Ten things I have learned after 40 YEARS in HiFi and High End Audio. 2025 Edition.

Join this channel to get access to perks:

#HiFi #Audiophile #Stereo

Instagram: @stevehuffofficial

AI Article on my website about the benefits of listening to HQ Music:

Today I talk about ten of the things I have learned during my last 40 years in HiFi. Tips, tricks, what to avoid, what to pursue, as well as lots more including health benefits to all of this. Yes, there are some!

This is a lengthy video so before you watch, get comfortable! Leave some tips in the comments if you have more!

Enjoy!

[ronmiller]

One thing is clear : Listening to high-end audio for years, can cause hair loss.

[mrsinghsstereos]

Spotify isn’t cd resolution - its 320kb compression

[michaelengel]

Spotify streams audio at 320Kbps in the “lossy” Ogg Vorbis format, which means the audio stream has been compressed and is losing a fair amount of detail in the interest of conserving bandwidth.

[dbg]

I think spotify music file is sample at 44.1khz with 16bit depth and have max bit rate of 320 kbps (basically lossy mp3/ogg not CD quality which bit rate is 1411 kbps), flac bit rate varies depends on the compression. There are 4 things to be considered for a digital music file: sample rate, bit depth, bit rate and format. somehow when streaming service advertise its streaming quality only gives you first 2, makes people think Spotify = Tidal / Qobuz ...

[henriksrensen]

I have learned that you change opinion like the wind change direction.

[secondsrule]

Hey don’t call yourself old just yet. You bring a lot of passion and positivity and this does not always go hand to hand with being old. 😂 Greetings from Poland!

[kobusoomen]

Interesting that you prefer the sound of Spotify. Spotify has a max of 320KBs (MP3 quality) vs CD quality @1411KBS.

[msills]

audiophile enjoys the gear much more than the music

[chetstern]

Spotify does not podcast in 16/34 resolution. It is only
MP 3 quality.

[tomehCanada]

#1 Speakers and the room matter most before electronics # 2 Own the music and support the music makers

[williammay]

I go back 50 years of listening to music and what I find now vs years ago is we know so much more about how our system should sound like in our rooms but back in the day it was just about the music only .

[AaronSarkissian]

What a series of great pieces of advice! Thank you for your efforts, suggestions, insights, and recommendations that enlighten us, from cables to high-end gear. I truly appreciate your work and am grateful for your presence. Thank you for being here.

[thomaswhitestone]

Nice vid. I agree whole heartedly. I get excited about a new piece of gear but at the end of the day, when I get home from work, I just want to listen to music. It soothes the savage beast.

[TEOTLANXELLI]

Thank you very much for your comments, it’s very difficult for new people that are getting into the Hi-Fi world to understand many things, there are a lot of information that unfortunately gets you confused. thanks for all your videos!!!

[jdm-uk-yank]

I agree with about 90% of what you're saying. But, when it comes to enjoying the music over the gear, everyone has to take their own journey.
It's like going to tell someone to relax. They have to find that place.

[allardvanderstarre]

most overlooked...its not the gear; its the room....

[chrispdx]

Spotify has the best algorithm but 320kbps is not lossless cd-quality 16/44 … wtf ?

On a revealing system it sounds like garbage.

[mitchparker]

So refreshing to hear you intimate that stress free/gadget free/fomo free listening is the go.

[David-ikwj]

debating on attending AXPONA again this year. I attended in 2023. Awesome experience but you will definitely suffer from listening fatigue. My ears were aching by the second day. It was fun to actually meet the people that made the equipment in my system or had owned at one time.

[paulmcparland]

Yeah, it’s definitely about the music but for the audiophile, it’s an obsession borne from the conviction that the music you love must surely sound better on something you don’t currently own or haven’t yet heard. As a result, the audiophile is never really satisfied.