My number one mistake for a long time in the beginning of my hi-fi quest was: ‘Mistaking brightness for detail.” If you can’t listen for hours and still want more, take it as a bad sign.
Interesting, good point. Related note; w/decades of live mixing FOH, this is something that I have given a great deal of effort to achieve proper balance of detail within the HF. I found the single most critical element in the live mix (except a monster kick😉!), is ABSOLUTE vocal clarity ... clarity that cuts right thru and sits above all else... yet without overly edgy harshness. FOH engineers vary in their approach. However, for me, achieving this would typically require an outboard, single channel parametric EQ*, and careful and constant attention to assure just enough vocal presence/edge, without harshness or sibilance above. I pride myself upon it, and I've got over 30yrs experience too, but the paying customer has to clearly delineate the vocal lines... despite the high dB modern live show, still vocals have to be clear but without harshness... and it's easy to enter into at the modern/high dBSPL events. *(of the highest quality available, transparency of even high-end EQs/comps is discernible over a good rig)
I agree! I was guilty of this in my past.. Never getting the enjoyment out of my equipment. But now I’m listening more than buying equipment. That’s the real joy....
I guess most of us don‘t know how the music, that we listen to sounds originally in the studio. So I fully agree with tip #1. It’s really very individual what sounds pleasant to someone’s ears.
Actually, even though the world cultures differ very much in many aspects, most cultures tend to agree on what their members find euphonic and what they find cacophonous: - so while Japanese drumming is very different from African or of native Amazonian drumming, they would to still all agree as to what is good drumming and what is bad drumming. So, no, not so fast with all being subjective. Do read Kant's theory of aesthetics / beauty - he tried to grapple with this fact of both aesthetic beauty and music being an OBJECTIVE quality shared among many without any prior agreement or conditioning, with some minor culturally-inborn preferences of course, but still largely an OBJECTIVE SHARED occurrence. Besides, a sound engineer who sees only sounds over attempting to capture and bring across the essence of MUSIC (i.e. the balance of sounds, rhythm, ambience, the other intangibles - the moments when everything just "clicked", etc) - well, perhaps if I were a musician, I would not want to hire such an engineer to master my art... Cheers!
#8 is huge. I’ve found lots of companies have good service, but Sweetwater has really blown me away lately. They’re unbelievably helpful. Awesome tips!
you deserve all the love of the world. man i watched this video 2 days ago because i wanted to adjust my speaker position. since a week a had the impression something is wrong at my setup.. i spend the whole day moving my speakers and my chair today (mainly listening to vinyl with my turntable). at night i decided to put on some spootify music and listened to an herbie hancock album (the same i used for testing during the day). and i was completely confused realizing that the trumpet came out of the left speaker...on my record it came out of my right speaker. i eminently jumped of and jecked my cabes and realized that i plugged in the cables from my turntable into the preamp the wrong way (red to white and white to red) . what can i say, after changing it, EVERYTHING is GREAT! thank you very much for that hint :)
Most people know what they like or not If you mean those who overestimate their _abilities,_ I most certainly agree with that! You can have a tin ear and still love sound, and learn things. All too often a self-identifying "audiophile" is just a blowhard.
@@StringerNews1 Sure, but appreciating audio reproduction does not an audiophile make. There are a lot of people who buy one or more supposedly audiophile components and listen to 24bit flac or DSD, in their sound treated room and think their an audiophile bcos they can hear the difference. In reality it's the science that goes in to producing audio waves, some times in their purest possible form, their interactions, and your selection or design of components looking for specific type of reproduction of said waves that makes you an audiophile. There's a huge amount of theory to wade through before you can start understanding the how's and why's, and one needs to rely on instruments for objectivity. But for appreciation, put away the instruments and have a play.
@@raydioz I don't know... I get that usually an audiophile would be someone particularly interested in audio reproduction, but this sounds like gatekeeping and is probably reason people who DO enjoy good gear and want to learn about it aren't picking up the label. People who have in fact been playing with setups and digging into how things work for years often STILL say "I'm no audiophile but..." exactly because of the condescension associated with the word. They don't want people to think they're a snob. I guess it works if the goal is to exclude people, nobody will want to be a part of that. Besides, where do you draw the line? I think it's important for a person learn how things actually work and learn to understand measurements - a lot of people don't do that and that culture has been a hotbed of greed and misinformation for a long time. But after a certain point I have to wonder... what's it all for? If you know everything in the world about audio, but appreciate none of that perfectly dialed-in sound and the music coming through, what is the point? That's a lot of time and money being used very unproductively. It sounds like a job, except you pay to do it. Just seems like a really unhealthy obsession. Who wants to be that? It's not enough to be really into learning how things work, seeing how things sound, and appreciating music more? And doing it all at your own capacity? You make it sound like a person can't be both into the objective side and in it for the subjective experiences. Going by what you're saying I can only assume audiophile = guy who spends time and money pretending to be an engineer. I'm not a big fan of this black-and-white thinking. Maybe not everybody who has a nice setup is an audiophile, but you also can't revoke someones card because they "don't love audio enough" to dedicate themselves to absolute objectivity. It's not for you to put that label on a person. If they love it, they love it. How a person engages with things they love varies. If we're really going to put such a narrow definition on the word, I don't see the point in using it at all, considering it excludes most people who are into this stuff at all. Enthusiasts come in many forms. But generally, the more different ones you have, the better things are in terms of there being more things for people to be interested in and enough demand to not make things impossibly expensive.
My biggest mistake was not buying more used records in the late 90s and early 2000s! People were just practically giving them away. I got Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon for $2!! It was a golden age!!
In March 1973, upon its original release I paid £2.20 for a first pressing UK copy. I still have it and it plays in EX grade condition. The receipt is in the sleeve. It's worth about £150 today.
I GAVE my hundreds and hundreds of records AWAY. because I simply didn't have space for them, they were sitting in storage, and I thought someone should be able to enjoy them. I still hate myself a little bit for that.
I would say "room acoustics" and "consider reviewers, but trust your own ears " to be two of the most essential, especially when just starting out. Then, "buy new music" is an excellent idea for when your system begins to sound "stale". It also keeps your appreciation for music alive. I use Tidal for exploring new artists. I can try them out before purchasing, and have made many new discoveries that way.
Listening to new music is a must , i do it when listening to my high end SQ system in my truck. It brings me back to saying to myself this sounds amazing !! I love getting that immersive feeling.
Just something to consider. Try covering the top and sides of the speaker boxes with folded towels or blankets if you have full size speakers. It just amazes me at the difference this makes. Speaker housings DO transmit a LOT of sound.
By "live band" I hope you mean live, unamplified, acoustic intruments and a singer not using a microphone. That is what "live" music sounds like. If a band uses a PA system, you are listening to the PA system and not "live" music.
@@nostradumbass4984 if you get a good sound guy it makes all the difference. 🤙 but they were talking more about autotuned voices and hearing perfectly mixed and mastered instruments all the time. And someone performing the musical piece live. As in, in person. Not after being touched by 5 or more people in the mix and mastering process, then exported at 44.1k then streamed at an even lower quality on even lower quality speakers. When you go live you get the raw signal from the instruments going directly into a high quality speaker system. It's much different. Its amplification vs recording.
Great advise Ron, but don’t ever forget if you have a local shop, build up a relationship with a local dealer. Great Local dealers are priceless for their experience and when you build up that relationship, spend money with them, they will allow you to take products home. I’m able to do this and no I don’t put a credit card or anything down. I walk in tell them what I would like to try, like the Meze Emphyreans and walk out. I try and not waste their time, but I have been dealing with them for over 10 years and everything except my current turntable and one of my two cassette decks were bought there. A great dealer will tell you exactly what Ron said , they won’t tell you what something sound like, which is why they will let you try the equipment out in your home and they will offer services that will bring them out to your home and set the equipment up for you and tune it to your liking with measurement equipment (and set up the room treatment based on the measurements and use lasers to fine tune placement if you prefer this, I have always set up my own stuff. Keep it coming Ron your work, the production and guest are getting better and better. I can’t wait to see your Axpona coverage if you are going this year, which might be hard with the two little editions to the family.
Great list! I mainly connect with the advice on placement. I have a relatively cheap system and correcting the height and toe-in made such a huge difference I’m starting to think that it’s the most important thing.
Use what is marketed as sandbox or playground sand. It's been cleaned and helps to insure you are not bringing organic matter or living organisms into your house.
No, no, so much no. Play sand has soooooo much mud in it. Sand blast sand is clean. I went through this, as did many when adding sand to an aquarium. It takes hours to clean a gallon of play sand good enough.
