Please subscribe and like this video - I appreciate the support as always !

Another thing that is sad is the loss of brick and morter stores. It really limits your choice to connect with new products.

My biggest problem is, it's never good enough. Once you get used to the sound it should get better again. It's endless and costs a lot of money.

My hifi pain point is many users / dealers appear to not have grown up playing a musical instrument and do not know how for a example an acoustic piano or guitar should sound. As a result, they tend to fall for a superficially appealing but ultimately inaccurate, unbalanced and fatiguing "showroom" sound with detailed upper mids falsely masquerading as "more detail".

Hay Jay, I agree on almost all the points except one, when I am listening I am not looking at front wall. But I have all lights off and let the speakers disappear and enjoying the instrument placement and the main voice and the placement of back up singers. Also close my eyes at times to get deeper into the sound stage. If you are not getting the sensation of at being at the concert or venue, then you are wasting your time and money.

Hi Jay, you are 100% right about everything you said. I usually look at where I hear the instruments playing, being happy for the speakers to "disappear" from the soundstage. Thank you very much, keep up the good work. Unfortunately I can't buy the components you show on your channel, but I'm a fan of your work and I admire your courage.

I watch KZfaq videos on my system all the time, somehow you stop listening to the system and start enjoying the music, it doesn’t matter that it’s low res, it’s just a more involving experience. So I’m totally with you on that.

I use my projector a lot when listening. It can be anything from simple “slideshows” of art, to nature videos, to colour and other abstract animations.

What I find horrible about this hobby is : Because your ears are so used to great sounding gear, you’re unfortunately more conscious about all the crap sounding around us!!! I think it is called the spoiled ear syndrome

Every once in a in a while I invite my wife to listen to music. But I have to beg. She has better ears. She will sometimes and give me her opinion. I love it! My kids when young, would take a serious listen and now my daughter and son both really appreciate good sound.

I don’t think it’s sad that we listen to music alone. I like being alone. Some of my most joyful moments happen when I’m alone. Yes, I usually listen to music alone. But I also play the piano alone. I read alone and often take walks by myself. Isn’t it important to be by ourselves at times, to recharge, to meditate, to create some space for ourselves. I could understand why you feel this way, though. Much of your life is devoted to audio, acquiring and comparing components, doing videos, listening sessions, set-ups. And most of it presumably done alone. It must be lonely and tiring at times.

My biggest problem with this hobby, is I always want to upgrade. It's a sickness...but I love it!

Of course, not all you said apply to me. I don't let my wife clean my gears. She doesn't go to my corner. I love to listen alone since there is only one sweet spot. I invite friends only when I have upgrade and they want to hear the improvements. I don't need to have a TV screen to replace the wall. The TV is distracting. The beauty of hi-fi is you can "see" the instruments across the soundstage based upon the music you are playing. It is imagination. Poor sounding system can't create the 3D soundstage. Poor quality songs that I love are for car stereo. Happy listening.

Hey Jay, I notice a lot of these high- end amplifier companies are building products that look premium on the exterior, but use cheap components on the interior!

Definitely good idea watching and listening

What I hate about this hobby is the equipment is not cheap and people like you say 15k dacs are affordable and should cost 20k . There is nothing wrong with well made engineered product but elitist mark up within hi fi makes me sick

Lack of universal standard of measurements. Yes this hobby is Subjective at its core, but ....there must be a way to more effectively convey component performance. I spent time selling HiFi in my college years at multiple brick & mortar shops in the 90s. During that time I experienced the ability to press a button and instantly switch (A/B compare) between components. Nothing I have ever done critical listening wise was as valuable as that instant A/B.

You are so spot on regarding some favorite recordings lacking quality. All of us that listen to classical music have the privilege of having a zillions different versions to choose from per musical piece. The recording standards have also always been much higher for classical music. When people try to squeeze a quality of of old scruffy beatles or stones recordings that simply aren't there I shake my head. You don't need ultra high end for that. It’s the exact same for my own 80ties favorites. The “high resolution “ is simply not there.

Your point about not all music sounding great. Is so true. I cannot find a decent sounding Guns and Roses album all of them just sound like mush on any gear

Not sure about others but one thing I don't like about this hobby is the heavy lifting of the components. It makes me very tiresome and injury prone.

Jay, regarding the visual side of the hobby. I have a 75" TV behind my system and I run Roon on the left 2/3 of the screen and a browser on the right 1/3 of the screen scrolling the display output for Roon for lyrics and so forth. I even use this when I'm listening to vinyl, which is 2/3 of my listening time, and of course it's perfect for digital. I actually read album information and album liner notes on PDF's on the screen. It's a kick aS$$ setup.

That's why the i love home theater most.

