EDIT: After this thread has been around for a while, I realized that some of these are not advice one can give to their younger self as certain things didn't existed back then (such as spinaroma.org). So I am changing this to advice one can give to your younger self or to those new to the hobby.
Here is the list of HiFi advice I wish I could have given to my younger self:
1) Speakers makes the most difference, spend most of your budget on your speakers despite the fact that electronics may come across as sexier for some people.
1a) Know that the overwhelming vast majority of the time, the speaker's sound performance corresponds to the measurements. Do not buy any speakers that either the manufacturer does not publish their measurements or the speaker has not been properly measured by a reputable third party (or both). Some of these reputable third party for speaker measurements includes, ASR, Erin's Audio Corner, Audioholics and Soungstage (although rather limited in data). And most of that can be found on spinorama.org.
1b) Know that some manufacturers avoid getting their speakers measure.
1c) Spend time and effort to understand speaker measurements and how speaker works, I am constantly learning just by watching Erin's videos. I personally find that this Audioholics article by James Larson is an excellent starting point. As a side note, I find a lot of newbies making this mistake: if you hear any speakers in the showroom or anywhere else that produces a lot of "detail," know that this "detail" is really nothing more than elevated high frequency and can cause listening fatigue. For me personally, elevated high frequency is ear piercing torture after 20 mins.
2) Using REW to measure in room response and tweak with DSP and room treatment can make a big difference. Most of us don't have the luxury to make our listening space the perfect space, so by having room treatment, it can "correct" some of these room acoustic issues. To be transparent, I still haven't gotten around to doing this myself, but I have witness the before and after with other people and holy moly, what a difference it can make for some situations.
3) This one is trivial but sometimes emotions can cloud one's judgement: Don't always buy into brand recognition and brand history, some of the less marketed products are better, such as Ascend Acoustics, Benchmark, Philharmonic Audio, Hypex and other new generation of Class D amps and of course the Chinese brands (you know the usual suspects), they offer phenomenal value.
4) When in doubt, follow the science (but don't let science suppress personal preference).
5) Do it right the first time around, otherwise, it will cost you more in the end. I was cheap buying equipment and other things, but after all of the selling to upgrade, I must have lost thousands of dollars over the years, whereas I could of afford the more expensive equipment from the start but I was just being cheap.
What advice would you give to your younger self or to someone new to the hobby?
Here is the list of HiFi advice I wish I could have given to my younger self:
1) Speakers makes the most difference, spend most of your budget on your speakers despite the fact that electronics may come across as sexier for some people.
1a) Know that the overwhelming vast majority of the time, the speaker's sound performance corresponds to the measurements. Do not buy any speakers that either the manufacturer does not publish their measurements or the speaker has not been properly measured by a reputable third party (or both). Some of these reputable third party for speaker measurements includes, ASR, Erin's Audio Corner, Audioholics and Soungstage (although rather limited in data). And most of that can be found on spinorama.org.
1b) Know that some manufacturers avoid getting their speakers measure.
1c) Spend time and effort to understand speaker measurements and how speaker works, I am constantly learning just by watching Erin's videos. I personally find that this Audioholics article by James Larson is an excellent starting point. As a side note, I find a lot of newbies making this mistake: if you hear any speakers in the showroom or anywhere else that produces a lot of "detail," know that this "detail" is really nothing more than elevated high frequency and can cause listening fatigue. For me personally, elevated high frequency is ear piercing torture after 20 mins.
2) Using REW to measure in room response and tweak with DSP and room treatment can make a big difference. Most of us don't have the luxury to make our listening space the perfect space, so by having room treatment, it can "correct" some of these room acoustic issues. To be transparent, I still haven't gotten around to doing this myself, but I have witness the before and after with other people and holy moly, what a difference it can make for some situations.
3) This one is trivial but sometimes emotions can cloud one's judgement: Don't always buy into brand recognition and brand history, some of the less marketed products are better, such as Ascend Acoustics, Benchmark, Philharmonic Audio, Hypex and other new generation of Class D amps and of course the Chinese brands (you know the usual suspects), they offer phenomenal value.
4) When in doubt, follow the science (but don't let science suppress personal preference).
5) Do it right the first time around, otherwise, it will cost you more in the end. I was cheap buying equipment and other things, but after all of the selling to upgrade, I must have lost thousands of dollars over the years, whereas I could of afford the more expensive equipment from the start but I was just being cheap.
What advice would you give to your younger self or to someone new to the hobby?
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