Psychology And The Audiophile

For me the feeling I get from a component is very important. The looks, the quality of construction, just the over all impression. Obviously sound is paramount but what I call the "warm and fuzzes" are very important. The over all feeling I get from the piece.

For example, the PS Audio mono blocks I had. I thought they sounded very good and they appear to be built well. I could really find nothing wrong with them what so ever. However, I never got a warm and fuzzy feeling from them. I could not put my finger on it, but I knew fairly quickly that they would not be a long term solution for me. I really could not even give a good reason why other than they just did not feel right to me.

I guess this would be a good example of the Psychology of an Audiophile :)...

Currently all of my components just feel right... I guess this must make a difference to my Psyche :D...
 
bluegrassphile said:
I guess I was looking at the 096 from a relative newb standpoint. Right now, for me, just about any piece of high end gear is "top notch." I'm assuming, to a degree, that if it's discussed here it (right or wrong) must be top notch. Thus, my description of the 096. It's definitely not based on what I know about the 096. Other than what I read on the 096 thread, I know very little about it.
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Never assume that because a piece of gear is being discussed on audio forums that it must be "top notch." People often mention gear for unfavorable reasons. Also, "top notch" is a relative term in this hobby. Top notch in which price category? Some people have four figure systems, some have five figure systems, some have six figure systems, and some have seven figure systems.

bluegrassphile said:
Yup, I'm definitely a newb. I just started this journey just a couple months ago. I'm hoping that journey will culminate in taking home a full fledged, brand shiny new, high end audio system that was assembled by a very well informed (by then) customer. Until then just count on me for some very basic, even dumb, questions along with some perhaps very good ones. I'll try to use good psychology and maintain as much objectivity as I possibly can in making my choices of components.
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How do you use psychology when making a purchasing decision on stereo components? Are you going to analyze your own thoughts?

bluegrassphile said:
As I've mentioned in other threads, I am at a major disadvantage living in a location with only one high end audio store within an hour and a half from my home. The next closest is about four away. I'm also at a disadvantage when it comes to audio conventions or similar gatherings. AXPONA is a good five hours from me and it's the closest meeting of it's kind. But, maybe with some planning I might be able to attend a gathering such as AXPONA before I make my final purchases.
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You are no different than many audiophiles with the dearth of high-end B&M stores left in our country. As for audio shows, most of us have to travel to attend. I've been to Axpona three times when I lived in Indiana and it was a 5 hour drive for me each way. I have been to RMAF numerous times and I always have to fly.

bluegrassphile said:
Until then it's the forums. That's where I've learned the most so far, along with one store an hour and a half away that has a great selection of name brand components. I will, in the future, begin some calls to various stores just to discuss component brand names I might have an interest in. But I'll wait for that until I get a little closer to purchase time. I'm guessing some dealers are really not going to be that interested in spending much time discussing and auditioning components a year ahead of purchase. I can't blame them for that. But I can tell you the one that is close to me have been very welcoming and have allowed me to already audition some top level gear (Audio Research, Revel, B&W, and McIntosh so far).

Anyway, on with the journey. On with the learning. I really am enjoying this.
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You might ask Mike his feelings on that since he is a dealer. Dealers deal with plenty of time wasters (not saying you are one) or people who are using them to pick their brains with no intention of buying from them and fully planning on shopping on the internet for the best price.
 
Audio dealers are kind of sport's instructors. It's part of the job, it comes with the territory...IMHO.
The better you are @ it the more you increase the chances to meet your clientele on higher grounds.
The art of the deal.

Today is a beautiful day, the sun is shining pretty.
 
Bluegrass, You sound like the methodical type and it seems like you're going to need a good dealer to get you through the process.

If I were you, I would probably book a flight to Suncoast Audio and spend a couple of days listening to Mike's different offerings. Bring a wide variety of the music that's important to you and let Mike guide you through the process.

You can learn a lot from forums, but the information can also be all over the map, overwhelming and unreliable. There's no substitute for spending time and listening in good listening rooms-- something you won't likely find at a show.

Put your efforts and focus on picking your speakers first and let everything follow from that bedrock decision. You need a good dealer to help you with the speaker search, as anything larger than stand-mounts can't be home demoed.
 
Willco said:
Bluegrass, You sound like the methodical type and it seems like you're going to need a good dealer to get you through the process.

If I were you, I would probably book a flight to Suncoast Audio and spend a couple of days listening to Mike's different offerings. Bring a wide variety of the music that's important to you and let Mike guide you through the process.

You can learn a lot from forums, but the information can also be all over the map, overwhelming and unreliable. There's no substitute for spending time and listening in good listening rooms-- something you won't likely find at a show.

Put your efforts and focus on picking your speakers first and let everything follow from that bedrock decision. You need a good dealer to help you with the speaker search, as anything larger than stand-mounts can't be home demoed.
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I second the suggestion. I would also say that reviews are often unreliable. There have been a ton of rave reviews of the Denafrips Terminator DAC, most of which agreed on some sonic characteristics, which was remarkable and made me try out the DAC. Yet I did not identify them in my system, and found a synthetic coloration that made me return the unit. Yet not before I had written a rave review on Audioshark myself, prior to identifying the problems in the context of a different preamp which allowed me to hear the coloration (I updated my experience in the same thread). You have to hear things for yourself, there is no way around it.

