10 Things I USED to BELIEVE about HiFi and Home Theater & what changed

we thought we'd take a break from our reviews today and do a video that i've wanted to make for a while now because while youtube is relatively new to me i've been reviewing gear for 20 years ha ha you're old and i've been a fan of hi-fi and home theater for even longer than that and as you might expect over that amount of time i have learned a lot and i've also held quite a few beliefs but over time i have changed those beliefs so i thought that it would be of interest and potentially helpful to a lot of you to go over some of those things so today's video is the 10 truths about hi-fi in home theater that i used to believe but don't anymore you guys have long asked me to make a video about cables and if i did i got to tell you it would be a short one and here goes i used to think cables mattered more specifically i used to believe that high-end cables mattered and that if you had high-end cables they would bring about this notable dramatic change to your system i believed in it so much that at one point the total cost of the cables in my system was equal to that of a small car now i'm not saying that to brag i'm not proud of it because at the peak of my belief i actually purchased a 5 000 hdmi cable believing that it would somehow result in a clearer sharper image are you stupid or something so what changed well the housing crash forced me to downsize and with it sell off a lot of these higher price cables obviously i had to replace them with something so i opted for just generic copper cables and interconnects and well guess what there was no real or appreciable change nothing not one not one change since then i have not spent more than say i don't know about 20 bucks on a new cable i still have several mid-level cables from transparent that i didn't sell off and i used them to this day but i'm not going to try and convince you or say that they're superior to my homemade 12-gauge ofc copper speaker cables that i routinely make for about a buck a foot i will admit some higher end cables look nicer and if i bought any today it would be purely for cosmetic reasons how you doing kimber but i know they sound largely the same as my home brew cables so unless you're really really just a stickler for aesthetics roll your own speaking of selling gear i used to believe that this stuff was worth money a lot of money and let me be perfectly clear there is a world of difference between intrinsic value and monetary value right now i'm talking about the latter because for years i invested in gear believing that it was a kind of savings account i believed that i was buying assets that would hold enough of their value or maybe even appreciate over time that it was it was worth it i was it was justifying me to spend more money on higher end gear over say entry level stuff man you are one pathetic loser sure you do get more for higher end gear on the used market than say entry level but you also spent more acquiring it and when you weigh the averages they they come out about the same in the end if anything i lost more money on my high dollar items than i did entry entry-level gear i have found that folks will routinely spend 50 to 70 cents on the dollar for an item that retailed for say under two grand whereas a 20 000 product that buyer is usually looking to spend way way less because nobody likes a deal more than an audiophile oh and to homeowners contemplating turning a spare bedroom or flex space into say a dedicated home theater i don't recommend it i mean do it by all means do it if it's important to you but don't do it if you think it's going to add value to your home because it won't you're better off adding that second bathroom or fixing up your kitchen now here's one that i wish i had learned sooner rather than later and that is that i used to believe that if i bought high-end gear that that would somehow make me an audiophile and you know the type of gear i'm talking about you know the stuff from brands that routinely grace the covers of magazines and garner all the awards and editor accolades those products those products if i bought them they would make me an audiophile i also used to think that it would make me part of the community and it would bring me this level of clout and respect that other audiophiles would see and appreciate nope turns out it really doesn't matter what level of audiophile you are there will always be something wrong with your choice in gear so as in life you just can't please anyone or everyone audiophiles especially so it's best to just buy what pleases you and makes you happy rather than lose sleep over what gear is right or wrong now i am not criticizing high-end audio nor am i trying to trying to prop up entry-level gear i am just pro whatever makes you happy and i really don't care how much or how little it cost because cost is relative to the buyer i'm just saying that high-end gear doesn't make you any more of an audiophile over someone who has say a bose soundbar i don't think you're ready for this one or you're not gonna believe me but yeah i used to believe that specs mattered i did i valued neutrality i stressed over signal-to-noise ratios total harmonic distortion and and frequency response curves i mean i would devour graphs and i would measure my speakers in my room to see how close or how far off the performance i was getting was different from that of the factory and i learned a lot doing this and for a time it led me to buy products with according to the gatekeepers truly great measurements but i realized after a while that i wasn't listening anymore i was just evaluating i wasn't as interested in enjoying the music as i was just preoccupied with just how well my gear was performing and i noticed two things during this time my main system set largely idle i started listening to music elsewhere in my home through lesser gear i also discovered that i bought a lot of equipment that measured well but that i didn't really even like much i didn't even really need it when i allowed myself to buy something because i liked it i realized that i started to listen to music again and ever since then i have pumped the brakes on specs opting instead to recognize the gear and the sound that connects with me emotionally i know i made a whole video about this already but for anyone who's still unclear about what i mean i am not saying that specs aren't important but i will never again let them be the arbiter of what is supposedly good or bad yeah i used to be that guy you know the guy we've all met the guy the guy that when you mentioned class d at a show sex ass yours i assume yeah that guy that's me i used to think class d sucked and i would never miss an opportunity to tell you your friends your mom about well my truth so what changed what changed is i actually listened to a class d amp uh bel canto something or i can't keep it straight but when i listened to it i shot my trap about class d because that amp sounded damn good and that experience taught me a very valuable lesson about myself and that is i am a far better human being than a parrot now this next one should be of help to a lot of you because i have found that subwoofers are one of the more misunderstood loudspeakers in all of home theater and hi-fi and quick aside you can't have a subwoofer in a hi-fi system in fact you probably should because they're misunderstood i think there is this common well thought that if you have multiple subwoofers you're going to automatically end up with more bass and the reason i think a lot of you believe that is because i actually held that belief once upon a time and at one point i had three or four subwoofers in my system the problem was as i quickly discovered with the help of a friend that all of my subwoofers passed the first one were actually starting to rob my system of base where's my money you're gonna give me my money i'm not saying don't get multiple subwoofers multiple subwoofers can have a positive effect they can be a great way to spread bass around your room more evenly and when set up correctly they can give you more bass but just because you see more subwoofers in a system does not automatically mean you're getting more bass so just make sure when you set up more than one subwoofer you do it correctly so as not to create a bass suck when you're hoping for a bass boost here's one you might have a difficult time believing i used to think that pro audio gear wasn't able to be used in a hi-fi system i actually thought that pro audio amplifiers were somehow inferior to their high-end counterparts despite often having 10 times the power at 1 10 the price and i held this belief based solely on one simple fact i had never heard a pro audio amplifier so i never heard one never put one in my own system and thus never came to my own conclusion i think you're starting to notice a trend obviously if you're a fan of this channel or me i have pulled 180 on this one and i obviously think that you can use pro audio gear in a hi-fi system and well they sound pretty damn good and speaking of professionals i used to believe that musicians just had to be audiophiles i mean with as much lip service as audiophiles like to give musicians and their so-called artist intent i just i just kind of figured that every musician just had the best hi-fi gear money could buy nope i was wrong again i'm not suggesting that musicians can't be audio files or that they're not audio files but this notion that they just have these insane rigs and chase the audio dragon the way audiophiles do was just a huge fallacy that i once believed the truth is a lot of musicians that i've been fortunate enough to meet have systems but they're largely made up of gear that either a means something to them that that intrinsic value or b would likely be criticized by audio files as being entry or mid-level all right this one's probably going to sting a little but i used to believe that break-in was real now i am not saying that a product doesn't need time to warm up or get loose i'm not talking about that i'm talking about break-in you know break-in as in this product requires a full trip around the sun in order to perform at the level our marketing materials have made you believe you sit on a throne of lies that break-in i'm okay with an amp needing a few minutes to come to temperature or a speaker needing a track or two to get loose after sitting for maybe a week or so but hundreds upon hundreds of hours get the out of here now don't feel bad because this is how much i believed in break-in i had an entire separate system in another room in my house just for breaking in components yep yep that was that's how far and how much i believed in break in i would put components into this system and i would play the radio or cds on loop for hours on end while i went to work and i would do this for days i would do this for weeks i even did it for a full month because that is what the manufacturer told me their product required you know what it got me a higher electric bill that's what it got me uh how did the speaker amp sound uh great i guess it sounded exactly the same to be honest with you because i don't even know if i would have been able to tell the difference because i locked the speaker or the amp away in a closet for a month so yeah break in his book now i know the video that helped to launch this channel or relaunch the channel depending on how long you've been a fan was called vinyl sucks and in that video provided you made it past the thumbnail i actually come clean about how much i actually love vinyl but the truth is i just didn't always feel this way around the time that we all kind of collectively became obsessed with file formats and just how many songs we could fit on a nas drive i was very much opposed to vinyl i sold off almost all of my collection and my turntable which was a lin sondeck i know i know i am dumb but i was all in with digital because after all digital is better right well i'm not going to argue that digital doesn't have its advantages and quality or consistent quality is among them but in time i just learned that i really love the act of listening to vinyl records similar to my change of heart with respect to specs i just i got back into vinyl not because it was superior i just i just connected with it on a different level and i don't pretend to be the world's foremost expert on vinyl or any hi-fi topic for that matter i just i just know what i like and at the end of the day the best format the best speaker the best amp cd player i mean frankly anything is the one that you like and the one that gets used so those are my 10 hi-fi and home theater truths that i used to believe but don't anymore and i'm going to want to hear all about yours but before we get to that i'm curious if there is anything that chrissy used to believe that she doesn't anymore well the one thing i am really actually grateful for is that prior to meeting you i didn't really hold any particular beliefs when it came to hi-fi or home theater so i've ruined you no no you haven't ruined me um when i say i'm grateful i mean that i realize that i possess a certain naivete when it comes to what's expected of being so-called audiophile okay you know um because before we met i i i didn't i wasn't i wasn't focused on anything more than just listening to the music or watching my favorite movie right and you know like i i did that and predominantly either through my computer speakers or through that you know pretty awful sound bar that i know now that we had but it didn't bother me you know it did the job for me and i i love that one of the things that i think you try to really reinforce for people on this channel is that that is okay yeah that the idea that whatever makes you happy whatever the sound of your system what is i how do i how can i only person who has to like this i've forgotten the phrase the only person that has the likes out of your system is you yeah you drive that home in every single video and that is something that i feel i've always had and i don't think that's really changed okay over time now am i more informed do i have a better understanding about what makes something good or bad sure yeah and i mean you can appreciate a better quality i know i know there is an endless number of ways to have a good time when it comes to audio and home theater right i didn't maybe realize there was so many before but i and i can say yeah i mean yeah you know you can you can have a pair of eighteen thousand dollar speakers and they can just blow your mind but there's also a setup worth you know not even like a fraction of that and be just as happy oh absolutely you know so i mean that's one of the things that i really try to hold on to the you know that that i try to hold on to that naivete because i want to be as open to something as i possibly can be and going back to being grateful that i really didn't have it have any like real beliefs or expectations when i got into this i say that because i see a lot of people in the hobby it seems like they really struggle with being okay with what they have um you know seeking acceptance from others i mean god that's that's you know that's life yeah you know but you know you you want you know you get you have let's just say you take an interest in something no matter what it is obviously we're talking about audio in this in this respect but when you you take an interest in something you know yeah of course you want to have the best thing you can possibly have but not everybody has the same budget to get there and so you want every you know everyone needs community um i think we're all better better for it but i do think that um a lot of times this this hobby the the industry gets in its own way and prevents people from wanting to come in yeah because there seems to be a velvet rope so to speak there are definitely instances there are definitely instances in this in this hobby from the manufacturer on down to fans where um true hard and fast barriers are put up and they go far beyond just um price price um as i've learned is i used to always think price was the barrier no price is not the barrier price is like the first objection before you actually get to the barrier and that is just simply that certain people don't want you they either like they just don't want you as a customer they don't want your business or they don't want you in the hobby and yeah those are they don't want you a part of the conversation and that that's it kind of that's the darker side of one of my points in this video where i talk about i used to think that if i would get these things if i would acquire these things if i would believe these things that somehow that was finally going to allow me to break through and it just doesn't it just doesn't work that way yeah and if and if this industry isn't careful they're they're gonna kill it yeah yeah and and i have i'm i'm i witness it on a daily basis and it shocks me it shocks me when i mean if you just think about how everyone especially right now we're all kind of struggling just to sort of survive and get by and yet there are other or there are quite a few brands out there um and audio files like you know hobbyists or whatever you want yeah more people on their extreme side of it yeah that really want to put up a bunch of roadblocks um to get into this and i don't understand that at all that just seems like the worst thing you could ever do like why why try to discourage somebody you know or make them think that they aren't smart enough or they don't have the right thing or they didn't spend enough you know so that's something that i to this day try to hold on to this that anything can be good and you know and conversely anything can be bad bad or maybe not necessarily bad but maybe just isn't for me yeah and i i'm okay with that like just because maybe because if i say you know like denim like i i'm i'm i just they're they're not my favorite but that doesn't mean denon makes a bad product and it doesn't mean if you like denim that there's something wrong with you nope doesn't mean that at all and that's why i really wish there was a little bit more acceptance yeah i think actually one of the i guess existential crisis is crises of this industry is the fact that there's just there's there are so many roadblocks and and not to beat a dead horse you know the tribalism that exists in not only this hobby but it just seems in all of life right now i really think that you know we talk a lot our audiophiles especially talk a lot about how it's a great time to be an file because there's so many options so many great gear so many great gear options for you to get involved but yet that's a great statement and it's a true statement but then at the same time as soon as you start talking about a specific thing within say the parameters of it's a great time well it's like well hold on what great thing are we talking about exactly and i think we need to just keep that mindset that it's just a great time in general to become an enthusiast whether it's home theater or hi-fi because there's just so many choices and ways with which to get into it and not to become suddenly preoccupied when you pick a particular brand or product and just keep that more broad mindset i think that that's only way the only way that this this grows to be honest with you because you can't in one breath say it's a great time to become an enthusiast because there's so many budget opportunities so many budget options and opportunities for you to buy in and have a killer system for like no money whatsoever and then in the next breath or the next person right next to you goes okay well i'm thinking about buying a sony 1080. and then all of a sudden here come the here comes the judgment i think that's what has to stop because you can't encourage people and then suddenly discourage them for exactly the same thing bring it back to your question with for me is like what all has really changed um and i i don't again i don't know that that much has really changed beyond that i know there's a there's a lot more options out there and my my the breadth of my knowledge has grown immensely um but i try really hard to not let all of those things influence the the the uh the the end goal right you know and that is just enjoy the music and or the movie and and have and fun and like but and live with it rather than it taking over my life so to speak and know and we're always remembering that i am completely okay being happy with something what's what with something what someone else might think is less than you know versus needing the best of the best of the best and when somebody wants to know well what do you think or what would you get um i can give you my my own personal opinion but you know i want you to be confident that if you don't feel that way or if you feel something else is going to be better for you that just to be okay with that yeah just go with it and not try not to get bogged down and the list and whether or not which side of the fence you fall on you know um because honestly it doesn't really it doesn't matter right none of it really matters if you don't enjoy it true you know if you don't enjoy it if you don't listen to it if you don't use it what was the point yeah i i don't personally see one unless it's just to say i have this right unless you're you know you're just trying to fit in right and that's probably probably not going to give you the it may not just know that if that's if that's the path you take you you may not ultimately be rewarded yeah yeah you may not find happiness in the end so that's it that is our video of the 10 hi-fi and home theater truths that we used to believe but we don't anymore and now it's your turn down in the comments our question of the day is what beliefs did you used to have that maybe you don't have anymore maybe you just don't put as big as much stock in them anymore you maybe can still believe them a little bit maybe not as much as you used to let us know down in the comments below if you like this video please do give it a thumbs up like and subscribe ring that bell so that you're notified when new videos come out if you use any of the links of christie left for you down below know that that is a great way that you have continued to show your support for this channel and the work that we do here and we thank you very much obviously there's new merch um we are slowly rolling out new merch this is one of the first few designs to come out but you don't have to be all in these specs don't matter camp we have something for everyone including a specs matter shirt so check it out in the store uh follow me on instagram at recovering audio file and i think that's it so remember the only person who has to like the sound of your system is you so happy listening everybody thank you so much for watching and we'll see you on the next video bye

Channel: Andrew Robinson

Views: 227,325

Keywords: andrew robinson, 10 things i used to believe about hifi and home theater, 10 truths about hifi and home theater, best high end audio, digital audio is better than vinyl, more subs equals more bass, class d sucks, hifi gear is better than pro audio, speaker break in, best hifi investments, do i need hifi cables, hifi mistakes, home theater mistakes, are expensive cables worth it, do measurements matter, pro audio speakers, do hifi specs matter, hifi cables, hifi traps

Id: enJZqpOY3JI

Length: 26min 21sec (1581 seconds)

Published: Thu May 13 2021