[EGO DEATH]

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[Music Alchemist]

Here are two to start with:

https://www.amazon.com/The-Audio-Expert-Everything-About/dp/0240821009
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-High-End-Audio/dp/0978649311

A potentially more efficient way is to just talk to other audiophiles. Feel free to PM me with specific questions. (Just click my profile, click Information, scroll down, and click Start a Private Message.)

 

[EGO DEATH]

Here are two to start with:

https://www.amazon.com/The-Audio-Expert-Everything-About/dp/0240821009
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-High-End-Audio/dp/0978649311

A potentially more efficient way is to just talk to other audiophiles. Feel free to PM me with specific questions. (Just click my profile, click Information, scroll down, and click Start a Private Message.)

Skimmed a bit, one of them is not a beginners book, so I stred read in en over one, 1k pages and this guy isn't exactly a good writer from what little ~40 pages I've read so far. Have you read these?

 

[Wiljen]

I think you are finding the problem with wanting a single good book. Finding that book that begins exactly at your level and progresses to exactly where you want to go is tough. Instead, you might look for articles on various topics of interest for you and follow the trails they lead you down.

To me, at the core of being an audiophile, is the desire to reproduce sound as accurately and precisely as possible. The best way to know if sound is being reproduced accurately is to go see as many live performances as time, and budget will permit. Once you've heard a band you really like live several times, now go try out their latest release on several different pieces of hardware and purchase the one that does the best job of sounding like the real thing. You can learn all there is to know about measurements and settings and theory but in the end, if you don't enjoy it, what did you gain by all this?

 

[Music Alchemist]

To me, at the core of being an audiophile, is the desire to reproduce sound as accurately and precisely as possible. The best way to know if sound is being reproduced accurately is to go see as many live performances as time, and budget will permit. Once you've heard a band you really like live several times, now go try out their latest release on several different pieces of hardware and purchase the one that does the best job of sounding like the real thing. You can learn all there is to know about measurements and settings and theory but in the end, if you don't enjoy it, what did you gain by all this?

Problem is, live concerts and studio recordings sound very different, especially when it comes to non-acoustic music. Much (if not most) of the musical information of the original performance is lost in the production process. (Recording, mastering, and so on.) Plus many concerts sound awful in the first place. So this is not an effective gauge. (Though it can be more effective for acoustic music.)

A better way of going about seeking fidelity is to ensure the components in your system measure better. This is a broad topic that could be discussed for lifetimes, so I'll leave it at that.

But about enjoyment... Oftentimes, when something is less accurate, it can be more enjoyable. When it comes to subjective aspects, anything goes, and there is no right or wrong, since what you like is what you like. This is separate from objective accuracy.