@@heathhunter5306 For an aquarium yes, for a speaker stand not so much. Playground or sandbox sand is safe for a child to put in their mouth. There are no ill effects to using them in a speaker stand.
Your 10 suggestions are excellent! I would add: when you record music samples during equipment test (especially speakers), that is THE most helpful single action to me. Keep them coming, please!
The speakers away from the walls advice doesn't necessarily apply to all speakers. Front ported speakers like Klipsch Cornwalls are specifically designed to to function against a wall and/or in a corner. That is actually why they are called "Cornwall". BTW, Christmas fruit cakes also make excellent sound deadener for hollow speaker stands!
Yes, it doesn't necessary apply all the time. But even with front ported speakers you have take into account wall reflections and resonance of the whole listening room. So the distance from a back wall, front wall and speakers angle matter.
It applies to all speaker, even front ported speakers will sound better when placed away from the wall. The front port just makes them less worse when placed against a wall, but they will still sound better away from the wall.
The biggest mistake I made was when I first got into the hobby and I kept buying and selling stuff like crazy. I had some good stuff and ended up selling it for stuff that wasn't nearly as good. I was like a junkie trying to get my next fix.
just try some Yamaha hs50's with a hs10 subwoofer or just try listening to some Genelec monitors you'll be amazed, espescially for movies or videogames.
I once owned a pair of Bowers & Wilkins DM2 speakers, 1972 vintage. They looked gorgeous and would normally sound gorgeous too. However, Twinkle toes here decided to fiddle around with the speaker cables behind the system while the amp was still on. I'd bargain that most enthusiasts who are familiar with these lovely speakers know what's coming next. The speakers are a three way design, sporting an 8" bextrene coned woofer, Celestion hf1300 tweeter and, last but not least, the venerable, but rather delicate, Coles 4001G super tweeter. I murdered them both, I did. Yes, I am an idiot... So, having cheerfully slaughtered the original forty seven year old items, I ordered a hand built replacement pair from Falcon Acoustics in the UK, and attempted to install them myself. This.... was a mistake! I managed to boil the brand new and rather expensive replacements to death with my soldering iron. It was at this point that I decided that the DM2's were probably not meant for a big klutz like me, and I've been rocking a pair of Mission M71's ever since, and they still work, because the Missions are 100% 'ME' proof... 👍🖖
The mistake you most likely made was not cleaning those old cruddy solder joints before you put an iron on them. Working on old stuff is not the same as working on new stuff. Things happen over the course of time that need to be addressed. Lead and tin solder for example oxidizes exposed to the atmosphere. In the worst case it will get this gray dusty layer on it. But even when you can't see it the oxide on the surface can still have a negative impact on soldering. At 47 years I can just about guarantee the joints were oxidized too. New stuff comes screwed up from the factory today. Because they have to use that lead free garbage. Unless they're aerospace or military contractors. Us poor plebes need to deal with substandard trash. Because reasons. I brighten and tin lead free parts with real solder before I use them. Make Electronics Great Again!
I have my bookshelf speakers sitting on some bricks I found in my back yard with folded paper towels for noise isolation. No need to worry about a hollow speaker stand when it's filled with hardened clay.
Funny thing about this video, I bought a set of metal stands from Bob and Ron’s WWS back in 2007. They cut me an awesome deal on floor models. I went to the Lowe’s right next door immediately after, bought sand, filled them when I got home, and mounted B&W 685’s to them and connected my NAD C326 (both also purchased at WWS). Still have this gear and it still sounds awesome!
I like to use meatloaf inside my stands. It deadens them and confuses my guests when low bass notes make the room start to smell rancid. What's more punk rock than that?
What's more punk rock than that? Putting a dead rat in there so on the bass notes it makes the room smell like Death and everyone thinks you're a Punk Ass Killer.
Spikes only are never right! Speakers should be decoupled from the floor with soft material. Not just anything soft. A sylomer type is ideal. The sylomer feets must be adapted to the mass of the speaker. Might be used in combination with spikes though if there is a carpet under the speakers. It's amazing how widespread the spikes BS is.
My system sounded great in my old house. When I moved it sounded awful. No matter what I did it still sounded horrible. After wasting lots of money on room treatments etc. I moved into a different room. It was much smaller but it sounds great again.
Well that's just GREAT. Just as I get used to all of the subjective, inane, mumbo jumbo stuff about audio, you come along with an objective, common sense approach. Thanks!
great tips!, yes always listen to new music. and different formats. my tips...let your ears "zero Out" before a listening session, say some thing Lo Fi or mono, listen with lights out..
With over 40 years in this hobby I have: My top ten equipment-phile rules: 1. Have fun 2. Buy what you can afford - more money does not mean better sound 3. DIY is great but resale is not. 4. Hype is hype 5. Polarity matters 6. No need to insult other equipment, let your wallet or purse do the talking. 7. Speaker placement 8. Room acoustics 9. Don't be fooled by marketing and salesmanship. 10. Trust your ears; in the end they are you have.
As an old audiophile I will add one more thing... As we get older, we often do not have the great ears of a 20 year old We all must be aware of this. Once we loose the highest audio frequencies they are gone forever. Fortunately there is not that musical content at the highest frequencies and music can still be very enjoyable without being able hearing those .if your sys no longer seems to sound great,,,, have you ears checked by an audio pro
Ron your list is great. One of my mistakes was not making sure my streaming service/devises were set to maximum quality. Free upgrade in source material quality.
My favorit is explore new music. I agree it is much better to explore how 10 various albums sounds on one system then explore how 1 album sounds on 10 different systems. And of course #1 - trust your ears.
A few years ago i blew a wad on the PS Audio Direct Stream DAC. I set it down and hooked up the input and outputs and sat down to listen - something was wrong, but what? After a few hours I found I had one output cable connected to the Coax jack instead of the right output jack because they were close to each other. The improvement in sound was dramatic.
11. Mistaking a change for an improvement. Different can seem better, even when it's not. Be experimental, but also methodical and patient with gear changes and upgrades.
Fabulous video Ron. Oh yes we’ve all made mistakes but they’re usually fixable unless you’re greatly out of pocket - it’s sometimes a FOMO thing ain’t it. Auditioning gear is a great idea if it’s possible and do take some of your music with you when you do... ✌️🇦🇺
S400 no sand in the stand 😆 another good thing to do is free and simple Re-tighten down all the screws on your speakers over time they will come lose you can use a dab off wood glue on the screws Thread to keep them from backing out
@@joentell Still making videos! Gotta new piece of gear to review - just bought a Peachtree integrated. Let's do a Valley meetup sometime! Your channel is taking off bro!
