Power, Network, Connection, Which one matters the most to you?

[preston8452]

Hi guys,

When it comes to sound quality, I've realized there're freaking many factors could affect it, some say the DAC is the paramount thing to be taken care of; some say the speakers are the real crucial part, given that you hear all the sounds from them, there's no certain right or wrong here I'd say, after all, " Sound Quality " is absolutely subjective...

I'd like to know which section would you invest more? cuz I read that some power cables are more expensive than speakers, I was pretty impressed by that though, I'm sure the know-how must be real high-class, or some people even rearrange the wire management in the households, or even spend tons of money on router or network switch!

For me, I might invest more on the " Power " part though, I mean, let's face it, all electronic gears require power signals, not just audio system, it's like bloodstream to them, so if the power source is stable & strong enough, I imagine that the high-end audio gears would have better performance(? that's why people use external linear power supply rather than a simple power adaptor hahaha.

Share your insights or your experiences below, I'd be grateful to learn, or telling me what you're looking for to upgrade your system is cool too.

Best,

 

[lovinthehd]

DACs are fairly much a solved situation, as in general are amps; easy to do well with either. Speakers would be where sound quality differences will be found for the most part (along with your room).

The silly wire fetishes in audiophilia are a downright shame. Spending tons of money on "audiophile" wire or digital routing/switches is a great way to waste money.

Gear with a good power supply, built-in or external, can do well with typical power. Power conditioners are often simply a waste of money.

Speakers are the way to go for an upgrade in sq, other gear perhaps for capabilities/connectivity you want/need.....

 

[Swerd]

@preston8452

Welcome to AH! A much simpler approach to your questions:

The Top 10 Things where spending more money translates into audible improvements:

1. Speakers
2. Speakers
3. Speakers
4. Speakers
5. Speakers
6. Speakers
7. Speakers (I'm being conservative stopping at 7th)
8. Quality of musical recording or other sound sources
9. Room acoustic effects
10. Amplifier power (As long as an amp delivers enough juice to drive your speakers without clipping, its good.)

Note that I avoided mention of DACs, preamps, other electronics, external power supplies, or cables of any kind.

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi guys,

When it comes to sound quality, I've realized there're freaking many factors could affect it, some say the DAC is the paramount thing to be taken care of; some say the speakers are the real crucial part, given that you hear all the sounds from them, there's no certain right or wrong here I'd say, after all, " Sound Quality " is absolutely subjective...

I'd like to know which section would you invest more? cuz I read that some power cables are more expensive than speakers, I was pretty impressed by that though, I'm sure the know-how must be real high-class, or some people even rearrange the wire management in the households, or even spend tons of money on router or network switch!

For me, I might invest more on the " Power " part though, I mean, let's face it, all electronic gears require power signals, not just audio system, it's like bloodstream to them, so if the power source is stable & strong enough, I imagine that the high-end audio gears would have better performance(? that's why people use external linear power supply rather than a simple power adaptor hahaha.

Share your insights or your experiences below, I'd be grateful to learn, or telling me what you're looking for to upgrade your system is cool too.

Best,

Who force fed you all that pig's swill and sent your CNS into a tail spin?

Speakers and their integration with the room are 90% at least of the package.

You do need quality peripherals, and good quality amplification of sufficient power. But if your speakers are inaccurate then all is lost whatever else you do.

 

[ryanosaur]

I’ll jump in on this and support what my friends are saying.
Quality electronics only take you so far.
Speakers and the Speaker-Room interaction are primary, and source is next.
If the source is perfect and the Speakers and room interaction is not up to the task, then the source is rendered relatively useless.

 

[NINaudio]

Man, you've asked this question here before in different ways, I'd refer you back to every thread you've started here to get the answer to this question.

I'll sum it up though: the biggest factor on sound quality is your speakers, their placement in your room, and the room itself. Those things will account for 99.9% of your sound quality. The law of diminishing returns hits really fast for cables, power conditioners, "audiophile" network switches, etc etc etc. with some of them being outright lies and a complete waste of money.

 

[Alex2507]

@preston8452

Welcome to AH! A much simpler approach to your questions:

The Top 10 Things where spending more money translates into audible improvements:

1. Speakers
2. Speakers
3. Speakers
4. Speakers
5. Speakers
6. Speakers
7. Speakers (I'm being conservative stopping at 7th)
8. Quality of musical recording or other sound sources
9. Room acoustic effects
10. Amplifier power (As long as an amp delivers enough juice to drive your speakers without clipping, its good.)

Note that I avoided mention of DACs, preamps, other electronics, external power supplies, or cables of any kind.

ELEVEN. Fat speaker wire (not green)

 

[fmw]

@preston8452

Welcome to AH! A much simpler approach to your questions:

The Top 10 Things where spending more money translates into audible improvements:

1. Speakers
2. Speakers
3. Speakers
4. Speakers
5. Speakers
6. Speakers
7. Speakers (I'm being conservative stopping at 7th)
8. Quality of musical recording or other sound sources
9. Room acoustic effects
10. Amplifier power (As long as an amp delivers enough juice to drive your speakers without clipping, its good.)

Note that I avoided mention of DACs, preamps, other electronics, external power supplies, or cables of any kind.

Pretty good opinion. I remember back in the audiophile days I invited a few guys for a listening test. I used them mercilessly to conduct some blind listening tests. I had a lousy listening room. It was smallish and square. I had it full of high end gear. My bedroom, on the other hand is 25 feet long It allows me to put speakers way away from the walls. I had what you would consider mid fi equipment there. In the blind tests the majority of listeners preferred the mid fi gear in the better room.

I might put the room acoustics ahead of the speakers because I know that adding a subwoofer solves most of the problems hi fi speakers have. You can add a sub to most speakers and get more fun than with higher end speakers without a sub.

I remember an argument I had with an audiophile who claimed he could hear sonic differences between various digital interconnects. I asked how that could be since digital interconnects don't transmit waveforms. They transmit data. He couldn't explain his position but he stuck to it. I gave him a double blind test. You guess it. He couldn't tell one from another.

Spend your money on the listening room and the speakers, especially the subwoofer. The rest of the stuff is trivial. Seriously it doesn't really matter that much.