(Reprinted from issue 63 of UHF Magazine. To purchase the issue, click here. Or click here to subscribe to UHF)
Comparing the Incomparable:
Listening in the Store
So you’ve spent ten hours in three different stores, trying to figure out which of the components you’ve heard deserve a place in your system, and in your life. And now you say you’re more confused than ever? We feel your pain.
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There’s an easy way to compare components for your stereo system. Find a store that handles all the brands you’re interested in, book an afternoon, listen to as many different combinations as you have time for, and then buy whatever stands out in your memory.
A joke, right?
Right. The truth is that even if you live in Gotham City, the probability of finding all the brands you want in one store are nil, unless you own the store, and perhaps not even then. It is more than possible that none of the combinations will stand out in your memory. Not only that, but the one that you remember best may actually turn out to be the worst one.
How do you listen? How do you compare? How do you make sense of two sessions in two different locations?
Here’s what we’ve learned over the years. Here’s what we advise.
a) Start with a reference point. This means that — although it’s good to let the salesperson introduce you to new music — you should do the bulk of your listening with recordings you’ve heard before. If you already have a good system (which you are presumably attempting to improve), that reference point can be your existing system. If you have one of those setups that can be shoved under the bed when you’re expecting company, then you’ll need some other reference.
And in that case here’s what we suggest. Tell the salesperson that this purchase will be the first step toward the construction of a truly superb system (subtext: much of it to be purchased in this very emporium). In order to hear where you’re going, you would like to hear your three or four selected recordings on the best system in the store.
If your request is accepted, be sure to take notes (see point [d] below). If it’s refused, it’s possible you’ve picked the wrong store.
b) Don’t assign scores.Yes, we know they use numbers to judge figure skaters, and school papers get number or letter scores too. There are even some audio magazines that award products reviewed from one to five stars, or one to ten treble clefs (theoretically at least — even the most deplorable product never gets just one). We don’t do that, as you know, and there are good reasons you shouldn’t do it either.
Why? Let’s say you listen to the first amplifier on your list, and you decide to award it 4.5 stars. Why that 4.5? What does it really mean? Perhaps it will turn out to be the least interesting product on your list, but in that case you haven’t left any room for the three others you will be auditioning. Then again, perhaps it is the best amplifier you will ever hear, though you can’t know that yet. If it’s really that good, shouldn’t it have earned a five? See why we won’t touch these rating systems? A numerical score has meaning only in making comparisons, including comparisons with products you haven’t heard yet. Only you can’t make comparisons to products you haven’t heard.
There’s another reason too. If one product sounds good and another doesn’t, it’s easy to assign relative scores (though actually pass/fail would do just as well). In actual fact two products can be good in different ways. Perhaps amplifier A has a sweet and natural top end that does wonders for the instruments that sound shrill on other amps; on the other hand it hasn’t the power to give you a tight bottom end and prevent the string bass from sounding like the neighbors thumping on the wall. Amplifier B has power and can reproduce a wealth of details that are hidden by other amplifiers; however it lacks a bit of the refinement you would really like. Which of the amplifier should you buy? Perhaps A, perhaps B, perhaps C, which you haven’t heard yet. A 4.5 star score would be of no help at all.
c) Listen to the music. It sounds almost too obvious, because what else are you going to listen to? In fact many people make the mistake of listening first and foremost to the sound: the lower bass, the top end, the liquidity of the midrange. These things are all important (and we pay attention to them too), but they are nothing more than the means to an end. Note how the instruments sound, not just the bass and treble.
Also note whether the music attracts and maintains your interest. We often use the word involving in our discussions, and in our written notes. Music should involve you, should draw you in. At a live concert it does, but the link between music and emotions is surprisingly fragile.
d) Listen to...
A joke, right?
Right. The truth is that even if you live in Gotham City, the probability of finding all the brands you want in one store are nil, unless you own the store, and perhaps not even then. It is more than possible that none of the combinations will stand out in your memory. Not only that, but the one that you remember best may actually turn out to be the worst one.
How do you listen? How do you compare? How do you make sense of two sessions in two different locations?
Here’s what we’ve learned over the years. Here’s what we advise.
a) Start with a reference point. This means that — although it’s good to let the salesperson introduce you to new music — you should do the bulk of your listening with recordings you’ve heard before. If you already have a good system (which you are presumably attempting to improve), that reference point can be your existing system. If you have one of those setups that can be shoved under the bed when you’re expecting company, then you’ll need some other reference.
And in that case here’s what we suggest. Tell the salesperson that this purchase will be the first step toward the construction of a truly superb system (subtext: much of it to be purchased in this very emporium). In order to hear where you’re going, you would like to hear your three or four selected recordings on the best system in the store.
If your request is accepted, be sure to take notes (see point [d] below). If it’s refused, it’s possible you’ve picked the wrong store.
b) Don’t assign scores.Yes, we know they use numbers to judge figure skaters, and school papers get number or letter scores too. There are even some audio magazines that award products reviewed from one to five stars, or one to ten treble clefs (theoretically at least — even the most deplorable product never gets just one). We don’t do that, as you know, and there are good reasons you shouldn’t do it either.
Why? Let’s say you listen to the first amplifier on your list, and you decide to award it 4.5 stars. Why that 4.5? What does it really mean? Perhaps it will turn out to be the least interesting product on your list, but in that case you haven’t left any room for the three others you will be auditioning. Then again, perhaps it is the best amplifier you will ever hear, though you can’t know that yet. If it’s really that good, shouldn’t it have earned a five? See why we won’t touch these rating systems? A numerical score has meaning only in making comparisons, including comparisons with products you haven’t heard yet. Only you can’t make comparisons to products you haven’t heard.
There’s another reason too. If one product sounds good and another doesn’t, it’s easy to assign relative scores (though actually pass/fail would do just as well). In actual fact two products can be good in different ways. Perhaps amplifier A has a sweet and natural top end that does wonders for the instruments that sound shrill on other amps; on the other hand it hasn’t the power to give you a tight bottom end and prevent the string bass from sounding like the neighbors thumping on the wall. Amplifier B has power and can reproduce a wealth of details that are hidden by other amplifiers; however it lacks a bit of the refinement you would really like. Which of the amplifier should you buy? Perhaps A, perhaps B, perhaps C, which you haven’t heard yet. A 4.5 star score would be of no help at all.
c) Listen to the music. It sounds almost too obvious, because what else are you going to listen to? In fact many people make the mistake of listening first and foremost to the sound: the lower bass, the top end, the liquidity of the midrange. These things are all important (and we pay attention to them too), but they are nothing more than the means to an end. Note how the instruments sound, not just the bass and treble.
Also note whether the music attracts and maintains your interest. We often use the word involving in our discussions, and in our written notes. Music should involve you, should draw you in. At a live concert it does, but the link between music and emotions is surprisingly fragile.
d) Listen to...
(This is an excerpt from the full article (those three dots at the end are a dead giveaway). To read the entire article, just order issue 63 at our secure server.)
Complete articles from this issue:
Soundproofing, Big Screen TV's to Stay Away From, Passion A11, State of the Art
Excerpted articles from this issue:
Comparing the Incomparable: Listening in the Store, Antique Sound Lab Leyla, Vecteur Espace, Two Interconnects, Five Speaker Cables, Four Power Cords