Source or speakers?

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RedSectorA said:
I thought you were a speaker guy there Bob?
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I'm a music guy first Dan. ...Software. The true essence; the music first. ...Then the speakers second.

* If I seriously shop for new audio gear I put the bulk (100%) of my heart in the reproducers; the speakers.
So yes, you're right on the audio gear side of the musical equation. ...The Sound.
...Electrical/mechanical music sound reproducers; loudspeakers.
 
RedSectorA said:
Therefore you are a source man, software is THE source :cool:
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I'm not sure it was what Davey meant by the source; I believe the source is the playback device (TT, CD player, R-2-R tape deck, etc.).

* And before the music recordings (albums, CDs, SACDs, R-2-R tapes, hi-res audio files, ...), or the music software (medium), there were the recording tools and room (microphones quality and their positioning, wiring, musicians position, tuned musical instruments and "their" sound characteristic, studio or recording venue, jazz club, classical concert hall, recording engineers, mixing consoles, tape machine recorders, DSD digital recorders, enhancements of the "tone" controls and dynamic expander/compressor, EQuing, ...).

--> That's what Davey meant by "Source or Speakers First?"; the mechanical devices of the audio gear equation.
I am almost 100% certain.
 
NorthStar said:
I'm not sure it was what Davey meant by the source; I believe the source is the playbac:eyebrow:k device (TT, CD player, R-2-R tape deck, etc.).

* And before the music recordings (albums, CDs, SACDs, R-2-R tapes, hi-res audio files, ...), or the music software (medium), there were the recording tools and room (microphones quality and their positioning, wiring, musicians position, tuned musical instruments and "their" sound characteristic, studio or recording venue, jazz club, classical concert hall, recording engineers, mixing consoles, tape machine recorders, DSD digital recorders, enhancements of the "tone" controls and dynamic expander/compressor, EQuing, ...).

--> That's what Davey meant by "Source or Speakers First?"; the mechanical devices of the audio gear equation.
I am almost 100% certain.
Click to expand...

I knew that Bob, was just pulling your chain! :eyebrow:
 
I'd have to go with speakers as being the most important link in the chain because they are transducers.Next your cart {also a transducer} then the room and then the source.
 
I like the pyramid chart ...except...people rarely build an entire system like that (all in one shot like a car). Generally they start with some core parts..amp, speakers, etc. Then they add source. Then they tweak cables, power. Then they switch amps. Then they upgrade speakers. Then they upgrade source. Ooops..time to change the amp again...LOL..This is a real life scenario.

The pyramid is the way to do it in one shot...and I can almost guarantee its bound to fail. Why ? Systems tend to be more than a sum of "the best" parts. This is where my in-color thread comes in. That process of upgrade, tweak, try...its not always about having the zenith of each part...its having the "right part" that is pleasing to the listener.

Some might hate my speakers. I love em. People love Klipsch speakers. I hate em. Why ? I don't like horn tweeters. Its just an example but if I bought all the best parts of all the things in the pyramid, I just might not like the sound. Someone else could be ecstatic.

Make sense?

EDIT: Upon further review, I see that its a spending priority...but I think what I said still stands..i would not spend a penny on cables, power, etc until I had my core...
 
NorthStar said:
I'm not sure it was what Davey meant by the source; I believe the source is the playback device (TT, CD player, R-2-R tape deck, etc.).

* And before the music recordings (albums, CDs, SACDs, R-2-R tapes, hi-res audio files, ...), or the music software (medium), there were the recording tools and room (microphones quality and their positioning, wiring, musicians position, tuned musical instruments and "their" sound characteristic, studio or recording venue, jazz club, classical concert hall, recording engineers, mixing consoles, tape machine recorders, DSD digital recorders, enhancements of the "tone" controls and dynamic expander/compressor, EQuing, ...).

--> That's what Davey meant by "Source or Speakers First?"; the mechanical devices of the audio gear equation.
I am almost 100% certain.
Click to expand...

Bob, you're absolutely right. I am referring to the front end of a system...meaning the TT, R2R player, CD etc.
I really believe IF you took a UHA R2R deck and played it back through some cheap nasty speakers ( you name them...Bose:rofl: ) this system would sound better than a pair of good speaker's ( wilson's..?? ) and a nasty 80's cheap CD player or an old cassette deck feeding them. I also think that IF we are talking analog, much of what is on the LP will be lost IF the front end ( TT, arm, cartridge) cannot retrieve what is on the record and pass it on up the chain. OTOH, IF the speakers are really poor and cannot reproduce what's coming from the source ..well:snicker:
 
daveyf said:
Bob, you're absolutely right. I am referring to the front end of a system...meaning the TT, R2R player, CD etc.
I really believe IF you took a UHA R2R deck and played it back through some cheap nasty speakers ( you name them...Bose:rofl: ) this system would sound better than a pair of good speaker's ( wilson's..?? ) and a nasty 80's cheap CD player or an old cassette deck feeding them. I also think that IF we are talking analog, much of what is on the LP will be lost IF the front end ( TT, arm, cartridge) cannot retrieve what is on the record and pass it on up the chain. OTOH, IF the speakers are really poor and cannot reproduce what's coming from the source ..well:snicker:
Click to expand...

In that sense I agree up to a certain extent; it is the sum of all parts that contributes to the overall sound.

But if I have to pick only one component of the entire audio gear chain, then I'll pick the loudspeakers first.
{Certainly not the cables; any cable. That is assuming that all cables aren't rusty or broken.}

Anything else is just cheap whiskey. And like I said before, the room is a complement, not a true component.
The room has acoustic properties from sound reflections (off-axis), and reverberations and absorption.
But the room has no electrical circuitry; no chips, no transformer, no capacitors, no resistors, no electrical x-overs, ...
 
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