If your here in RUclips you have access to a incredible amount of music. I would recommend Richard Riley's channel for some recommendations , Steve Gutenberg and Jhon darko are good sources of new stuff too. I'm old enough to have a big problem with buying digital files but most stuff is still on hard copy. One day I'll get over the paying for a file hurdle ...maybe 😄
My thoughts on your top 10: #10. Decouple the speaker from the ringing stand with soft feet designed for the specific speaker weight and weight distribution. Consider that speaker enclosure vibrations are not like hammer strikes and ringing is also dampened by the weight of the speaker. #9. Most speaker manufacturers will agree with you but I would recommend trying every possible height above ear level, try flipping speakers upside down when they are higher up. You might be surprised. You will likely lose bass support from the floor boundary - experiment with moving speakers closer to the back wall. #8. See #9. #7. Yes -Having speakers wired out of phase with eachother will make the sound weird and diffuse. If there is anything at all that you like about that sound -consider all of #3 and #5! #6. Use adjustable spikes only under the stands if your carpet is so fluffy or your floor so uneven that your bookshelf speaker otherwise will be tilted in any direction. Your speakers will be standing still and not transmitting vibrations to your stand or floor if you use properly designed soft feet. Don’t bother with feet that don’t come in different sizes tailored for specific speaker weights. Confused? -Ask a friend with a good understanding of physics. #5. Consider consulting with a professional acoustician -not one specialised in noise reduction but in psychoacoustics. It might seem costly but could save you money and time and give you valuable insights. #4. Lacking recordings? Try Tidal! #3. Walls are the trickiest part of music reproduction in the home. View any reflective surface as a potential disaster for the end result, but keep in mind that the proximity of walls to the speakers will affect the bass. Moving the speakers too far out into the room will likely make them sound unnaturally lean. Some distances will make side wall reflections more annoying than others. Try to keep the speakers at 23 degree angles (46 for both) from your listening position, but if that puts them at disadvantageous distances from reflective side walls it might be better to compromise with these optimal angles. Soft materials absorb the reflections and the floor reflection can be blocked with a well positioned coffee table. A long haired carpet covering the whole floor will lessen the reverberation time in the room. I like to use several layers of drapes for dealing with the wall reflections. Don’t forget the wall behind your speakers! Also see #5! #2. Yes. Listen before buying! #1. I would say use reviews to sort out equipment with obvious flaws that the reviewer has backed with measurements. Don’t pay any attention to how much a reviewer likes some gear or how well he seems to be able to describe sound. Forget about good-better-best and think of gear mainly as functioning properly or being flawed. Now, let’s see if I can make a top 10: #1. SET THE GOAL Figure out if you like how unamplified, live music sounds and you want to come as close to that as possible at home, or if you want a very specific sound on everything that’s played. Not being clear about this is a mistake that can make your journey unnecessarily confusing. #2. DON’T BUY BETTER GEAR Don’t buy anything new until you have localised the main flaw in the audio result from your current system. Looking for ”better” without a clear understanding of what, very specifically, you don’t like about your result is sure to make you poorer and no wiser. Resist shopping for ”better”! #3. DON’T THINK OF YOUR SYSTEM AS SOMETHING SEPARATE FROM THE ROOM Learn to view the room and speakers as one unit working together, although the room will mainly be fighting the speakers. Worry less about electronics! #4. AVOID SMALL ROOMS Put the stereo in your biggest room if possible, not crammed in a small room. Softer walls are generally a plus for the bass. #5. DON’T LIE TO YOURSELF No wishful thinking. Be honest with yourself about the results and keep high expectations! Try headphones to hear what the music sounds like without interference from reflective surfaces, but be aware that headphones can have other serious flaws! #6 COLLECT SOUND REFERENCES Go to the concert hall and hear some classical, unamplified music. Don’t make the mistake of not having a good understanding of what unamplified instruments sound like -as a reference even if you only listen to for example pop, rock or techno. #7. RELAX Pay close attention to how you react to different sounds in your room. Are pianos, flutes and soprano singers irritating to your ears? Do you find yourself switching to music that relies more on rhythm than tone? Can you keep fully relaxed even when these instruments are played at realistic levels? Monitor your eye movement and facial muscles! #8. DON’T COVER YOUR MISTAKES Make your bookshelf speaker / room combination sound absolutely beautiful first, without worrying about the bottom range if you have speakers that rely on subwoofers to play 80Hz and down. Don’t be tempted to soften flaws in the upper ranges with bass. #9. DON’T FIDDLE WITH SMALL ACOUSTIC TREATMENT If you decide to experiment with absorbing materials on your walls without professional help -make it as thick and with as large areas as possible -several stacked drapes and/or thick, contoured acoustic foam. Don’t make the mistake of dampening the top range much more than the midrange! #10. GO ONE STEP AT A TIME Listen carefully to each change in the room. Try to only make one adjustment at a time and see if it fixed the flaw you were hearing and if instead some other problem was highlighted -try to fix that too or go back to how things were and try something completely different.
Thanks Ron, #1 particularly resonated. Having purchased a new hifi rig for the first time in 5 years, I too read the reviews, and used those as a basis for auditioning, but my most trusted thing were my ears. I also took copious notes of what I was hearing as I auditioned for speakers. Being able to compare the same few tracks at different stores with notes of what I heard was incredibly valuable, and left me choosing a niche New Zealand manufacturer - Theophany - that I enjoyed more than Dynaudio, Monitor Audio, B&W, KEF etc. I was gob smacked when the staff told me hardly anyone does this, so I'd add that as a clause to your #1, trust your ears and if auditioning, take notes on what you hear! Cheers from Melbourne, Australia, Peter
Shean-Kok Lim, that seems like a clever idea! Have you compared that with some of the high tech isolation solutions? If you have, is there a notable difference worth the expense? Thanks!
As one who has spent most of my life MAKING MUSIC (that you guys might listen to) I endorse all 10 points.... it's sound advice ( pun 🙂) ..... I have had controversial arguments on my channel over "analog" versus "digital" ..... and after it's all over .... people simply have to go with what sounds good to them.... but they should also accept that psychoacoustic perception affects their conclusion and admit that scientific testing is the only 'ultimate reality' of what actually exists in the world...... as a University lecturer in Electronics (and with background in sound engineering and music) it is my job to EDUCATE the public .... which is how I ultimately ended up on your interesting channel.... good show .... keep it up....
yeah agree with you i prefer analogue sound because its warm but my sibling loves colder digital sound, its probably due to ear shape and preferred taste
@@StephenMendes in music setups cant underestimate anything 😂😂 i mean those custom to ear moulded in ear headphones have to be invented for more than just comfort right but yeah 😂😂😂 we'll learn as we experiance
@@christinearmington Don't listen to me from a year ago! That guy is an idiot! Speakers are EVERYTHING! You get an amp that your speaker likes not the other way around!!
Concerning your comment about speaker placement and pulling them away from the wall. There are speakers that are designed to be on walls or in corners, Klipsch La Scalas and Klipschorns to name two.
OK, well I'm into home theater, so I'll guess based on experience what I think is good. Ummm... If you hear the phone ring in a movie and it makes you get up to answer the phone, If you hear a police siren in a movie, and you're terrified the cops are coming to get you for some reason, If you are watching a gangster movie and you think you're being threatened by somebody (in real life, maybe they're outside) when you hear bad language and violent conversation, if you hear a doorknock and you get up to answer the door, and if you hear dogs barking in a movie or TV show and you have to rewind and play back and pause the same clip five times just to be able to figure out that It's not coming from your neighbour's yard (and it still sounds like it is, even once you're convinced). That's what I'd call good.
Confirmed :). This even is the case for cats, who have a much better hearing than we have. Once I terrified my cat by playing a recording in which a dog was barking :).
For some reason, cats are either confused, puzzled or frightened by surround sound. You can see them moving their ears back and forth and/or turning their heads trying to figure out where the sound is coming from. The thing I don't get about that is I thought cats had better directional hearing than humans.
Hi !! Great video! I have made many mistakes after changing my audio system from vintage stereo to up to date digital audio receiver 5.1 . Due to a budget limitation I kept using same 4 speakers I used in The A and B speakers terminals of my stereo. So I assumed that the same speakers position will be good for the Denon AVR1611. Totally wrong and result was terrible. Later on I added a center speaker and setting the other speakers in the right position thing got better. LOL!
In EU we have power cord witch can be rotating 360` in wall. If you rotated out of phase sound be bad. You lose bass and sound image would be small and no dynamical.
A recent mistake I made: I’m just getting back into audio and recently upgraded my speakers from some ancient Polks to the Klipsch rp600m. These were the first speakers I’ve ever owned with dual inputs. At some point as I was playing around with placement and cables I knocked one of the interconnect bars loose. My ears told me something was wrong but it took days to figure out.
Consider buying used high end gear you can very often get more for your money. Like buying a used car let someone else take the depreciation hit and you get higher quality gear for peanuts prices
Did that in the 60's. My Dad and I built speaker cabinets with inner and outer panels and filled the gap between the two wood panels with fine sand....
Glad you focused #1 on your ears. For me, it's the only thing that's important, the rest (specs, performance, reviews, etc) doesn't really matter. Also, spit out my toothpaste laughing at polarity inversion. Thanks from Colorado.
I can't believe how many times I made the polarity mistake...and I'm the diy fix it type. To err is human! Most times I was rushing or had other things going on.
Bill Y. Two foolish posts! 1) your ears are what they are. It’s the equipment you cannot change so while testing tells you something so what? 2) yes we can be fooled but we’ve evolved by trusting our senses. They are pretty damn good. That’s how we survived. Blind testing often leads to stupid results because it’s not how we listen or consume music. Learn the pitfalls, avoid the mistakes, trust your ears.
@@AnalogPlanet IDK but there's something happens with your ears after a while, I can understand and differentiate between nicely compressed and overly compressed music. Over compressed music throws me off now
Reverse polarity, a classic nightmare... yes, happened to me twice...on one occasion I found the polarity internally reversed, right on the crossover and no not part of the design...the other time was when I had made my first real hi-end speaker purchase...$7000 a pair only to discover there's no bass at my listening position but if I stood at my front door, there was loads of bass... I knew that sitting here indefinitely was not an option...lol...all of this was emphasized even more because I had a designated and acoustically treated listening room...for a moment there, I was going to tear all my panels out...yikes! ...why is this happening...I began looking and pacing, looking and pacing ...then with a huge smile, I finally discovered my mistake...for weeks after I could be seen standing at the doorway, each time feeling somewhat embarrassed but relieved.
