what sounds 'good' to you?

[Matt J]

All good posts

I too was a regular listener of ghetto blaster type efforts, when I got my first job I upgraded to a kenwood midi system, this was the best thing Ihad heard and I was chuffed to bits with it, then I found out a bloke at work had his own PA type disco thingy at a local rock bar, he used to work for carlsbro as a cabinet maker and made a few bits for himself, he also had a Rotel setup at home, pre, 2 x powers and a denon CDP, cant remember the speakers at the time but it sounded awesome and this was me on the rocky road

What tends to annoy me is people who have a decent wedge to spend, but instead of doing their homework go out and buy a grands worth of the latest lifstyle system, then telling everyone they've got one of the best stereos money can buy :roll:yet the real reason they boughtitis because its the latest thing, all silver and flat panel bollocks and made by a main stream electronics company, not real music lovers IMO, music and hi-fi are a vicious circle, the more you love music the more you convince yourself to spend "a bit more"to hear as much as you can, the more you hear the more you spend next time etc.....

If funds dried up and I was hard pushed I think I could happily live with something that cost me £300 or less to put together, this will still see off 99.9% of new mini/midi/micro box crap of the same price and let you enjoy the music.

 

[Jim]

When i aquired a Sony micro system i thought this sounds better than my separates system. At the time i was suffering from wax in one ear. After having it syringed i realised one my speakers was'nt working it was a dry joint in one of the speaker plugs. What a twonker for thinking a micro sounded better than my separates.

 

[Ant]

What sounds 'good' and what I could live with on a day to day basis are very different things.

I like to listen to my second system which cost me 200 quid.

My main system I like to listen to and can live with on a day to day.

Neither however FULLY satisfy my need for emotional attatchment and the like.

 

[Anthony]

i keep on coming back to this thread and try and answer the question, but I think I just don't know what sounds good or not until I am there hearing it. can't define it, it's an emotional thing.

 

[bazza]

We went to one of the Grand Designs shows at Excel last year and there was a company(can't remember who)showing off these new speeks,some large pseudo surround jobs and me and the other half stood there listening(she actually said to me 'does this sound horrrible,or is it me?").A sales guy came over all smiles and said what do you think? I just gave him the thumbs down and walked off;the look on his face was a picture;thing is though there was obviously a lot of people there who thought it sounded good and this stuff wasn't cheap either so i dunno what they would make of a good system.

 

[The Strat]

I've got a friend of mine lovely guy - and probably more obsessed with music than yours truly but he maintained that he would never tell any difference between his Sony midi and my set up. Eventually he and his wife came round one evening he went out gobsmacked (and his wife = reeling when she asked the cost!!) at what he heard. He then said he had to have aNaim/Dyna system nothing else could be that good. He went to a couple of demos - came home with some 2nd hand Dyn Contour 1.3s but with a Rega P3/Rega CDP and Naim 5i amp.

The fact that he now gets so much from his collection (believe me massive) and nor that he followed my path blindly but made his own choices based on his own evaluation makes me feel really good.

 

[ErikFH]

fini wrote:

Tons of people on here have commented on how once they heard a better sounding system than there's they get the upgrade bug majorly, but my question is what level of hi-fi do you have to go to before YOU personally think it sounds 'good'?

Ultimately wouldn't be able tolive with theless than€ 10k system that is now in place. All upgrades simply served toreach a certain level ofreproductionthat allows oflistening to records, and enjoyingthem, around the clock. A good system shouldlead up topurchase of new recordsthatwillalways soundgoodwhen played.Took more time and much more funds then expected whenstarted eight years back, but happily can conclude it was worth the effort. If you know what you want thenmore investmentscan result in more musical satisfaction.

 

[hifinut]

My 1st REAL hifi came in the form of s/h kit B&W 601 QED cables some reasonable stands £150 ish? on concreate slabs,Marantz amp with biwire terminals £80Marantz cd63se new cost £180 Pioneer tuner £10 sounded V good and I added some VDH 103mk2 ic's £80 had £30 shark wires too.

Also used some brass spikes on cd and it imaged much better even this sounded whey beyond any mp3 crap and Currys/Dixons etc special

This system sounded like real hifi at the time 7-8 years ago then it just progressed to better and more expence :shocked:till Im where I am now with £10,000 worth of kit that cost a 3rd of that s/h

 

[Boxer]

If pushed I could live with something a lot cheaper, eg a basicall Rega set-up, which is highly musical.

