rupy
Active Member
My thread is basically for the interest of most of us who love to enjoy their favorite music but cannot afford the equipment which can do its job well. I want to generate a healthy discussion among all the music and hi-fi literate. I feel that there is a lot of hype in the hi-fi world. I would broadly quantify the hi-fi /music enthusiasts in two broad categories. The ones who genuinely are fond of music and enjoy listening to it, and the others who are basically fond of showing off their costly possessions. (Mine is bigger than yours).
I started off as a DIY in my school days,(70's) when I converted my HMV Fiesta record player (it had a built in mono amp) into a stereo, by adding a stereo cartridge and inputting the other channel into a Philips radio. Both were tube type circuits. Well I did achieve some sort of a stereo. The quest to improve started from that time onwards. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then, and I found that there is a lot of confusion in the hi-fi world.Here; big firms generally overshadow talent, as big names sell.
What is hi-fi? Can we get the same acoustic environment of the recording studio/live performance in the drawing room? I have heard some expensive well matched stuff, but I certainly did not get the same expansive sound environment at the listening environment, of a live recording being played say, in the Royal Albert Hall. Yes, the instruments did sound exact, yes there was a bit of the energy of the performance too, but nothing else to match the real thing. The best part is that the same equipment being played in another acoustic environment sounds different.
By adding my too bits, I feel that recorded music being played should first and foremost be immensely likeable to the listener, according to his taste. Thereafter there should be the presence of the music. The sound staging which we generally hear people talking about just cannot be the same and that too in different listening environments. There are too many imponderables in the normal listening environments which most of us have. I still have a clear memory of listening to a Philips (made in France) record player stereo system with open back speakers. The thing sounded beautiful. That was years back indeed. And I am sure that if you measure specs, they would not impress many. May be that the listening environment was ideal for it.
Also, when hunting for hi-fi gear, it is very difficult to match different equipment to each other as each have different characteristics. Why not just consider a same brand system as each component is pre-matched. The only thing left to do is perhaps to see whether it suits your listening environment.
How about some DIY/small time manufacturers who have already attained sonic nirvana with building an affordable and matching set up. Any weaknesses in playing different genres of music can easily be compensated by a good headphone played through a good headphone amp, integrated into the system. Like to seek enlightenment from all ye who have grayed in this field.
I started off as a DIY in my school days,(70's) when I converted my HMV Fiesta record player (it had a built in mono amp) into a stereo, by adding a stereo cartridge and inputting the other channel into a Philips radio. Both were tube type circuits. Well I did achieve some sort of a stereo. The quest to improve started from that time onwards. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then, and I found that there is a lot of confusion in the hi-fi world.Here; big firms generally overshadow talent, as big names sell.
What is hi-fi? Can we get the same acoustic environment of the recording studio/live performance in the drawing room? I have heard some expensive well matched stuff, but I certainly did not get the same expansive sound environment at the listening environment, of a live recording being played say, in the Royal Albert Hall. Yes, the instruments did sound exact, yes there was a bit of the energy of the performance too, but nothing else to match the real thing. The best part is that the same equipment being played in another acoustic environment sounds different.
By adding my too bits, I feel that recorded music being played should first and foremost be immensely likeable to the listener, according to his taste. Thereafter there should be the presence of the music. The sound staging which we generally hear people talking about just cannot be the same and that too in different listening environments. There are too many imponderables in the normal listening environments which most of us have. I still have a clear memory of listening to a Philips (made in France) record player stereo system with open back speakers. The thing sounded beautiful. That was years back indeed. And I am sure that if you measure specs, they would not impress many. May be that the listening environment was ideal for it.
Also, when hunting for hi-fi gear, it is very difficult to match different equipment to each other as each have different characteristics. Why not just consider a same brand system as each component is pre-matched. The only thing left to do is perhaps to see whether it suits your listening environment.
How about some DIY/small time manufacturers who have already attained sonic nirvana with building an affordable and matching set up. Any weaknesses in playing different genres of music can easily be compensated by a good headphone played through a good headphone amp, integrated into the system. Like to seek enlightenment from all ye who have grayed in this field.
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