Resolution for 2020: Like what I like. Like stuff to sound like I want it to sound. No "how the artist intended." No "highly resolved." No BS snake oil crap. I want it to sound the way I like it. Abosolute Sound had an old saying years ago: All else is boat anchors. HNY, Ron.
@Larry Niles depends on the snake oil. Spray to improve the sound of your CDs, Power cables, audiophile fuses, USB cables, HDMI cables, RJ45 cables at extortionate cost now there is a load of snake oil. Oh the biggest, speaker cable burn in, question then, over time does the speaker cable burn out? 😂 sadly this audiophile stuff comes accross as audio OCD. Listen to the music and enjoy. Stop chasing nonsense. All you need is nice quality cables to a point, after that there is no gain whatsoever. However, feel free to spend your hard earned cash anyway you like. Better improvement in sound can be had by speaker placement, room treatment, upgrading hardware etc.. Each to their own.
LOL I did always read articles from reviewer who did write in a hi-fi magazine and when he criticized something, I know I had to listen to it:-) He simply loved the B&W 801, Magnaplaner and other speakers like that, he were all about details and only details. I were all about musicality and details were something that you may get also, but not as important as musicality:-)
Not all loudspeakers need to be pulled from the walls some are designed for near-wall or corner placements and many horns due to controlled radiation patterns do not need to be pulled out from the wall.
Love it! Great advice. Another is don't look at gear individually, break your system into parts: room and speakers; speakers and amp; turntable, tonearm, cartridge and phono preamp, for example. Synergy in each group will make the sum better than the parts.
I can understand why people do not have the time to fully learn electronics but it is well worth the time and effort invested. I think the #1 mistake is not learning the reality of this phenomenon. Then again I do not consider myself to be an audiophile, even though I train with Golden Ears. ;)
Didn't think it'd ever happen but a couple weeks ago I got some transparent cable and thought it sounded awful. Turns out I had my polarity wrong and my L/R channels switched. I was just so excited. Sounds great again
A cheapo tip from the UK. - source was HiFi World iirc. Go to Maplins and buy their hard rubber feet as used by DIY radio nuts. They're about 50p each and really do the trick at isolating your CD player, turntable etc. They're exactly the right diameter, they work really well. There's only one problem, Maplin went bust a few years ago. Perhaps they should have called themselves "Maplin HiFi" and sold them at £150 a set.
I have a question if you are able to answer it for me? If I really cannot move my speakers six feet from the wall Will adding wall absorbing material and sound insulation panels help? If so to what degree. Thank you for all of your brilliant suggestions.
Custom home guy here and this topic could be its own video: if you are remodeling your room to run cables or if you are building a room or home, DO NOT run your low voltage communication wire with the high volt - EVER! Keep it at least 16” away when running parallel - stay a bay away - or shield your low voltage wire in conduit. You may know this and it may make a ton of sense to your audience but it’s amazing how many electricians don’t know or practice this. I’ve witnessed high volt and low volt running through the same stud holes. This is what you don’t want. If you are going to have your electrician do the low volt, grill the shit out of them on what they know. Always best to call us home entertainment specialists any day. Conduit is cheap and effective!
Hate to but in but Micky Hart Planet Drum recording was all about whacking steel beams and anything else he could get his hands on. 30 years on it still stands out as one of the best audiophile recording ever. Speakers should be screwed to the stand, proper height 32 to 36 inches aim for between the tweeter and main driver, polarity right hand rule the terminal to the right is positive visual check 9 volt battery touch the terminals + to the right the woofer moves out your good to go. Spikes pass thank you very much 90% of the warmth of a tube amp is harmonic feedback through the tubes. Room problems equalize that sucker something you should always have in any system is a equalizer, art of noise my friend. Pulling speakers out to lessen the noise of the cabinet bouncing off the wall see eq above. Audition takes about 10 sec's to figure that one out if you have to listen hard to hear a speaker pass on it a good speaker will show it's true colors in seconds. Good vid thxs.
![FendiDa Rappa - Clock Dat ft. Shamar Marco [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3NBU8KHdxYY/mqdefault.jpg)
My number one mistake for a long time in the beginning of my hi-fi quest was: ‘Mistaking brightness for detail.” If you can’t listen for hours and still want more, take it as a bad sign.
Interesting, good point.
Related note; w/decades of live mixing FOH, this is something that I have given a great deal of effort to achieve proper balance of detail within the HF.
I found the single most critical element in the live mix (except a monster kick😉!), is ABSOLUTE vocal clarity ... clarity that cuts right thru and sits above all else... yet without overly edgy harshness.
FOH engineers vary in their approach. However, for me, achieving this would typically require an outboard, single channel parametric EQ*, and careful and constant attention to assure just enough vocal presence/edge, without harshness or sibilance above.
I pride myself upon it, and I've got over 30yrs experience too, but the paying customer has to clearly delineate the vocal lines... despite the high dB modern live show, still vocals have to be clear but without harshness... and it's easy to enter into at the modern/high dBSPL events.
*(of the highest quality available, transparency of even high-end EQs/comps is discernible over a good rig)
If your feet/foot won't tap along with the music there is something wrong,also emotions come to play
If it's hard to differentiate between two instruments from each other such as ride and hit hat, it means speakers lack in details
@@clickbaitpro
Yes
Or, acoustic distortions of the room.
Through 10 years of DAW experience I can say this is too true. Since I got proper speakers it's like going back to school.
Number 1 mistake is..
Not listening to your music and worrying about your system too much, sit back and relax..
Spot on👍
I agree! I was guilty of this in my past.. Never getting the enjoyment out of my equipment. But now I’m listening more than buying equipment. That’s the real joy....
You got it right!
I guess most of us don‘t know how the music, that we listen to sounds originally in the studio. So I fully agree with tip #1. It’s really very individual what sounds pleasant to someone’s ears.
Actually, even though the world cultures differ very much in many aspects, most cultures tend to agree on what their members find euphonic and what they find cacophonous: - so while Japanese drumming is very different from African or of native Amazonian drumming, they would to still all agree as to what is good drumming and what is bad drumming. So, no, not so fast with all being subjective. Do read Kant's theory of aesthetics / beauty - he tried to grapple with this fact of both aesthetic beauty and music being an OBJECTIVE quality shared among many without any prior agreement or conditioning, with some minor culturally-inborn preferences of course, but still largely an OBJECTIVE SHARED occurrence. Besides, a sound engineer who sees only sounds over attempting to capture and bring across the essence of MUSIC (i.e. the balance of sounds, rhythm, ambience, the other intangibles - the moments when everything just "clicked", etc) - well, perhaps if I were a musician, I would not want to hire such an engineer to master my art... Cheers!
#8 is huge. I’ve found lots of companies have good service, but Sweetwater has really blown me away lately. They’re unbelievably helpful. Awesome tips!
Also a Sweetwater fan! Thanks for watching dude!
Sweetwater are criminally underrated
02:50:
Me: **boiling 50lbs of rice** "OH COME ON!"
Hahahahaha! 😂🤣😆
@@Newrecordday2013 Was it fried rice or white?
you deserve all the love of the world. man i watched this video 2 days ago because i wanted to adjust my speaker position. since a week a had the impression something is wrong at my setup.. i spend the whole day moving my speakers and my chair today (mainly listening to vinyl with my turntable). at night i decided to put on some spootify music and listened to an herbie hancock album (the same i used for testing during the day). and i was completely confused realizing that the trumpet came out of the left speaker...on my record it came out of my right speaker. i eminently jumped of and jecked my cabes and realized that i plugged in the cables from my turntable into the preamp the wrong way (red to white and white to red) . what can i say, after changing it, EVERYTHING is GREAT! thank you very much for that hint :)
Welcome!
I think the first mistake audiophiles make, is assuming they're an audiophile.
Most people know what they like or not If you mean those who overestimate their _abilities,_ I most certainly agree with that! You can have a tin ear and still love sound, and learn things. All too often a self-identifying "audiophile" is just a blowhard.
@@StringerNews1 Sure, but appreciating audio reproduction does not an audiophile make. There are a lot of people who buy one or more supposedly audiophile components and listen to 24bit flac or DSD, in their sound treated room and think their an audiophile bcos they can hear the difference. In reality it's the science that goes in to producing audio waves, some times in their purest possible form, their interactions, and your selection or design of components looking for specific type of reproduction of said waves that makes you an audiophile. There's a huge amount of theory to wade through before you can start understanding the how's and why's, and one needs to rely on instruments for objectivity. But for appreciation, put away the instruments and have a play.