However.....I know what I hear & feel from more expensive stuff and would be loth to do so, unfortunately for the bank balance, but happily for the ears etc.

Boxer

PS In my experience those who've said they can't hear a difference between any of my kit & their music centre/mini systemaren't actually too bothered about music anyway...

 

[mikedefacto]

Oneof my mates is very much into his music, largely different tastes than me but he is very much a record collector and treats his collection seriously.

He has a system cobbled together from old bits and bats with some deadful speakers and frankly it sounds completely shit, probably because of those awful speakers but he likes them because they are big and make a noise.

He was after a new CD player rcently.I reckoned I could find him something second hand and fairly decentupto about 50 quid, hoping that it would open his ears a bit, encourage him to put his hand in his moth-infested pocket and treat his music collection to something it is worthy of being played on.

But no.. yesterday he goes and buys a heap of junk for 8 quid off the car boot and now he's happy... so I give up now.

 

[Mr Coherent]

Just real music.

Not the soft soggy shite I've been forced to listen too for the 20 years or so.

 

[boseman]

What sounds good?

You can only answer for yourself because it is totally subjective.

We all have different expectations, experiences, priorities and budgets.

Here's anotherangle on audiophiles & hifi, which I find amusing:

http://www.cyclesoft.com/Audiophile.html

 

[hifinut]

boseman wrote:

What sounds good?You can only answer for yourself because it is totally subjective.

We all have different expectations, experiences, priorities and budgets.

Here's anotherangle on audiophiles & hifi, which I find amusing:

http://www.cyclesoft.com/Audiophile.html

:rofl:

:rofl:

:rofl:

:rofl:

:rofl:

:rofl:

:rofl:

:rofl:

:rofl:

 

[uzzy]

It is not just price it marrying kit together.

A little Cambirdge seperates system from Richer Sounds will blow away anything you sell in your shop I guess but the problem is the people you are selling to will have the speakers in opposing corners of the room, probably on the floor or up in a bookcase and they are not in love with music.

My daughter wanted a System for her bedroom so I got her a Pioneer A400 amp for £50 a pioneer fm tuner for £50. She had my old Pioneer 802 cd player and we got a pair of Systym bookshelf speakers (used to retail for about £300 and got a 5 star in what hi fi and made by the Systemdek Boys before they became Art) and it sounds bloody wonderful.

My question to anyone would be how many hours a day do you listen to music and could you live without it? If the answer is more than an hour and no I couldn't live without it, then you have a chance at getting them to explore how good it can sound.

Having said that they sit in front of some cheap telly for hours and hours each day and do not seem to see that the picture is far inferior to the Sony or Panasonic telly they turned down in favour of the Matsui or Bush telly they did eventually buy.

None so strange as folk

Uzzy

 

[syep2001]

I still regard my first Hifi as one of the best things I had heard, that was the budgetist of budget Kenwood KAF1010 Amp, Marantz CD40 CD Player, and Mission 702e's.

Budget Hifi is where music can most be enjoyed, just today I have the £2500 worth of kit playing through some £14 Wharfedale Diamond III's, and I'm blown away. I do believe you need a good source, source makes most difference IME.

 

[Puffin]

Mikedefacto, has really hit the nail on the head. 99% of the population of the world don't actuallycare about the quality of the sound they listen to. As long as they can hear it, whether that be at a million mega watts or through a crap transistor radio, all they want to hear is the music they like and probably sing along to, in which case their tone deaf wailing will drown out the music coming from the sock in the corner.

The select few "golden ears" who strive for musical perfection (or what in their opinion constitutes prefection) are an absolute minority and a dying breed. I have derived much more pleasure from makng my own Hi-Fi and tweaking existing components than spending thousands of pounds on trying to reach audion nirvana. The problem is that when you get there you don't realise it and strive for the next level.

So, what sounds good to me. My tweaked Sonic Impact Amp (29$ plus a few £'s spent on it) Absolutely stunning. Home made Fostex full range speakers in temporary Bass Reflex cabs. Back loaded Horn cabs are being built as we speak. Have a look at the Fostex web site for details.

