9 UGLY TRUTHS ABOUT HIGH END AUDIO

Here I help people get a grip on some main important truths about HiFi to help you form your foundation from which to grow. Sorry about the cold I have , by the end of the vid it catches up with me and I go a little whack tater.. They said "be youself" OK Great Im a goon, have fun !!

[totalplonker]

My missus said to me the other day "let me get this straight you spend over £1, 000 on speaker cables because you can 'hear the difference' but you can't hear me calling you from the kitchen" 🤣

[danielesbordone]

If you don't draw a line in hi-fi, you'll never be satisfied.

[terryc]

An electronics engineer who wrote a column many years ago had an open challenge for, I think, $10, 000 that nobody could hear the difference between audiophile speaker cables and hardware store lamp cord in a double-blind A/B/C listening test. AFAIK, he retired without anyone taking him up on the offer. Electrons couldn't care less what you paid for your cables, and the human hear can only hear a pitifully small bandwidth of the frequencies any common copper wire is capable of carrying. Assuming the same metal (copper), if you have sufficient gauge wire to handle the current, and the correct design for the impedence involved, there is simply NO audible difference between one cable and another. They just conduct electrons. It's voodoo BS to claim otherwise.

[dmitry]

How exactly do cables make a difference? If they do, it can be measured by scientific instruments.

[davidkoehler]

A lot of companies sell fancy wires (“cables”) because the margins are ridiculous. Who wouldn’t want a piece of that action? Like printing money. Don’t be their sucker!

[jeromeburoker]

OCD Hi-Fi Guy, just wanted to take a moment to let you know I really appreciate the time, effort, & honesty you put into your videos, for me it's an education. Thank you!

[aussie]

Good advice here. Maybe for many of us just get your system sounding nice, then play well recorded music, then move on with life and don’t let yourself think you need better when you really don’t. Be content with what you have in life. Unless you win lotto then buy everything 😂

[jespermaintz]

I consider this video to be one of the most important lessons in hifi in all of YouTube. Thanks for your honesty.

[robertleys]

The idea that a DAC can restrict imaging is laughable. Imaging is about speaker placement, recording quality and environment.

[drbarney]

In 2003 a stereo using 833A output tubes sole for $350, 000. Now it sells for $480, 000. Using the best parts available, you can build your own using better transformers and power supplies with polypropylene capacitors instead of inferior electrolytic capacitors for less than $2, 000.
Cables costing thousands of dollars a pair are advertised by bad physics.

[mpix]

Back in 1995 when I was getting into tube gear, Herb Reichart advised me not to buy a tube amp using long out of production weird and obscure tubes. I've followed that bit of advice and am happy to hear you telling the Youtube folks the same.
Also 100% agree about not knowing WTF we're doing. I realized that one early on reading Glass Audio, Klag &%Tang, Vacuume Tube Valley, the DIY audio magazines and forums, wearing out my welcome in the HiFi Shops of yore, attending HiFi shows and club shin-dings. Meeting the enginer geeks who design build and pruduce product and know what they're doing. It's a learning experience for sure.

[fredgien]

I year ago i replaced my ARC vt200 with two Carver M1.0t amplifiers and never looked back! The preamp is a JR Synergy 2 with BPS1. Speakers are Audiostatics es300rs’. Sacd player is an Esoteric x-03se and my pickup is a modified Lenco l75 with Van Den Hul Colibri.
All components are connected by XLR.
I’m a happy camper!!

[Old_Sailor]

$3k - $5k for a DAC, minimum? You are insane...

I guess I'll go back to my junk system full of defective, low-quality, gear.

At least I know I don't need to come back here.

[JohnSmith-ofvh]

You know a great deal about stereo equipment. 20 years is a long time. I have done it since I was a schoolboy in 1978, some decades I have been preoccupied with other things or I just have not had the money. Recently especially since Covid there has been next to nothing out there I consider to be worthwhile. I'm just glad I got in there a few years back & sorted things out to a level I can be happy with. I like your frankness, there is nothing worse than listening to a so called expert who knows very little.

[chrispicquet]

Great subject! I have been telling my High Fi friends this stuff for years! I used to be a high end consultant for years, and when I would visit a customer who spent a fortune on audio, that stated his system sounds like shit.I would first look at the room .most were set up horrible.the second issue was bad system Matching. Bright+bright+bright= problems.your right! The best names are not the best! I saved for a Krell KSA 250 due to the rave reviews, It was the most unrealistic amp I ever had!! Period. equalization was built into it.bumped up bass, recessed miss and hard highs.i cancelled my high end magazine subscriptions, and started trusting ears and gut.(that was in the 90's) great sound is attainable at a fraction of the price.stay in the hunt, it pays off!

[maxhirsch]

Though I love the sound of the better components using them, I've tried to limit the number of tube components and total number of tubes in my systems in order to reduce the frequency of tube issues, and reduce costs for NOS tubes that I prefer, which hell yes, are unfortunately getting more expensive. Also, if you like/prefer NOS tubes, factor ahead for their overall addition to purchase price for tube gear & get at least a couple backup pairs of small tubes to insure against skyrocketing tube prices long-term; and to help re-sell your unit someday, if/when you choose to do so, assuming you haven't used those tube backup pairs.

[joewhip]

Interesting that you crap all over Schiit, PS Audio and Benchmark, all of whom sell direct. I have heard all three in great systems. Not a fan of the soft PS Audio sound, but the Schiit Yggdrasil sounds superb in every system I have heard it in. You mention a floor for pricing of DACs at $3 to $5k. You do realize that if the Schiit was not sold direct and through a dealer network, that it would be priced at over $5, 000? For me, one of the great myths of hi fi is that the more expensive the better. Sorry, but not always true. Not even close.

[half-manhalf-amazing]

And just like that...you hit home with #1. My wife is an Angel for allowing me to move the couches back and have no coffee table. 🙏

[Puroplatino]

Hey Mikey I have a PS Audio DirectStream PerfectWave DAC and an Innuos Zen Mkiii Streamer and it sounds glorious. It’s magical. What is it that you don’t like about the PS Audio?

[scottborenstein]

Thanks for saying cables matter. You can’t convince the zip cable crowd. I believe the system is only as good as its weakest link, and that includes cables. They are components as critical as the speakers or amp. Buy the best you can afford, it makes a big difference. Room treatment is also a great way to make the sound better. Everything is important.