A review can be useful in raising interest what you may like, but you need to hear for yourself before purchasing, or have a favorable return deal at hand.
 
Willco said:
Bluegrass, You sound like the methodical type and it seems like you're going to need a good dealer to get you through the process.

If I were you, I would probably book a flight to Suncoast Audio and spend a couple of days listening to Mike's different offerings. Bring a wide variety of the music that's important to you and let Mike guide you through the process.

You can learn a lot from forums, but the information can also be all over the map, overwhelming and unreliable. There's no substitute for spending time and listening in good listening rooms-- something you won't likely find at a show.

Put your efforts and focus on picking your speakers first and let everything follow from that bedrock decision. You need a good dealer to help you with the speaker search, as anything larger than stand-mounts can't be home demoed.
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That's a very good start because Mike uses good psychology in audio. :cool:
 
Already discussed it with the wife. Looking like a good possibility after the first of the year. Not as far away as it sounds. It will be here before we realize it. We will likely arrange it around Spring break time. It'll be fun to plan. We have some friends to visit while we're there.
 
Being an old time guitar aficionado myself I have had acoustic guitars custom ordered and made for me by Gallagher (Doc Watson’s Luthier) had 3 or 4 high end Larrivees, 3 different Taylor’s, 2 Collins, 1 Santa Cruz, an Olson (James Taylor) ,and too many to count Martins. I found that their sound oddly enough followed family traits. Collins was a direct competitor to the Martins but yet not the characteristic “sound” of one. My acoustic stable at one point had over 25 guitars. They were all top end models of each company. Now I’m just a hack player but I appreciated their beauty of sound and manufacture although my talent did not live up to their capability.
As I grew older and living space decreased and hobbies and interests changed I sold off all and kept my custom shop D28 Martin which Is one of the 2 best sounding guitars I have ever played and of those 2 the easiest player.
Guitars are very easy to a/b. Sometimes I bought for looks and woods, sometimes for tone variety, sometimes for playability.
Audio equipment is much more difficult to a/b. After you get a good system in place and because of the variety of music and quality of recordings and the short sound memory span many “upgrades” are just changes which are perceived as improvements.
Im wrestling with tube rolling and when I added the Gigafoil I found myself swapping back to tubes I had in my amp originally.
I know looks have a role in audio equipment but not many get rid of gear just because it looks awful. .......proof of this is the existence of Giya speakers :popcorn:

My apologies in advance to their owners and all other ugly audio equipment that just sounds awesome!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....yada yada yada...
 
Dguitarnut said:
Being an old time guitar aficionado myself I have had acoustic guitars custom ordered and made for me by Gallagher (Doc Watson’s Luthier) had 3 or 4 high end Larrivees, 3 different Taylor’s, 2 Collins, 1 Santa Cruz, an Olson (James Taylor) ,and too many to count Martins. I found that their sound oddly enough followed family traits. Collins was a direct competitor to the Martins but yet not the characteristic “sound” of one. My acoustic stable at one point had over 25 guitars. They were all top end models of each company. Now I’m just a hack player but I appreciated their beauty of sound and manufacture although my talent did not live up to their capability.
As I grew older and living space decreased and hobbies and interests changed I sold off all and kept my custom shop D28 Martin which Is one of the 2 best sounding guitars I have ever played and of those 2 the easiest player.
Guitars are very easy to a/b. Sometimes I bought for looks and woods, sometimes for tone variety, sometimes for playability.
Audio equipment is much more difficult to a/b. After you get a good system in place and because of the variety of music and quality of recordings and the short sound memory span many “upgrades” are just changes which are perceived as improvements.
Im wrestling with tube rolling and when I added the Gigafoil I found myself swapping back to tubes I had in my amp originally.
I know looks have a role in audio equipment but not many get rid of gear just because it looks awful. .......proof of this is the existence of Giya speakers :popcorn:

My apologies in advance to their owners and all other ugly audio equipment that just sounds awesome!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....yada yada yada...
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The only Martin I have left at home is a 1950 D28 Brazilian, and my Bourgeois 2002 Slope D. That's all my acoustic stable has left.
 
Mike;269227 1. It’s all subjective. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. 3. If you like it said:
I fully agree with these two statements and wish more in the hobby would subscribe to both of them. Instead, IMHO their are too many folks who must have their system or product be the "BEST" (don't agree with #1 above) and get all bent out of shape when people don't like their system of choices (don't have the confidence of #3 above).

I would be a fool if I thought our system was the "Best" as it is not even the best for what we want, so how could it possibly even be the "Best" for anyone else given everyone optimizes for what they like. We just stick with #3 above, and yes we do like our system regardless of friend #1, reviewer #2, or listener #3, who do not.
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Interesting topic and a good lead. In my case hifi is a solitary thing, I have casual friends that I talk about the hobby with but at home the actual listening is done only to please me. The B&M shops that have survived are so much more personal and experienced than the old box movers that I think it is possible to put together a musical system at any price point...once trust has been established. It would take me a year to save enough just to cover the dealers margin on a pair of ultima's not to mention every other manufacturers margins down the line. My stubborn refusal to pay the piper means i'm going to need some luck making a system sing.
 
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