@@raydioz The word "audio-phile" literally means "affinity to audio". Whatever else you read into the meaning is implication, not definition.
@@StringerNews1 My original point realized.
@@raydioz I don't know... I get that usually an audiophile would be someone particularly interested in audio reproduction, but this sounds like gatekeeping and is probably reason people who DO enjoy good gear and want to learn about it aren't picking up the label. People who have in fact been playing with setups and digging into how things work for years often STILL say "I'm no audiophile but..." exactly because of the condescension associated with the word. They don't want people to think they're a snob. I guess it works if the goal is to exclude people, nobody will want to be a part of that.
Besides, where do you draw the line? I think it's important for a person learn how things actually work and learn to understand measurements - a lot of people don't do that and that culture has been a hotbed of greed and misinformation for a long time. But after a certain point I have to wonder... what's it all for? If you know everything in the world about audio, but appreciate none of that perfectly dialed-in sound and the music coming through, what is the point? That's a lot of time and money being used very unproductively. It sounds like a job, except you pay to do it. Just seems like a really unhealthy obsession. Who wants to be that? It's not enough to be really into learning how things work, seeing how things sound, and appreciating music more? And doing it all at your own capacity? You make it sound like a person can't be both into the objective side and in it for the subjective experiences.
Going by what you're saying I can only assume audiophile = guy who spends time and money pretending to be an engineer. I'm not a big fan of this black-and-white thinking. Maybe not everybody who has a nice setup is an audiophile, but you also can't revoke someones card because they "don't love audio enough" to dedicate themselves to absolute objectivity. It's not for you to put that label on a person. If they love it, they love it. How a person engages with things they love varies. If we're really going to put such a narrow definition on the word, I don't see the point in using it at all, considering it excludes most people who are into this stuff at all. Enthusiasts come in many forms. But generally, the more different ones you have, the better things are in terms of there being more things for people to be interested in and enough demand to not make things impossibly expensive.
My biggest mistake was not buying more used records in the late 90s and early 2000s! People were just practically giving them away. I got Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon for $2!! It was a golden age!!
I bought an audiophile pressing of "DARKSIDE OF THE MOON" for $50.00 back in early 80's. Still have it😸😸😸
@@bootsarmstrong8421 i got it for $5 in the 90s.
@@bootsarmstrong8421 You were robbed.
In March 1973, upon its original release I paid £2.20 for a first pressing UK copy. I still have it and it plays in EX grade condition. The receipt is in the sleeve. It's worth about £150 today.
I GAVE my hundreds and hundreds of records AWAY. because I simply didn't have space for them, they were sitting in storage, and I thought someone should be able to enjoy them. I still hate myself a little bit for that.
I would say "room acoustics" and "consider reviewers, but trust your own ears " to be two of the most essential, especially when just starting out. Then, "buy new music" is an excellent idea for when your system begins to sound "stale". It also keeps your appreciation for music alive. I use Tidal for exploring new artists. I can try them out before purchasing, and have made many new discoveries that way.
Listening to new music is a must , i do it when listening to my high end SQ system in my truck. It brings me back to saying to myself this sounds amazing !! I love getting that immersive feeling.
What gear are you running in your truck ?
Just something to consider. Try covering the top and sides of the speaker boxes with folded towels or blankets if you have full size speakers. It just amazes me at the difference this makes. Speaker housings DO transmit a LOT of sound.
Excellent point. Eye in the Sky --- Allan Parsons. The guitar player has a moving blanket over the sides of the speaker box.
Digital candles? I'm more the analogue candles kind of guy.
Holy crap that was funny. Well done!
They are class D candles. looks cozy, create lights but no heat. welcome to digital era !!! 😝😝😝
Trust your ears but listen to live bands whenever you can. It's easy to forget what instruments and voices sound like in real life.
@Fisher Man My parents named me after Martin of Tours but I respect your point about Martin guitars.
Especially if you're an electronic music aficionado.
Martin Tousignant
Great point, it is night and day!
By "live band" I hope you mean live, unamplified, acoustic intruments and a singer not using a microphone. That is what "live" music sounds like. If a band uses a PA system, you are listening to the PA system and not "live" music.
@@nostradumbass4984 if you get a good sound guy it makes all the difference. 🤙 but they were talking more about autotuned voices and hearing perfectly mixed and mastered instruments all the time. And someone performing the musical piece live. As in, in person. Not after being touched by 5 or more people in the mix and mastering process, then exported at 44.1k then streamed at an even lower quality on even lower quality speakers. When you go live you get the raw signal from the instruments going directly into a high quality speaker system. It's much different. Its amplification vs recording.
Great advise Ron, but don’t ever forget if you have a local shop, build up a relationship with a local dealer. Great Local dealers are priceless for their experience and when you build up that relationship, spend money with them, they will allow you to take products home. I’m able to do this and no I don’t put a credit card or anything down.
I walk in tell them what I would like to try, like the Meze Emphyreans and walk out. I try and not waste their time, but I have been dealing with them for over 10 years and everything except my current turntable and one of my two cassette decks were bought there. A great dealer will tell you exactly what Ron said , they won’t tell you what something sound like, which is why they will let you try the equipment out in your home and they will offer services that will bring them out to your home and set the equipment up for you and tune it to your liking with measurement equipment (and set up the room treatment based on the measurements and use lasers to fine tune placement if you prefer this, I have always set up my own stuff. Keep it coming Ron your work, the production and guest are getting better and better. I can’t wait to see your Axpona coverage if you are going this year, which might be hard with the two little editions to the family.
So true! Thanks Sid!
Great list! I mainly connect with the advice on placement. I have a relatively cheap system and correcting the height and toe-in made such a huge difference I’m starting to think that it’s the most important thing.
Use what is marketed as sandbox or playground sand. It's been cleaned and helps to insure you are not bringing organic matter or living organisms into your house.
Thank you for the reminder about this I totally forgot to mention this
Make sure you dry it in the oven before you pour it in your steel stands, the moisture can cause issues down the road
Use dried silica sand! You can get it already bagged up.
No, no, so much no. Play sand has soooooo much mud in it. Sand blast sand is clean. I went through this, as did many when adding sand to an aquarium. It takes hours to clean a gallon of play sand good enough.
@@heathhunter5306 For an aquarium yes, for a speaker stand not so much. Playground or sandbox sand is safe for a child to put in their mouth. There are no ill effects to using them in a speaker stand.
Heigh Ho is such an excellent record. Great songs, really well engineered and mastered.
Amen!
The number one mistake (and yes I fell for it to a degree) is listening to your rig in a way that the actual music becomes secondary.
Your 10 suggestions are excellent! I would add: when you record music samples during equipment test (especially speakers), that is THE most helpful single action to me. Keep them coming, please!
Thank you!
The speakers away from the walls advice doesn't necessarily apply to all speakers. Front ported speakers like Klipsch Cornwalls are specifically designed to to function against a wall and/or in a corner. That is actually why they are called "Cornwall". BTW, Christmas fruit cakes also make excellent sound deadener for hollow speaker stands!
Yes, it doesn't necessary apply all the time. But even with front ported speakers you have take into account wall reflections and resonance of the whole listening room. So the distance from a back wall, front wall and speakers angle matter.
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It applies to all speaker, even front ported speakers will sound better when placed away from the wall. The front port just makes them less worse when placed against a wall, but they will still sound better away from the wall.
My problem is I always buy music lol. I loved the tips. I’m building a budget hifi system. Thanks for the info!
Glad you enjoyed it!
The biggest mistake I made was when I first got into the hobby and I kept buying and selling stuff like crazy. I had some good stuff and ended up selling it for stuff that wasn't nearly as good. I was like a junkie trying to get my next fix.
Happens to the best of us man!
@Larry Niles ose are some pretty high end speakers.
just try some Yamaha hs50's with a hs10 subwoofer or just try listening to some Genelec monitors you'll be amazed, espescially for movies or videogames.
[[
I once owned a pair of Bowers & Wilkins DM2 speakers, 1972 vintage. They looked gorgeous and would normally sound gorgeous too. However, Twinkle toes here decided to fiddle around with the speaker cables behind the system while the amp was still on. I'd bargain that most enthusiasts who are familiar with these lovely speakers know what's coming next.
The speakers are a three way design, sporting an 8" bextrene coned woofer, Celestion hf1300 tweeter and, last but not least, the venerable, but rather delicate, Coles 4001G super tweeter. I murdered them both, I did. Yes, I am an idiot... So, having cheerfully slaughtered the original forty seven year old items, I ordered a hand built replacement pair from Falcon Acoustics in the UK, and attempted to install them myself. This.... was a mistake! I managed to boil the brand new and rather expensive replacements to death with my soldering iron.