 

[uzzy]

I do not think we are a dying breed. At the exhibitions thereis always new blood and I think that we have more youth that can play a musical instrument than we have ever had and they know how their instruments should sound.

There will never be massive growth but we will see no decline because anyone who loves their music will tell the difference and will seek out better systems.

As to building your own, this is nothing knew and has been a cult thing for years. I still have a fond love for my old Rogers PRO 9TL which replaced my Gale GS401s and went threw a number of changes to crossover and drive units until they were replaced by the Impressions. One thing a transmission line will do for you is give you a tasteof real bass (although certain frequencies may excite the line).

As long as you enjoy it go for it - and there are not many of us with the funds to spend thousands and thousands on hi fi but the sad thing is when you hear a pair of Art Impressions you will die for a pair.

Uzzy

 

[Geordie]

I've honestly never understood these people who have huge music collections, and claim that music is so important to them, and then listen to it on a complete POS.

Its like being a movie fan and watching movies on a VHS deck into an ancient 14" CRT. Or liking driving, and driving around in a Daewoo Matiz. I just cannot get my head around it.

Most people claim to be ignorant on it, saying they dont need anything good. Well nobody really needs any such luxuries, but if you can spend a bit more and get something so significantly better, then why not? Would these music fans not enjoy their music so much more if they just spent a bit more and they could get a proper hifi.

Recently, I had a mate come around for a listen. Prior to that, he was used to using a £30 tesco 5.1 DVD player and speakers for his music. To be fair, for what it was, it didnt sound that bad, but compared to all but the most badly matched seperates, it sounded appalling. Yet he was happy with it.

When he listened to mine, I am not exagerrating when I say he was utterly stunned. He sat and listened for hours and I could not tear him away. That said, it didnt make him want to go out and buy his own.

But then, he's not a massive music fan anyway, but he admitted after hearing mine that if he was, he would spend the money on a decent one.

Thing is, my system was not that expensive. Excluding the headphone rig, my system is made up of second hand components, or at least good value components. £250 on a DAC and £200 on a squeezebox are the two items that really push its value up, but in honesty, you could get a good CD deck for no more than a couple of hundred quid, i shouldnt wonder. My amp and speakers cost £230 including delivery. I paid about £20 for my speaker cable (Van Damme), and an average of about £15 per interconnect. Not much more than about £700. If you take that relatively expensive source front end out of the equation, then you could probably get a really good system for £500 or less.

That might be a lot for some people, but then i've seen people pay £350 for a crap argos hifi with flashing lights on it and speakers made out of plastic. I dare say the seperates will outlast the argos hifi too.

OK, its took me a while to get a system that is truly satisfying to my ears, but I have now, and I would be more than willing to help anyone who is genuinely interested to build a decent system for not much money.

I think a lot of people think that hifi is a niche hobby that is taken up only by rich people with too much money, but i am not rich by any means, and by sticking to the second hand market, its almost free. It does not depreciate much, if at all, and may even appreciate in value if you get a bargain.

The same cannot be said of an argos special. I got a Sony micro system many years ago from Comet, quite a nice looking model it was too, much more classy than most of the stuff available in there, and paid £300 for it. I managed to get just £50 for it when i sold it a good few years back. If that had been a second hand £300 seperates, chances are i would have got my money back.

 

[stickman]

182-Geordie wrote:

I've honestly never understood these people who have huge music collections, and claim that music is so important to them, and then listen to it on a complete POS.

I think you completely miss the point. Musical enjoyment is not related to the amount you've spent on or of the quality of the kit you own. On the forums I frequent, you tend to find that those who post most in the music section are those least interested in the "next big thing" kit-wise.

The components in my main system have a combined RRP of >£20,000 (thank f*ck for the 2nd hand market), but due to working away from home, I spend more time listening to an iPod Nano, Pioneer SA9500, Optonica ST3636and Pioneer CS905, with a combined cost of <£250.

The main system does identify a lot more on the recording and present a vastly superior soundsage, but it doesn't make me listen to music anymore.

 

[stickman]

Edited to add:

The best way to enjoy the kit you have is not to read mags, go to shows or read forums where every f*cker is posting a "Look what I've just bought" thread.