[Glmoneydawg]

I know someone else who doesn't list their gear! And I love to make it sound great without spending the equivalent of a nice summer home.

After designing and calibrating many more rooms than I want to count I've found even the "good" stuff benefits from EQ, calibration, and acoustic treatment, rarely less so than the modest stuff. Focus on the big issues.

Back in the day there were a few companies that centered on great sound for affordable prices, the likes of Henry Kloss at KLH and Advent, Apt, and NAD. And they accomplished that goal. Sure, the stuff didn't look terrific, but it was well made and sounded like it cost 10X the price.

I've seen some of those chimp designed systems. Impressive that they did it. Of course, one also typed out the Gettysburg Address in a room with an infinite number of chimps and typewriters.

Kloss was ahead of his time....direct marketing!...pretty competent designer also.

 

[bigshot]

You can't judge by brand always. Remember those old Saaannnnnyoooooo! commercials? Apparently the engineers in Japan saw how their stuff was being marketed in the US and were embarrassed. They produced a very elegant and solid line of equipment to make up for it. I had one of their amps made during that period. It was one of the best amps I ever had. It lasted me almost 20 years. Onkyo did something like that too. And Pioneer went the opposite direction.

 

[RollsDownWindowsManually]

We can only test ourselves with the best methodology available to us. I really wish there was an affordable true ABX box for hardware comparisons. In the meantime I can only level match to within 0.05 dB using a multimeter, have a disinterested 3rd party operate an A/B switcher in a random manner, have them randomly assign X to A or B prior to each trial, flicking the switch an imperceptible number of times rapidly when going between a,b,x. Not good enough for true science but good enough for me to draw conclusions if going in with an open mind. Sure, the conclusions are no more scientifically valid than the guy that claims he gets an "immersive chocolaty purple" soundstage from his solid platinum $1,000 per foot speaker wire, but at least mine usually save money instead of costing it.

I can't really justify the money for this: https://avahifi.com/collections/accessories/products/abx-switch-comparator and it doesn't really look like it's setup well for headphone gear comparisons anyway.

 

[bigshot]

Ultimately as non-professional hobbyists, we don't need to worry about our results being important to anyone but us. But there definitely are generalizations that can be made about what hobbyists have discovered through their less rigorous testing. That definitely points in a specific direction.

 

[pinnahertz]

We can only test ourselves with the best methodology available to us. I really wish there was an affordable true ABX box for hardware comparisons. In the meantime I can only level match to within 0.05 dB using a multimeter, have a disinterested 3rd party operate an A/B switcher in a random manner, have them randomly assign X to A or B prior to each trial, flicking the switch an imperceptible number of times rapidly when going between a,b,x. Not good enough for true science but good enough for me to draw conclusions if going in with an open mind. Sure, the conclusions are no more scientifically valid than the guy that claims he gets an "immersive chocolaty purple" soundstage from his solid platinum $1,000 per foot speaker wire, but at least mine usually save money instead of costing it.

Just realize how you define "good enough" and what implications that has when your conclusions are posted publicly.

I can't really justify the money for this: https://avahifi.com/collections/accessories/products/abx-switch-comparator and it doesn't really look like it's setup well for headphone gear comparisons anyway.

[/quote]It's set up for headphones just fine. A good part of the expense of the unit is in its ability to assist in collecting data over many trials while keeping the results away from the tester during trials.