Ok hi-fi nuts - £21 for a rubber band?!

[srw]

A pal of mine used to work on a hi fi magazine; photographer than than editorial. They did a nice article where they looked at 3 musicians' ( classical, rock, and jazz) stereos. Basically they all had crap stereos but because they all had "a good ear" and were musical they concentrated on the music rather than the sound. They did upgrade each system (to something modest rather than exotica)and of course they could all hear the difference but it was revealing that real musicians seemed less bothered by hi fi than you'd think

That's my feeling too. I want to spend money on buying music, not on expensive hifi equipment. I rarely listen with full attention, but when I do, good enough is good enough.

Having said that, we do have four different audio setups in the house, plus another one in our flat, plus several radios. And when I bought a pair of speakers to plug into the organ sampling programme I did make sure I got a pair which responded down to the bottom of a 16' organ pipe...

 

[swee'pea99]

A pal of mine used to work on a hi fi magazine; photographer than than editorial. They did a nice article where they looked at 3 musicians' ( classical, rock, and jazz) stereos. Basically they all had crap stereos but because they all had "a good ear" and were musical they concentrated on the music rather than the sound. They did upgrade each system (to something modest rather than exotica)and of course they could all hear the difference but it was revealing that real musicians seemed less bothered by hi fi than you'd think

Had the same experience with a friend's girlfriend, a serious music student/up & coming cellist, whom I teased for her decidedly modest setup, asking her why so many music students seemed to have cheap stereos: "Because we care about the music, not the record player," she said, which put me in my place.

 

[presta]

Same also applies to Ultegra v 105, different carbon lay ups, stiffer wheels etc etc

All the more so when it's difficult to conduct a blind test on a bike. Which reminds me.........

My job is radio engineering, and on one occasion the lab manager got on this lark with a new radio we were designing:

"I think the audio response could do with a bit of a tweak".

So I modified the mic amp and took the radio out for a road test.

"Mmm, better, but it could still do with a bit more bass".

So I tweaked it again. And again. And again. In fact this faffing went on for about a week, a bit more of this, a tweak to that, so I decided to put a stop to it. The next time I went out with two radios, one modified and one not:

"How was that Kevin?"
"Which one is which?"
"You tell me Kevin"

That shut him up immediately, I never heard another peep out of him after that.

 

[FishFright]

Cyclechat, home of the cloth eared and proud! lol

 

[Profpointy]

In a similar vein on hearing differences, having had my (previous) speakers on variosly beer crates, or bricks for a number of years, money being tight, I decided to get some proper stands. The wisdom is that proper speaker stands make a big difference. Went to the shop and came back with a pair for £50 and another pair for £150 on appro; £150 being quite a lot back then.

Tried the £50 ones and there genuinely was a significant improvement, or at any rate difference. Tried the £150 ones and again a big change int the sound. Bu#&$r , I'll have to get the dear ones ! Then swapped back to beer crates and thought I preferred that to the dear ones. Basically each swap sound genuinely quite difference and hence percieved as better in some particular way, yet when swapping amongst all three options you could only really say all were different. The differences were not at all subtle and far far greater than the difference between, say, mp3 and CD quality. Shop were disappointed when I returned both pairs but hey ho.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

In a similar vein on hearing differences, having had my (previous) speakers on variosly beer crates, or bricks for a number of years, money being tight, I decided to get some proper stands. The wisdom is that proper speaker stands make a big difference. Went to the shop and came back with a pair for £50 and another pair for £150 on appro; £150 being quite a lot back then.

Tried the £50 ones and there genuinely was a significant improvement, or at any rate difference. Tried the £150 ones and again a big change int the sound. Bu#&$r , I'll have to get the dear ones ! Then swapped back to beer crates and thought I preferred that to the dear ones. Basically each swap sound genuinely quite difference and hence percieved as better in some particular way, yet when swapping amongst all three options you could only really say all were different. The differences were ot subtle and far far greater than the difference between mp3 and CD quality. Shop were disappinted when I returned both pairs but hey ho.

If they had hollow legs, did you try inert filler?

 

[Profpointy]

If they had hollow legs, did you try inert filler?

No, didn't go that far. I'd not be a
suprised if it made difference bulshitty thought the idea may seem. To be honest I was suprised at the difference the stands made. I think room acoustics of which this is arguably a prt make a lot more difference than some of the more subtle quipement differences people (myself included) pay for

 

[raleighnut]

No, didn't go that far. I'd not be a
suprised if it made difference bulshitty thought the idea may seem. To be honest I was suprised at the difference the stands made. I think room acoustics of which this is arguably a prt make a lot more difference than some of the more subtle quipement differences people (myself included) pay for

I'm not so sure, my B&Ws are currently on a large Oak sideboard with a mirror mounted on the wall behind them yet they still sound sublime, admittedly the sideboard is very heavy and is positioned centrally on that wall and the speakers sit on 'Blutac' but they're really too close to the back wall.

 

[Profpointy]

I'm not so sure, my B&Ws are currently on a large Oak sideboard with a mirror mounted on the wall behind them yet they still sound sublime, admittedly the sideboard is very heavy and is positioned centrally on that wall and the speakers sit on 'Blutac' but they're really too close to the back wall.

My linn when I first got it was on a wobbly chest of drawers (totally the wrong thing supposedly). I then spent years and money on special tables as well as upgrades and it's never been as good since

 

[slowmotion]

One rule of thumb that I read is that the speakers should be at a height such that the tweeters are at or slightly above ear level when listening.

 

[Profpointy]

One rule of thumb that I read is that the speakers should be at a height such that the tweeters are at or slightly above ear level when listening.

There is logic in that since the high-frequencies are more directional and off-axis response of the tweeters is reduced; unlike bass, which essentially fills the room so a bass speaker can be shoved behind the sofa

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

Best thing about heavy speaker stands is they reduce what the neighbours hear.

 

[Fnaar]

Pretty sure you could bung a bicycle chain on

 

[Profpointy]

Best thing about heavy speaker stands is they reduce what the neighbours hear.

How does this work? Not saying you're wrong

 

[raleighnut]

Pretty sure you could bung a bicycle chain on

It'd have to be the narrowest so 11 speed probably, what do they cost £40 ?