Hey,
For about three months now, I was learning about Hi-Fi trying to know how you create a setup, and for the most part, I've got the grasp of it but there are some things that are still a total mess in my mind and I don't know how the hell you can choose without making an A-B testing which is impossible if you don't have a ton of money or have someone that can let you try... Let me resume what I understood and didn't understand about everything :
First the drivers :
Headphones: Quite easy to know if it's good or not, first you can check measurements that are quite consistent since it doesn't depend on the room where it's used. then the audio signature, which can please some people while displeasing others, so that's purely subjective. You can also choose for the technology (planar, dynamic, electrostatic, amt) but the technology doesn't mean everything since a good dynamic is better than a bad planar. And finally, the item himself is comfortable, well build, etc. Most reviewers can give you a good idea for all of that
IEM: Overall it's the same that headphones.
Cable: Some people still believe that it makes a difference, some study says that it doesn't, some says that it does, my take on it if it didn't change anything on my Blessing 2, except the look and the fact that it doesn't tangle as much. So I don't think it changes anything for a common mortal like me.
Speaker: Here is the first problematic one, the measurements are quite hard to verify since it depends a lot on the testing room, I would say that as the headphones you should try to find a sound signature that pleases you, but since there's no 100% valid measurements for your room the only way to know for sure is to test it in your room. And it's even worse when you try to compare with reviewers since someone like cheapaudioman will rank it for the value, while Z review ranks it for his taste, both are great but sometimes contradict themselves. Then you have someone like Andrew Robinson that sends you a bunch of expensive stuff saying that this is the way. So what should I believe? That the Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 SE Bookshelf Speaker is a better choice than the KEF LS50?
The only thing I can be sure of is some universally acclaimed speakers that seem to tend to my tastes (like the Klipsch RP-600m) but even then I have the impression to pick it blindly.
Now the funny part... the electronic
First, the DAC: Well, a lot of people say that it's snake oil, and from what I could try (some USB interface and DAC) it doesn't change the sound at all (positively I mean, a bad DAC can impact negatively). So, from what I understood, you should take anything that has a neutral impact and have the features needed for what you want (in terms of connections and options) and that's about it. And since I would take an integrated amp to decrease the cost I didn't pay more mind to it but I don't think there's that much more about it.
Now the speaker AMP: and here it is the thing that I don't get at all. In theory, the amp is just a device that amplifies the signal of the source. Until there, it's quite simple, so you need an amplifier powerful enough for the speaker to work. To know that you need to look at the maximal watt that can take the speaker and the decibel sensitivity to know how much power you need. Alright, but then, you need the electronics to be good enough to avoid the noise and the distortion. But modern electronics should be enough in nearly every amp to do so, and it's not even that costly, so why in the world would I buy a 10k+ amp from McIntosh? If I ask that most people will answer me that "it sounds better" but if the signal is amplified 1 to 1 it shouldn't have any effects since the goal is to allow the speaker himself to express his sound signature, doesn't it? Furthermore, how the hell am I supposed to know what amp works with what speaker since I don't have all of them in front of me to A B test them. So yeah, all I know: the amp needs enough power to power the speaker, enough connections to get everything plugged in, and good enough to avoid distortion and noise.
The headphone amp: same thing as the speaker one, except that I feel like nearly every amp got enough power for headphones, well for the questions is about the same as above
Equalizer: Anything different from a built-in equalizer from the source?
AVR, USB interface: Well, I see them as a "plug it all in this and it'll work", it does everything but not as well as separate units (usually)
So what am I not aware of? Do you have any well-made guide or something like that?
For about three months now, I was learning about Hi-Fi trying to know how you create a setup, and for the most part, I've got the grasp of it but there are some things that are still a total mess in my mind and I don't know how the hell you can choose without making an A-B testing which is impossible if you don't have a ton of money or have someone that can let you try... Let me resume what I understood and didn't understand about everything :
First the drivers :
Headphones: Quite easy to know if it's good or not, first you can check measurements that are quite consistent since it doesn't depend on the room where it's used. then the audio signature, which can please some people while displeasing others, so that's purely subjective. You can also choose for the technology (planar, dynamic, electrostatic, amt) but the technology doesn't mean everything since a good dynamic is better than a bad planar. And finally, the item himself is comfortable, well build, etc. Most reviewers can give you a good idea for all of that
IEM: Overall it's the same that headphones.
Cable: Some people still believe that it makes a difference, some study says that it doesn't, some says that it does, my take on it if it didn't change anything on my Blessing 2, except the look and the fact that it doesn't tangle as much. So I don't think it changes anything for a common mortal like me.
Speaker: Here is the first problematic one, the measurements are quite hard to verify since it depends a lot on the testing room, I would say that as the headphones you should try to find a sound signature that pleases you, but since there's no 100% valid measurements for your room the only way to know for sure is to test it in your room. And it's even worse when you try to compare with reviewers since someone like cheapaudioman will rank it for the value, while Z review ranks it for his taste, both are great but sometimes contradict themselves. Then you have someone like Andrew Robinson that sends you a bunch of expensive stuff saying that this is the way. So what should I believe? That the Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 SE Bookshelf Speaker is a better choice than the KEF LS50?
The only thing I can be sure of is some universally acclaimed speakers that seem to tend to my tastes (like the Klipsch RP-600m) but even then I have the impression to pick it blindly.
Now the funny part... the electronic
First, the DAC: Well, a lot of people say that it's snake oil, and from what I could try (some USB interface and DAC) it doesn't change the sound at all (positively I mean, a bad DAC can impact negatively). So, from what I understood, you should take anything that has a neutral impact and have the features needed for what you want (in terms of connections and options) and that's about it. And since I would take an integrated amp to decrease the cost I didn't pay more mind to it but I don't think there's that much more about it.
Now the speaker AMP: and here it is the thing that I don't get at all. In theory, the amp is just a device that amplifies the signal of the source. Until there, it's quite simple, so you need an amplifier powerful enough for the speaker to work. To know that you need to look at the maximal watt that can take the speaker and the decibel sensitivity to know how much power you need. Alright, but then, you need the electronics to be good enough to avoid the noise and the distortion. But modern electronics should be enough in nearly every amp to do so, and it's not even that costly, so why in the world would I buy a 10k+ amp from McIntosh? If I ask that most people will answer me that "it sounds better" but if the signal is amplified 1 to 1 it shouldn't have any effects since the goal is to allow the speaker himself to express his sound signature, doesn't it? Furthermore, how the hell am I supposed to know what amp works with what speaker since I don't have all of them in front of me to A B test them. So yeah, all I know: the amp needs enough power to power the speaker, enough connections to get everything plugged in, and good enough to avoid distortion and noise.
The headphone amp: same thing as the speaker one, except that I feel like nearly every amp got enough power for headphones, well for the questions is about the same as above
Equalizer: Anything different from a built-in equalizer from the source?
AVR, USB interface: Well, I see them as a "plug it all in this and it'll work", it does everything but not as well as separate units (usually)
So what am I not aware of? Do you have any well-made guide or something like that?
Last edited: