The Ultra-Fi thread

[PITTM]

fwiw I am 100% sure cabling makes a difference. I have a/b'd my headphones blind with a couple different cables and there were noticeable differences, mostly wrt warmth and detail. However, I would certainly agree that tons of expensive cables are worthless. This again, is another reason you dont just buy based on brand. My dad still thinks monster cabling makes his systems way better, whereas if i took some microphone cabling with decent connectors and did some soldering it would normally sound better than monster cables. Dont fall for marketing, you have to do research and actually listen to different things to see for yourself.

[tsearcher]

Would an average person be able to hear the difference between the ultra high fi and say a midrange system? Do you need some special physical gift for hearing. Would a middle aged person be be able to hear this stuff? Additionally, would you have to be a musician yourself to really appreciate this?

[Nielsio]

[ QUOTE ]
Would an average person be able to hear the difference between the ultra high fi and say a midrange system? Do you need some special physical gift for hearing. Would a middle aged person be be able to hear this stuff? Additionally, would you have to be a musician yourself to really appreciate this?

[/ QUOTE ]


Have you ever listened to a song on the radio in your car and mistook it for a real concert?


Clearly, the answer is yes (to your question). However, there is such a thing as training your ear. Another thing is appreciation. Some people might hear an insanely good system yet don't give a censored and continue with their life as usual. So what matters there is the appreciation of music. Some people didn't grow up with it and don't even understand it. For others it can make them cry as they get really into the music. And again for others they might enjoy music tremendously yet still have a crappy system at home. What is the case there I think is that they've probably never been decently introduced to a good system and shown the differences in sound and experience. For me personally I can be moved at home as I could be live. On that end I really enjoy DVD of live concerts, so you get the whole thing.


PS. I'm listening to Mozart - Requiem album at the moment, on headphones, and it's giving me shivers all over.

[mosta]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Would an average person be able to hear the difference between the ultra high fi and say a midrange system? Do you need some special physical gift for hearing. Would a middle aged person be be able to hear this stuff? Additionally, would you have to be a musician yourself to really appreciate this?

[/ QUOTE ]


Have you ever listened to a song on the radio in your car and mistook it for a real concert?

...

PS. I'm listening to Mozart - Requiem album at the moment, on headphones, and it's giving me shivers all over.

[/ QUOTE ]

I spent a couple grand to get a decent (you might disagree...) system. But I'm not sure I should have b/c the things that give me shivers tend more often to be things like WWII era bootlegs of long dead conductors. Can the same person be into that and into finding the speakers that make, say, the just perfect shimmer of a brushed cymbal? When you're into "music" over the sound (though of course they're not ever separate), can you ever have the audiophile ear? It's hard to evaluate the timbre of a brass section when what you fixate on is the harmony and the counterpoint, eg.

And as far as cables etc go, the frustrating thing for me is that when I dismiss, say, power cord mongers, I then see that it's the same people designing amps (eg PS Audio). So if they're FOS on cords, why take their amps seriously? And can you trust anything? (Yeah, you want to listen yourself...but for some it's hard to have much opportunity to audition and compare.)

[Nielsio]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Would an average person be able to hear the difference between the ultra high fi and say a midrange system? Do you need some special physical gift for hearing. Would a middle aged person be be able to hear this stuff? Additionally, would you have to be a musician yourself to really appreciate this?

[/ QUOTE ]


Have you ever listened to a song on the radio in your car and mistook it for a real concert?

...

PS. I'm listening to Mozart - Requiem album at the moment, on headphones, and it's giving me shivers all over.

[/ QUOTE ]

I spent a couple grand to get a decent (you might disagree...) system. But I'm not sure I should have b/c the things that give me shivers tend more often to be things like WWII era bootlegs of long dead conductors. Can the same person be into that and into finding the speakers that make, say, the just perfect shimmer of a brushed cymbal? When you're into "music" over the sound (though of course they're not ever separate), can you ever have the audiophile ear? It's hard to evaluate the timbre of a brass section when what you fixate on is the harmony and the counterpoint, eg.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not following. If you love music, then hearing the music distorted is going to degrade your experience. It's like watching at a beautiful sunset with sunglasses.

For example: would you rather listen to the bootleg or would you rather hear it right there in the concerthall, in the best seat?

[suzzer99]

When I worked at the high-end audio store, we sold a $400 gold tipped cable that connected the CD player to the main unit. AFAIK this is a pure digital connection. I assumed it was pretty much a scam. Please discuss.

[suzzer99]

Also I think if I became a big audiophile, I would still place a ton of importance on the aesthetics of the room. Saying looks don't matter is like saying presentation doesn't matter in fine dining. For humans, the visual experience is a huge component IMO, even if the primary sense involved isn't visual. I'm not sure I'd feel that comfortable sitting in a room with some of this ugly-as-sin stuff or gangly wires running everywhere.

I used to deliver the absolute latest amp, speaker, etc. to this dude who literally lived on his bed in his parents' house. The bed was covered with clothes and [censored] and he had just enough room for himself. With all the speaker crap in the front. It was pretty hilarious/frightening as hell. Bread-and-butter.

[Nielsio]

[ QUOTE ]
Also I think if I became a big audiophile, I would still place a ton of importance on the aesthetics of the room. Saying looks don't matter is like saying presentation doesn't matter in fine dining.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nobody claims this. Please to be trolling elsewhere.

[Nielsio]

[ QUOTE ]
When I worked at the high-end audio store, we sold a $400 gold tipped cable that connected the CD player to the main unit. AFAIK this is a pure digital connection. I assumed it was pretty much a scam. Please discuss.

[/ QUOTE ]


Gold actually conducts worse than other materials (IIRC).