How Do You Choose A Piece of Hi Fi Gear : Audition, audition, audition
So you have decided you want to commit to a new piece of equipment.
There's no magic in it, each model, brand and even sub-model in the series can sound quite different.
So what's the trick?
Audition, audition audition..
If you are starting from a clean slate, understand that it's a journey and if you have an empty room, know that when you fill it with furniture or acoustic treatment, it will sound different.
If you are building a home theatre room, you will probably need a processor or AV receiver. The choice of this will be influenced by the feature set as much as how it sounds. Each brand has a house sound, but and each amp can sound different, so open your wallet, see how much is in it, then read a few reviews, then go down to the stores..
I would say for amp, spend more on power, and understand that for HT, technology moves pretty quickly so if you are into upgrading, know that the gear gets updated pretty quickly, whereas for stereo gear, the evolution is much slower. I tend to upgrade my processor quite quickly, whilst I have not changed my stereo amp for quite a while.
Whatever it is, choose one piece of gear to build your system around it. For example if you really like a certain speaker, you can use it as a building block for the rest of your system. Add the centre speaker from the same series and the surrounds too. Then find an amp which can drive these speakers well, with the features you think you will need, then go down to listen to them.
This is something that gets neglected so often. The process of listening helps to see if you really like it. Remember it may sound different to different people and in the showroom it can also sound different from your home, due to a variety of reasons, including the acoustic treatment, the noise levels or the type of cables and sources.
Speakers tend to have the largest variances, so I would spend more time auditioning them. Use the same track, same volume - remember a difference in loudness is sometimes perceived as a difference in sound quality. Bring a friend, not necessarily a spouse or partner for some objective advice, but remember it's your ears and your money.
Take note of the partnering gear required to get that sound. No sense spending a ton on the speakers then scrimping on stands, cables and other stuff, then wonder why the sound is different.
As a rule of thumb, even if you are only into HT, try a piece of music first. If a speaker sounds poor for music, it is unlikely that it will be great for HT either. But some points:
- take note of the centre, and the subwoofer, these two underpin the whole HT experience. And a lot of people neglect them, only adding on the centre as an afterthought.
- you do not need to timbre match the surrounds as strictly as the front three, especially if cost is an issue. Eg, you may go for a top end series for the front three, whilst using a lower end model for the surrounds.
- placement is just as important if not more so. Justing having deep pockets does not guarantee good sound.
- the sub is a vital component and you do not need to get from the same brand, there is no added advantage, except that you may get a better deal if you get everything from the same vendor.
- if you are building a HT system, sometimes bookshelf speakers work better as point sources, especially if you have a smaller room
I once lugged my 24kg amplifier around to audition various speakers. It may sound extreme, but then I then eliminated the issue of using a different amp when I audition my gear. Some companies allow home auditions but not all do.
Try not to bring too many tracks, but use a few familiar ones where there is bass, mids and trebles and a beat you can follow.
Finally if it does not sound right, even if it's a famous and well reviewed speaker, walk away. However if there is tie between two brands, obviously price and looks matter too. And the WAF - wife acceptance factor does play a role too. If you spend too little, you can't expect the same quality more money buys, but like Ikea, you do not need to be rich to be smart. The synergy of a system is more than than the cost of each individual item.
Oh, it's audition, not audit mate... get it right ;)
____________________________________________________________
I have no financial interest or other interests in any of the items / events I write about.
There's no magic in it, each model, brand and even sub-model in the series can sound quite different.
So what's the trick?
Audition, audition audition..
If you are starting from a clean slate, understand that it's a journey and if you have an empty room, know that when you fill it with furniture or acoustic treatment, it will sound different.
If you are building a home theatre room, you will probably need a processor or AV receiver. The choice of this will be influenced by the feature set as much as how it sounds. Each brand has a house sound, but and each amp can sound different, so open your wallet, see how much is in it, then read a few reviews, then go down to the stores..
I would say for amp, spend more on power, and understand that for HT, technology moves pretty quickly so if you are into upgrading, know that the gear gets updated pretty quickly, whereas for stereo gear, the evolution is much slower. I tend to upgrade my processor quite quickly, whilst I have not changed my stereo amp for quite a while.
Whatever it is, choose one piece of gear to build your system around it. For example if you really like a certain speaker, you can use it as a building block for the rest of your system. Add the centre speaker from the same series and the surrounds too. Then find an amp which can drive these speakers well, with the features you think you will need, then go down to listen to them.
This is something that gets neglected so often. The process of listening helps to see if you really like it. Remember it may sound different to different people and in the showroom it can also sound different from your home, due to a variety of reasons, including the acoustic treatment, the noise levels or the type of cables and sources.
Speakers tend to have the largest variances, so I would spend more time auditioning them. Use the same track, same volume - remember a difference in loudness is sometimes perceived as a difference in sound quality. Bring a friend, not necessarily a spouse or partner for some objective advice, but remember it's your ears and your money.
Take note of the partnering gear required to get that sound. No sense spending a ton on the speakers then scrimping on stands, cables and other stuff, then wonder why the sound is different.
As a rule of thumb, even if you are only into HT, try a piece of music first. If a speaker sounds poor for music, it is unlikely that it will be great for HT either. But some points:
- take note of the centre, and the subwoofer, these two underpin the whole HT experience. And a lot of people neglect them, only adding on the centre as an afterthought.
- you do not need to timbre match the surrounds as strictly as the front three, especially if cost is an issue. Eg, you may go for a top end series for the front three, whilst using a lower end model for the surrounds.
- placement is just as important if not more so. Justing having deep pockets does not guarantee good sound.
- the sub is a vital component and you do not need to get from the same brand, there is no added advantage, except that you may get a better deal if you get everything from the same vendor.
- if you are building a HT system, sometimes bookshelf speakers work better as point sources, especially if you have a smaller room
I once lugged my 24kg amplifier around to audition various speakers. It may sound extreme, but then I then eliminated the issue of using a different amp when I audition my gear. Some companies allow home auditions but not all do.
Try not to bring too many tracks, but use a few familiar ones where there is bass, mids and trebles and a beat you can follow.
Finally if it does not sound right, even if it's a famous and well reviewed speaker, walk away. However if there is tie between two brands, obviously price and looks matter too. And the WAF - wife acceptance factor does play a role too. If you spend too little, you can't expect the same quality more money buys, but like Ikea, you do not need to be rich to be smart. The synergy of a system is more than than the cost of each individual item.
Oh, it's audition, not audit mate... get it right ;)
____________________________________________________________
I have no financial interest or other interests in any of the items / events I write about.
Comments
Post a Comment