It was at this point that I decided that the DM2's were probably not meant for a big klutz like me, and I've been rocking a pair of Mission M71's ever since, and they still work, because the Missions are 100% 'ME' proof... 👍🖖
The mistake you most likely made was not cleaning those old cruddy solder joints before you put an iron on them. Working on old stuff is not the same as working on new stuff. Things happen over the course of time that need to be addressed. Lead and tin solder for example oxidizes exposed to the atmosphere. In the worst case it will get this gray dusty layer on it. But even when you can't see it the oxide on the surface can still have a negative impact on soldering. At 47 years I can just about guarantee the joints were oxidized too. New stuff comes screwed up from the factory today. Because they have to use that lead free garbage. Unless they're aerospace or military contractors. Us poor plebes need to deal with substandard trash. Because reasons. I brighten and tin lead free parts with real solder before I use them. Make Electronics Great Again!
I have my bookshelf speakers sitting on some bricks I found in my back yard with folded paper towels for noise isolation. No need to worry about a hollow speaker stand when it's filled with hardened clay.
Fantastic list and great video Ron. Love your content brother.
Funny thing about this video, I bought a set of metal stands from Bob and Ron’s WWS back in 2007. They cut me an awesome deal on floor models. I went to the Lowe’s right next door immediately after, bought sand, filled them when I got home, and mounted B&W 685’s to them and connected my NAD C326 (both also purchased at WWS). Still have this gear and it still sounds awesome!
That’s awesome! What are the chances. Ha!
New Record Day I know! Shoutout for World Wide too. They are a great outfit. Been going there since 1995!
I like to use meatloaf inside my stands. It deadens them and confuses my guests when low bass notes make the room start to smell rancid. What's more punk rock than that?
I would do anything for sound, but I won't do that
No, I won't do that
"Throbbing Gristle"
@@CrankyBonesGaming lol
What's more punk rock than that? Putting a dead rat in there so on the bass notes it makes the room smell like Death and everyone thinks you're a Punk Ass Killer.
Great video Ron!!
Joe paid you off. I knew it!!!
Spikes only are never right!
Speakers should be decoupled from the floor with soft material. Not just anything soft. A sylomer type is ideal. The sylomer feets must be adapted to the mass of the speaker. Might be used in combination with spikes though if there is a carpet under the speakers. It's amazing how widespread the spikes BS is.
I find spikes reduce bass from speakers. Best to use isolation pods, like isopods.
Exellent presentation, congrats on your great articulation as well.
Thanks!
Great advice Ron. I make the same mistake all the time with polarity too!
Thanks Thomas! Happy New Year amigo!
New Record Day hello from Belgium ,
If I try to the polarity from my speaker, it’s possible to make trouble?
Thx
What do you mean?
New Record Day if I change the positive and the negative, can it cause problems with the speakers?
Fat Rat clear 🎧
don't use rice if your place is at all prone to pests. Why give mice a grain silo? Use Sand or pea-gravel.
How will the mouse chew through metal?
Had to caulk some seams in my speaker stand and rack tubes to keep the sand in.
Great tips. Thanks Ron. Glad you didn't say to fill speaker stands with tuning forks.
A mistake I made was wasting money on spikes. I personally didn't hear any difference & the vibrations were still there just as much.
A buddy of mine put his speakers into macrame plant hangers. That isolated them pretty good. Looked cool too.
My system sounded great in my old house. When I moved it sounded awful. No matter what I did it still sounded horrible. After wasting lots of money on room treatments etc. I moved into a different room. It was much smaller but it sounds great again.
If a room is more or less a square rather than rectangle it'll sound horrible. The only decent solution in that case is diagonal speaker placement.
When is the Klipsch stock vs modded vid coming? Really looking forward to it!
Finalizing the clips today!
@@Newrecordday2013 Should that be finalizing the Klipsch today? Sorry,poor joke!
Wha? Im subscribing
Buchardt S300 and sand.
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
Next video...10 ways to protect your system from overactive twins.
Well that's just GREAT. Just as I get used to all of the subjective, inane, mumbo jumbo stuff about audio, you come along with an objective, common sense approach. Thanks!
great tips!, yes always listen to new music. and different formats. my tips...let your ears "zero Out" before a listening session, say some thing Lo Fi or mono, listen with lights out..
Listen to your ears and not just take others advice if something sounds "good" or not.Just my 2 cents.
"Do not cook rice inside your speaker stand." - Ron
With over 40 years in this hobby I have:
My top ten equipment-phile rules:
1. Have fun
2. Buy what you can afford - more money does not mean better sound
3. DIY is great but resale is not.
4. Hype is hype
5. Polarity matters
6. No need to insult other equipment, let your wallet or purse do the talking.
7. Speaker placement
8. Room acoustics
9. Don't be fooled by marketing and salesmanship.
10. Trust your ears; in the end they are you have.
Love this list!
@@Newrecordday2013 ... forgot # 11 Subscribe to New Record Day!
The checks in the mail!
Perfect.
Spot on👍
I,m Asian and I LOVE cooked rice! But not for filling speaker stands hahahaha
As an old audiophile I will add one more thing...
As we get older, we often do not have the great ears of a 20 year old We all must be aware of this. Once we loose the highest audio frequencies they are gone forever.
Fortunately there is not that musical content at the highest frequencies and music can still be very enjoyable without being able hearing those
.if your sys no longer seems to sound great,,,, have you ears checked by an audio pro
Ron your list is great. One of my mistakes was not making sure my streaming service/devises were set to maximum quality. Free upgrade in source material quality.
Yup! I’ve done that one as well!
My favorit is explore new music. I agree it is much better to explore how 10 various albums sounds on one system then explore how 1 album sounds on 10 different systems.
And of course #1 - trust your ears.
A few years ago i blew a wad on the PS Audio Direct Stream DAC. I set it down and hooked up the input and outputs and sat down to listen - something was wrong, but what? After a few hours I found I had one output cable connected to the Coax jack instead of the right output jack because they were close to each other. The improvement in sound was dramatic.
I have an amplifier and speakers with SpeakON connectors.
Never had the polarity issue.
I used atabite - high density filler to increase the the mass of my speaker stands. Improved the sound and very pleased with the outcome.
Thats one ive never heard before!
11. Mistaking a change for an improvement. Different can seem better, even when it's not. Be experimental, but also methodical and patient with gear changes and upgrades.
Terrific ideas. Serious sound people will say 50 % on gear. 50 % on room acoustics. MOST people miss this entirely. 101. Put curtains over glass.
Great downright sensible list of tips! I completely agree.
Fabulous video Ron. Oh yes we’ve all made mistakes but they’re usually fixable unless you’re greatly out of pocket - it’s sometimes a FOMO thing ain’t it. Auditioning gear is a great idea if it’s possible and do take some of your music with you when you do... ✌️🇦🇺
So true! Thanks Markie!
S400 no sand in the stand 😆 another good thing to do is free and simple Re-tighten down all the screws on your speakers over time they will come lose you can use a dab off wood glue on the screws Thread to keep them from backing out
Fantastic tip!
@@Newrecordday2013 Thanks Ron 😆Thank you for all your hard work and dedication, much appreciated!
Ever heard of banana plugs?
Cooked rice in speaker stands? Used kitty litter!? How about blacked eyed peas for listening to delta blues?!
What's up @vinyl rundown!
@@joentell Still making videos! Gotta new piece of gear to review - just bought a Peachtree integrated. Let's do a Valley meetup sometime! Your channel is taking off bro!
@@VinylRundown I'm down. Let me know what you have in mind.
I crapped in mine, I wondered why the speakers seemed shitty... 🤣
Relying on specifications.
No one component will make a system, but one component can ruin a system.
Mistake nr 1 is buying expensive hardware instead of just enjoying the music.
New music should be number one. The internet makes this so easy.
Except that a lot of it is compressed, and often badly so best to restrict to higher res, better mastered material if using online sources.
If your here in RUclips you have access to a incredible amount of music. I would recommend Richard Riley's channel for some recommendations , Steve Gutenberg and Jhon darko are good sources of new stuff too. I'm old enough to have a big problem with buying digital files but most stuff is still on hard copy. One day I'll get over the paying for a file hurdle ...maybe 😄
just received the IsoAcoustics Aperta Isolation Stands to try out. Will look into filling out my stands next. Thks for the tips!
