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About Advice: Reasons to Close Your Eyes and Listen to Your Ears

© Dimitris Vayenas

Shopping for a hi-fi, whether it be on or off the Net, should not be done blindly (or should I say with deaf ears); a few simple tips can make all the difference in the world. In my first editorial I will share with you some expert and practical advise on how to choose -- your own -- hi-fi system.

Out there exists a plethora of "specialists" ready to advise you about what is good for you! Don't just listen to them -- listen to the equipment instead! Although you may believe that the truth is simple and one, the fact is that everybody perceives it differently. The ear is a unique device having different response characteristics for each one of us. Take your favourite records with you and listen to a few tracks, yourself. You never know...you may discover that you are tone-deaf and therefore may consider that spending, lets say, $5.000 for a source and a matching amount for the rest, makes no (audible) sense to you! If this is your case, you can buy on the basis of aesthetics and facilities.

It is important to listen to tracks that you are familiar with. I recall that I bought my first CD player (ARCAM Alpha), after listening to "Shine on you crazy diamond" , because it reminded me of the sound I had heard from a lousy tape deck while on holidays as a teenager. It had "bass" whereas most `cheap` CD players may have a `bright` and `polished` sound but they lack "bass". And if all the above doesn't convince you, allow me to quote Dr. Wilson (designer for respected British hi-end audio manufacturer QUAD and one of my lecturers of Analogue Design at University): "The are no words to describe just sound; people describe the sound quality by associating it with the impact that the other senses have on them (sweet, heavy, light, harsh etc.)."

The above describes the approach I will follow on this site. It is, as well, the approach I follow on my site which I created five months ago after finding out that nowhere and no one on the Net suggested to "listen to the equipment yourself!". More than 4,000 visitors have passed from my site and I am still waiting for the first insulting e-mail!

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