. And it will impact the room you build. But if you leave out the 5 steps, you will never achieve high end playback. Like the Oligarchs Audio author was saying, you can throw hundreds of thousands of dollars at equipment, but you will get higher playback performance at a fraction of the cost if you set the foundation propper to support the gear.

 

[Alrainbow]

I think a knife in the heart pushed in by Ron is how much money is really needed. this is one of many ways I love Ron comments. Having read and watched his videos I can say my impression of
Him is the polar opposite of who I have met and come to know. this has happened to me a few times in life. it makes we wonder what most think of me after they meet me lol. now I’m not asking for opinions nor want any.
it’s just wonderful to have met him and know his passion and honesty are pretty rare.
I don’t have his passion in audio for sure and I’m
Glad too. if I set my sights to achieve something it must happen and can engulf too much time. heck something’s I’ve achieved when done I’m already not caring.
so this leads me back to what do we want and if we can’t make a decision on a room I’m not so sure this qualifies to make a high end room.
maybe I just stabbed some more lol. but it’s how i feel and given I can’t say I’m all in maybe im
Wrong
I write this as I make plans to get a building for my Work yet it’s big enough to have a room 30/40
why I don’t know and the thought of doing it makes me nuts.

 

[Lagonda]

Thanks Ron.
FWIW, this launched by accident way to soon so my thoughts are not complete.

I like how you in a way support the Steven Stone philosophy. Expense does not equal perfomance or enjoyment.

Al made the first comment that to me is aligned with assembling a high end system. Assembling a high end system is not the same as making any system perform to its highest potential. People go running around buying band aids and slapping them all over the wounds, never adressing the underlying issues. Its a simplistic set of process but difficult and expensive, so people seem to opt for easy and expensive. In my opinion, if your going to assemble a system, you can support it properly or not. Its up to you. If you don't, spending more will never reach the full potential of what you buy. People should also be very aware of the following. Maybe it can end up in your video over time.


1. You need a room. I mean a real room. One built to react properly to loading of sound waves.

2. You have to have good power. I mean all of it. The line voltage and low voltage.

3. You have to use tools to measure frequency reaponse. You have to know how the room is loading and get to a "Flattish " reaponse.

4. You have to use vibration sensores to know if your injecting vibration into your equipment and creating distortions.

5. You need to follow some basic principles of cabling. Appropriate sized and type of cables for the demand and lengths to be run.

All the rest of buying gear to me is personal taste. Being an audiophile has 0 to do with Natural Sound or recreating a live event. That is a subjective measure a few people ascribe too. That objective will impact the type of equipment you purchase. And it will impact the room you build. But if you leave out the 5 steps, you will never achieve high end playback. Like the Oligarchs Audio author was saying, you can throw hundreds of thousands of dollars at equipment, but you will get higher playback performance at a fraction of the cost if you set the foundation propper to support the gear.

Some of what you are saying is true, and some is utter nonsense ! You can definitely achieve high end playback without measuring frequency response or using vibration sensors. You can use common sense and trial and error combined with the best measuring tool available for your preferred sound, your ears ! Do you think Mike L. has used vibration sensors to design his room ? He redid his room designed by "professionals" with measuring tools, by using his common sense and ears !

 

[bonzo75]

Some of what you are saying is true, and some is utter nonsense !

Sounds quite balanced then

 

[Ron Resnick]

Expense does not equal performance or enjoyment.

+1!

 

[microstrip]

(...) Expense does not equal perfomance or enjoyment. (...)

Never met anyone who believed that expense directly equals performance or enjoyment in this hobby.

But many say that, wisely used with expertise and knowledge, more expense gives them better performance and enjoyment.

 

[the sound of Tao]

Ron thanks for your videos, they do come over well… they have a nice balance of warmth and you come across believably. In this one though I’m not sure I’m with you in terms of the content.

I don’t think detail (of itself) and emotional engagement are directly related qualities or they make up a duality as two ends of an opposite pole if that’s what you are seeing as the issue. I’d suggest that detail is not wrong in itself but only if it is in an inappropriate balance with the other aspects of the sound. Detail in proper balance is a valuable function of resolution and a system can display detail and very successfully allow for emotional engagement (as exampled by Ked with Bill’s setup).

I’d also add that it’s not the system that creates emotional engagement… that’s a quality in the performance of the music that does that. So systems can allow emotional engagement to happen if they let the music through properly in terms of it’s spirit and context but the emotional engagement is not being generated by the system, it’s a potential that’s present in the music and in the performance of the music.

The challenge is really in identifying what is the quality that is MIA in a system that creates an impasse in emotional engagement or a state of disengagement. It is not just a presence of detail that does that but I’d suggest that in big picture terms it’s a failure of synthesis… that the music itself doesn’t come together successfully or reflect the way emotional content existed in the performance.

So an imbalance of detail could be one of the things that can hold the music out of balance and create a failure of blend that triggers disengagement or more accurately just fails to engage. The magic is in the music, it’s an element of alchemy and music is genuinely greater than the sum of its parts… so if it comes to us fragmented it can’t reach its potential and falls apart in terms of the intended embodied experience of the music.

Lack of cohesion and the failure to bring the elements of the music’s sound back to musical wholeness creates a disparate confusion and an emotional disconnect. The issue with detail can be if detail exists out of balance with all the other qualities that make for the appropriate tone and timbre. Out of balance detail without appropriate tonal infill presents as unnaturally skeletal and then lacks the intended sonority. It also distracts and draws attention away from the proper whole body of the music.

I’d suggest the appropriate (right) levels of detail that fit the spirit and the context of the performance aid in the intended experience and the music’s potential for emotional engagement.

 

[Kingrex]

Never met anyone who believed that expense directly equals performance or enjoyment in this hobby.

But many say that, wisely used with expertise and knowledge, more expense gives them better performance and enjoyment.

I have definitely crossed barriers in my own system. There does seem to be some levels. I have not had an opportunity to keep going up in levels as I don't have the resources I want to allocate that direction. But I have also sat in front of a $30K system in a decent room with very good power and a $250K system with a better room and very good power. Provided, these are different days. I would not say I heard a $220K difference in performance. There was a lot more that was very similar. There were some differences. One better bass. One a better sound stage. One maybe a touch higher resolution and clean.

 

[Kingrex]

Some of what you are saying is true, and some is utter nonsense ! You can definitely achieve high end playback without measuring frequency response or using vibration sensors. You can use common sense and trial and error combined with the best measuring tool available for your preferred sound, your ears ! Do you think Mike L. has used vibration sensors to design his room ? He redid his room designed by "professionals" with measuring tools, by using his common sense and ears !

I would not be so quick to answer for Mike. Let him explain all he has done through the years.

I still stand behind one needing to use a mic at some time in their journey to understand what they are hearing. The better systems I have heard use a mic at some time in the process, then they move to ears to fine tune.

And having some form of vibration sensor will tell you if you really need all the footers and platforms under your gear. You can end up spilling a lot of better spent money without really knowing. A simple IPhone app can tell you a lot.

 

[Kingrex]

I’d also add that it’s not the system that creates emotional engagement… that’s a quality in the performance of the music that does that. So systems can allow emotional engagement to happen if they let the music through properly in terms of it’s spirit and context but the emotional engagement is not being generated by the system, it’s a potential that’s present in the music and in the performance of the music.

My system is a little of a mess at the moment. Speakers shoved back. A nebulous set of amps powering the speakers. Yet, I put on a 1st pressing of The Beatles Revolver last night. I was a bit shocked how engaged I became with the album. I was into almost every song. Especially She Said She Said. I played it 3 times.