Keep us posted!
yes...would like to know how it went for you as well!
My thoughts on your top 10:
#10. Decouple the speaker from the ringing stand with soft feet designed for the specific speaker weight and weight distribution. Consider that speaker enclosure vibrations are not like hammer strikes and ringing is also dampened by the weight of the speaker.
#9. Most speaker manufacturers will agree with you but I would recommend trying every possible height above ear level, try flipping speakers upside down when they are higher up. You might be surprised. You will likely lose bass support from the floor boundary - experiment with moving speakers closer to the back wall.
#8. See #9.
#7. Yes -Having speakers wired out of phase with eachother will make the sound weird and diffuse. If there is anything at all that you like about that sound -consider all of #3 and #5!
#6. Use adjustable spikes only under the stands if your carpet is so fluffy or your floor so uneven that your bookshelf speaker otherwise will be tilted in any direction. Your speakers will be standing still and not transmitting vibrations to your stand or floor if you use properly designed soft feet. Don’t bother with feet that don’t come in different sizes tailored for specific speaker weights. Confused? -Ask a friend with a good understanding of physics.
#5. Consider consulting with a professional acoustician -not one specialised in noise reduction but in psychoacoustics. It might seem costly but could save you money and time and give you valuable insights.
#4. Lacking recordings? Try Tidal!
#3. Walls are the trickiest part of music reproduction in the home. View any reflective surface as a potential disaster for the end result, but keep in mind that the proximity of walls to the speakers will affect the bass. Moving the speakers too far out into the room will likely make them sound unnaturally lean. Some distances will make side wall reflections more annoying than others. Try to keep the speakers at 23 degree angles (46 for both) from your listening position, but if that puts them at disadvantageous distances from reflective side walls it might be better to compromise with these optimal angles. Soft materials absorb the reflections and the floor reflection can be blocked with a well positioned coffee table. A long haired carpet covering the whole floor will lessen the reverberation time in the room. I like to use several layers of drapes for dealing with the wall reflections. Don’t forget the wall behind your speakers! Also see #5!
#2. Yes. Listen before buying!
#1. I would say use reviews to sort out equipment with obvious flaws that the reviewer has backed with measurements. Don’t pay any attention to how much a reviewer likes some gear or how well he seems to be able to describe sound. Forget about good-better-best and think of gear mainly as functioning properly or being flawed.
Now, let’s see if I can make a top 10:
#1. SET THE GOAL
Figure out if you like how unamplified, live music sounds and you want to come as close to that as possible at home, or if you want a very specific sound on everything that’s played. Not being clear about this is a mistake that can make your journey unnecessarily confusing.
#2. DON’T BUY BETTER GEAR
Don’t buy anything new until you have localised the main flaw in the audio result from your current system. Looking for ”better” without a clear understanding of what, very specifically, you don’t like about your result is sure to make you poorer and no wiser. Resist shopping for ”better”!
#3. DON’T THINK OF YOUR SYSTEM AS SOMETHING SEPARATE FROM THE ROOM
Learn to view the room and speakers as one unit working together, although the room will mainly be fighting the speakers. Worry less about electronics!
#4. AVOID SMALL ROOMS
Put the stereo in your biggest room if possible, not crammed in a small room. Softer walls are generally a plus for the bass.
#5. DON’T LIE TO YOURSELF
No wishful thinking. Be honest with yourself about the results and keep high expectations! Try headphones to hear what the music sounds like without interference from reflective surfaces, but be aware that headphones can have other serious flaws!
#6 COLLECT SOUND REFERENCES
Go to the concert hall and hear some classical, unamplified music. Don’t make the mistake of not having a good understanding of what unamplified instruments sound like -as a reference even if you only listen to for example pop, rock or techno.
#7. RELAX
Pay close attention to how you react to different sounds in your room. Are pianos, flutes and soprano singers irritating to your ears? Do you find yourself switching to music that relies more on rhythm than tone? Can you keep fully relaxed even when these instruments are played at realistic levels? Monitor your eye movement and facial muscles!
#8. DON’T COVER YOUR MISTAKES
Make your bookshelf speaker / room combination sound absolutely beautiful first, without worrying about the bottom range if you have speakers that rely on subwoofers to play 80Hz and down. Don’t be tempted to soften flaws in the upper ranges with bass.
#9. DON’T FIDDLE WITH SMALL ACOUSTIC TREATMENT
If you decide to experiment with absorbing materials on your walls without professional help -make it as thick and with as large areas as possible -several stacked drapes and/or thick, contoured acoustic foam. Don’t make the mistake of dampening the top range much more than the midrange!
#10. GO ONE STEP AT A TIME
Listen carefully to each change in the room. Try to only make one adjustment at a time and see if it fixed the flaw you were hearing and if instead some other problem was highlighted -try to fix that too or go back to how things were and try something completely different.
Thanks Ron, #1 particularly resonated. Having purchased a new hifi rig for the first time in 5 years, I too read the reviews, and used those as a basis for auditioning, but my most trusted thing were my ears. I also took copious notes of what I was hearing as I auditioned for speakers. Being able to compare the same few tracks at different stores with notes of what I heard was incredibly valuable, and left me choosing a niche New Zealand manufacturer - Theophany - that I enjoyed more than Dynaudio, Monitor Audio, B&W, KEF etc.
I was gob smacked when the staff told me hardly anyone does this, so I'd add that as a clause to your #1, trust your ears and if auditioning, take notes on what you hear!
Cheers from Melbourne, Australia, Peter
my isolation device - squash ball cut into half.
Shean-Kok Lim, that seems like a clever idea! Have you compared that with some of the high tech isolation solutions? If you have, is there a notable difference worth the expense? Thanks!
Instructions unclear, stuffed my speaker stands with chinese takeaway.
As one who has spent most of my life MAKING MUSIC (that you guys might listen to) I endorse all 10 points.... it's sound advice ( pun 🙂) ..... I have had controversial arguments on my channel over "analog" versus "digital" ..... and after it's all over .... people simply have to go with what sounds good to them.... but they should also accept that psychoacoustic perception affects their conclusion and admit that scientific testing is the only 'ultimate reality' of what actually exists in the world...... as a University lecturer in Electronics (and with background in sound engineering and music) it is my job to EDUCATE the public .... which is how I ultimately ended up on your interesting channel.... good show .... keep it up....
yeah agree with you i prefer analogue sound because its warm but my sibling loves colder digital sound, its probably due to ear shape and preferred taste
@@akeelshah7904 just music taste is correct..... it doesn't have anything to do with ear shape 😂
@@StephenMendes in music setups cant underestimate anything 😂😂 i mean those custom to ear moulded in ear headphones have to be invented for more than just comfort right but yeah 😂😂😂 we'll learn as we experiance
The biggest mistake I made was buying speakers that aren't compatible with my amp.
😬🧐
@@christinearmington Don't listen to me from a year ago! That guy is an idiot! Speakers are EVERYTHING! You get an amp that your speaker likes not the other way around!!
Concerning your comment about speaker placement and pulling them away from the wall. There are speakers that are designed to be on walls or in corners, Klipsch La Scalas and Klipschorns to name two.
That’s true
OK, well I'm into home theater, so I'll guess based on experience what I think is good. Ummm... If you hear the phone ring in a movie and it makes you get up to answer the phone, If you hear a police siren in a movie, and you're terrified the cops are coming to get you for some reason, If you are watching a gangster movie and you think you're being threatened by somebody (in real life, maybe they're outside) when you hear bad language and violent conversation, if you hear a doorknock and you get up to answer the door, and if you hear dogs barking in a movie or TV show and you have to rewind and play back and pause the same clip five times just to be able to figure out that It's not coming from your neighbour's yard (and it still sounds like it is, even once you're convinced). That's what I'd call good.
Confirmed :). This even is the case for cats, who have a much better hearing than we have. Once I terrified my cat by playing a recording in which a dog was barking :).
For some reason, cats are either confused, puzzled or frightened by surround sound. You can see them moving their ears back and forth and/or turning their heads trying to figure out where the sound is coming from. The thing I don't get about that is I thought cats had better directional hearing than humans.
Hi !! Great video! I have made many mistakes after changing my audio system from vintage stereo to up to date digital audio receiver 5.1 . Due to a budget limitation I kept using same 4 speakers I used in The A and B speakers terminals of my stereo. So I assumed that the same speakers position will be good for the Denon AVR1611. Totally wrong and result was terrible. Later on I added a center speaker and setting the other speakers in the right position thing got better. LOL!
Thanks for watching!
