HiFi Thoughts

I get asked this question on occasion by people who’ve read a review of mine but believe I’ve left out what I really think. Are they right?

I recently asked this very question on our Instagram page and received over 70 replies. As the range of responses show, the answer is a highly personal matter.

I’ve received some interesting feedback from My Thoughts on Music Delivery Formats and The Biggest Advance in HiFi as well as from Darko’s latest Podcast. Interesting because some people completely missed my point.

We’ve all heard about The Next Big Thing when it comes to music delivery formats. And with every Next Big Thing comes a promise of some kind of revelatory experience that more often than not is claimed to obsolete the current Big Thing.

I’ve been reading about ‘subjective reviews’ for a while and admit I was initially like, WTF? But I’ve recently come around. Let me explain.

The website World Radio History is a treasure trove of information, containing scores of PDF copies of old audio publications too numerous to count.

Two pieces of similar news have been circulating around the virtual water coolers of late and even a cursory glance at what’s being ‘reported’ tells a tale of schadenfreude, telephone, and interpretation.

We’re told all kinds of things by hifi extremists. One thing these things have in common is a level of certainty coupled with bullying bravado that makes any amount of disagreement an act of war.

Before I dig into the reviews of the 8 phono stages that have been living in Barn, I thought I’d share my approach in tackling a gaggle of phono preamps. Let’s begin with what to call ’em.

If a new piece of hifi gear brings more enjoyment, is it worth it? Some people think the answer depends on a number.

I had to know. How would it work to have my rack between the speakers?

What better way to spend the time between December 25th and January 1st than listening to one’s own hifi?

Picture this: You’re alone in your home listening to that new favorite record, slowly easing out of the cares of the day and into the effortless weightless beauty that is the music experience.

I always kinda cringe when an audio reviewer calls the thing they’re reviewing a DUT (Device Under Test). First off, it sounds horrible and secondly reviewing hifi gear is not a test.

When it comes to picking pieces for my system, I like to take my time.

Of all the Darko.Audio podcasts I’ve had the pleasure to be a part of, The Real Value of Measurements is among my favorites. Why?

Let’s have a look around the Barn, the place where I spend my days (and some nights) living with the gear I review here at Twittering Machines.

“Why you can’t trust audio measurements” is the title of GoldenSound’s latest video and it handily illustrates, in exquisite detail, how and why measurement results don’t match and why they cannot be trusted out of hand. Is it my birthday? Christmas in May?

I sat in on a seminar at Axpona 2022 called Reviewers on Reviewing. After moderator Julie Mullins (Stereophile) finished her questions for Marc Phillips (Part-Time Audiophile), Greg Weaver (the audio analyst), and I, Julie opened the discussion up to questions from the audience.

In the course of human endeavors, we make choices. Lots of choices most days, and we use any number of internal criteria to inform these decisions.

My dear friend and colleague Herb Reichert’s recent piece for Stereophile got me thinking. I love when that happens.