In EU we have power cord witch can be rotating 360` in wall. If you rotated out of phase sound be bad. You lose bass and sound image would be small and no dynamical.
Bullshit
@@ekimandersom4478
No man,we don't talk about cow's and bull's and that village stuff, we talking about audio equipment, electronics....
Amazing video thank you. I'm subscribed!
A recent mistake I made: I’m just getting back into audio and recently upgraded my speakers from some ancient Polks to the Klipsch rp600m. These were the first speakers I’ve ever owned with dual inputs. At some point as I was playing around with placement and cables I knocked one of the interconnect bars loose. My ears told me something was wrong but it took days to figure out.
Consider buying used high end gear you can very often get more for your money. Like buying a used car let someone else take the depreciation hit and you get higher quality gear for peanuts prices
Who else has been filling speaker stands with sand since 1983 ???
Did that in the 60's. My Dad and I built speaker cabinets with inner and outer panels and filled the gap between the two wood panels with fine sand....
English speaker companies did it in the 1960s.
Another thing. Use the watts for dynamics, peaks and quality, and not for playing excessively loud.
Great tip!
Exactly! 99 percent of the time, your amp should be putting out 1% of its capability.
Glad you focused #1 on your ears. For me, it's the only thing that's important, the rest (specs, performance, reviews, etc) doesn't really matter. Also, spit out my toothpaste laughing at polarity inversion. Thanks from Colorado.
Just might go to World wide stereo today!😇🤗😉😬
My metal speaker stands are filled with metal... Made from BMW six cylinder crankshafts... Which also keeps two BMW's of the road. Your welcome ;-)
👏👏👏
Has anyone had their tweeters crackle during any certain movies? Harry Potter being one of them. And I've tried all crossover points
I can't believe how many times I made the polarity mistake...and I'm the diy fix it type. To err is human! Most times I was rushing or had other things going on.
I think the most important thing is build quality. I dont want to pay big bucks for a speaker that will blow if you crank it to 11
That’s a good one indeed!
"I wonder if that would improve the sound." 🤔
😅😂🤣
The *BIGGEST* mistake for audiophiles is they forget to test their hearing. Their ears are the weakest link.
Wow so true 👏👏👏
Do blind test, AB comparison or ABC comparison. Don't let anyone fool you, *including yourself.*
Bill Y. Two foolish posts! 1) your ears are what they are. It’s the equipment you cannot change so while testing tells you something so what? 2) yes we can be fooled but we’ve evolved by trusting our senses. They are pretty damn good. That’s how we survived. Blind testing often leads to stupid results because it’s not how we listen or consume music. Learn the pitfalls, avoid the mistakes, trust your ears.
I need to buy some golden ears...
@@AnalogPlanet IDK but there's something happens with your ears after a while, I can understand and differentiate between nicely compressed and overly compressed music. Over compressed music throws me off now
When demoing new stuff, bring your own music!
Great advice!
but leave the Oasis at home eh?
Reverse polarity, a classic nightmare... yes, happened to me twice...on one occasion I found the polarity internally reversed, right on the crossover and no not part of the design...the other time was when I had made my first real hi-end speaker purchase...$7000 a pair only to discover there's no bass at my listening position but if I stood at my front door, there was loads of bass... I knew that sitting here indefinitely was not an option...lol...all of this was emphasized even more because I had a designated and acoustically treated listening room...for a moment there, I was going to tear all my panels out...yikes! ...why is this happening...I began looking and pacing, looking and pacing ...then with a huge smile, I finally discovered my mistake...for weeks after I could be seen standing at the doorway, each time feeling somewhat embarrassed but relieved.
Isoacoustics products are extremely cost effective. Gaia feet, Orea pucks; these things are great.
Agreed! Use them on a lot of stuff.
Resolution for 2020: Like what I like. Like stuff to sound like I want it to sound. No "how the artist intended." No "highly resolved." No BS snake oil crap. I want it to sound the way I like it. Abosolute Sound had an old saying years ago: All else is boat anchors. HNY, Ron.
Thanks Joe!
Sounds like you want to get rid of addiction😂😂
@Larry Niles depends on the snake oil. Spray to improve the sound of your CDs, Power cables, audiophile fuses, USB cables, HDMI cables, RJ45 cables at extortionate cost now there is a load of snake oil. Oh the biggest, speaker cable burn in, question then, over time does the speaker cable burn out? 😂 sadly this audiophile stuff comes accross as audio OCD. Listen to the music and enjoy. Stop chasing nonsense. All you need is nice quality cables to a point, after that there is no gain whatsoever. However, feel free to spend your hard earned cash anyway you like. Better improvement in sound can be had by speaker placement, room treatment, upgrading hardware etc.. Each to their own.
Andy Abraham ..you forgot the old battery,sir!!!
@@georgemendoza3798 😂
The biggest audiophile mistake I have ever witnessed was the time my sub-moronic college roommate “sold” his Luxman L-550 amp for a bag of weed.
LOL I did always read articles from reviewer who did write in a hi-fi magazine and when he criticized something, I know I had to listen to it:-)
He simply loved the B&W 801, Magnaplaner and other speakers like that, he were all about details and only details. I were all about musicality and details were something that you may get also, but not as important as musicality:-)
Not all loudspeakers need to be pulled from the walls some are designed for near-wall or corner placements and many horns due to controlled radiation patterns do not need to be pulled out from the wall.
Love it! Great advice. Another is don't look at gear individually, break your system into parts: room and speakers; speakers and amp; turntable, tonearm, cartridge and phono preamp, for example. Synergy in each group will make the sum better than the parts.
I can understand why people do not have the time to fully learn electronics but it is well worth the time and effort invested. I think the #1 mistake is not learning the reality of this phenomenon. Then again I do not consider myself to be an audiophile, even though I train with Golden Ears. ;)
My speaker stands are mdf but my speakers are almost 30 lbs each. Would you still recommend filling them?
Didn't think it'd ever happen but a couple weeks ago I got some transparent cable and thought it sounded awful. Turns out I had my polarity wrong and my L/R channels switched. I was just so excited. Sounds great again
Yep we’ve all been there
Great video had my fair share of mistake now have a system I spent £8000 in 2012 and am enjoying to the max into2020. Been in home cinema since 1996.
A cheapo tip from the UK. - source was HiFi World iirc. Go to Maplins and buy their hard rubber feet as used by DIY radio nuts. They're about 50p each and really do the trick at isolating your CD player, turntable etc. They're exactly the right diameter, they work really well.
There's only one problem, Maplin went bust a few years ago. Perhaps they should have called themselves "Maplin HiFi" and sold them at £150 a set.
I do miss Maplins👍
The biggest mistake they make, is calling themselves audiophiles....
Myself, am a sound enthusiast...
^^^ he gets it ^^^
Yeah I'm guessing calling that cringes you, that's the case with me as well, I call myself HiFi enthusiast.
I have a question if you are able to answer it for me? If I really cannot move my speakers six feet from the wall Will adding wall absorbing material and sound insulation panels help? If so to what degree. Thank you for all of your brilliant suggestions.
Custom home guy here and this topic could be its own video: if you are remodeling your room to run cables or if you are building a room or home, DO NOT run your low voltage communication wire with the high volt - EVER! Keep it at least 16” away when running parallel - stay a bay away - or shield your low voltage wire in conduit. You may know this and it may make a ton of sense to your audience but it’s amazing how many electricians don’t know or practice this. I’ve witnessed high volt and low volt running through the same stud holes. This is what you don’t want. If you are going to have your electrician do the low volt, grill the shit out of them on what they know. Always best to call us home entertainment specialists any day. Conduit is cheap and effective!
Ok the cooked rice thing is hilarious.
Would using soft white vinyl erasers between my speakers & the stand top plates act like a cheap alternative to iso acoustics isolation feet?
Hate to but in but Micky Hart Planet Drum recording was all about whacking steel beams and anything else he could get his hands on. 30 years on it still stands out as one of the best audiophile recording ever.
Speakers should be screwed to the stand, proper height 32 to 36 inches aim for between the tweeter and main driver, polarity right hand rule the terminal to the right is positive visual check 9 volt battery touch the terminals + to the right the woofer moves out your good to go. Spikes pass thank you very much 90% of the warmth of a tube amp is harmonic feedback through the tubes. Room problems equalize that sucker something you should always have in any system is a equalizer, art of noise my friend. Pulling speakers out to lessen the noise of the cabinet bouncing off the wall see eq above. Audition takes about 10 sec's to figure that one out if you have to listen hard to hear a speaker pass on it a good speaker will show it's true colors in seconds.
Good vid thxs.