I have no complaints about this industry or hobby as I merely watch it to amuse myself. I'm not an audiophile, I'm an engineer and a music lover. My favorite genre is live classical music and its kin as it is heard in concert halls and other large spaces. You might say I've been a reverb freak all of my life. 50 years ago I took it up as an engineering challenge to figure out why live and recorded music sound so different. This is not an easy problem. I did figure out how it works and how to do the same thing a different way from a recording. I patented the Idea but no one was interested in it. I'm a much better engineer than a salesman. Since this is only a toy for me I didn't make as much effort as I could have. If you heard my EEAS prototype you'd kill yourself because you can't have one. If you knew how little it cost to build you'd get up and kill yourself a second time. However, the cost of my education if I had to duplicate it today would cost almost as much as your sound system plus four of the most grueling years of mental work I ever did I'm my life. It was worth every second of it. Being an engineer can be a lot of fun but you have to learn a lot of math.

My biggest regret is that many audiophiles do not have access to a dealer at all, much less one like mine who has taken the time to get to know my likes and dislikes. I have been doing business with him for over 30 years and he has never steered me wrong.

A product is oly as good as the service that comes with it, no matter if its $500 or $500,000. Audio has not changed, people have. Expectations have. Common sense has. Business practices have. People are less honest and more oppurtunistic. Research, research research the product, the brand and retailer before buying, believing or listening to anything.

Great points. Really interesting video. “All human evil comes from a single cause, man’s inability to sit still in a room.”

Here are a couple of pain points: Many items do not look good. Just compare them to pricey furniture, sleek home appliances, or cars. It takes a lot of time and effort to set up a system. Can you imagine a car owner being told to assemble a few heavy parts and connect a bunch of cables with different plugs before he can drive his one million Bentley properly?

The price of vinyl records !

I've got into listening in the dark and it really adds something

after hearing you i just perfer to be a music enthusiast ,not like you but there are a lot of people that like to show off because they have money but not once a month they listen to music i all my life listen to music everyday, since i remenber being me

What I hate about this hobby is costs. these items at mass production would be 20th of their cost today. i.e. no cable should be more than 50 bucks. lol give me a break.

Thing I dont like is components breaking. Ive had my DAC, DDC and amplifier all break within a 2 year period

Yes u are so right about some recordings. I have a 100k + system and I get so disappointed when some recordings sound like shit. Mostly from the 60s.

Can we stop pretending more women want to join the hobby but the men “won’t let them”? WAF factor means most women think this stuff is ugly and undesirable.

Jay if money were no object, having a museum diorama (example like the one in Milwaukee with the buffalo and Indian) would be unreal for the front wall!

Hi hi, agree. Spot on Jay! 👍😅

Jay, Virtual Reality Concerts through Visors while Listening to Ultra HighEnd Components can be a lot of fun! Especially with Personalized Proclivities being Administered simultaneously! 😁 Just a thought! 💪

You're right that video creates atmosphere and enriches the message, which is why I most often watch KZfaq clips. We sit down with friends or family, talk and experience it together. In addition, there are any new changes that I introduce to the structure, either of the speakers or the amplifier. Now they are building new speakers. There's going to be something going on. By the way, a very good method is to listen to soundtracks from movies. The sound differences between DACs and amplifiers are very easy to notice.

A lot of products, but not enough local stores😢

Hi Jay! Great video - one of your best actually (to me). I understood every part you´d brought up. The first one is the best. Why spending number of hours listening just by your self? 1. Only one seat, exactly between the speaker to be able to reach Audio Nirvana, no other seat are good enough. 2. It´s not that bad to have some time alone - this is quality time for most of us? I fully agree when you said how bad your favorites songs from the past is presented - cannot listen to them anymore... The major issue being a Audiophile is absolutely that you continue to hunt for more, never satisfied. Perhaps trying to reach the goal is funnier than to actual reach it??? Take care

not into the vision thing - - always close my eyes so I can "see" the musicians in my mind's eye - - never tire of "seeing" with my ears

Audio is theater of the mind. Listen in the dark, close your eyes relax and let the music move you. A video with music is an entirely different experience and for my two cents not a relaxing one .

I currently use my Golden ear triton refs with my PS Audio gear I’m not even close to what I would call reference sound, and my biggest problem is allways MONEY hifi is expensive, give me the money and I could make the dream sound I allways been looking for

GREAT video, right on point with everything.

I hate not being able to take home different amps, speakers, dacs, cables etc. for a week and then A B everything. Then make my pick. Buy the stuff I want and send/bring back the stuff I don't want.

i still love cds and its sad that very often they STILL suck they sound horrific so little care in production and they really can sound great on good equipment x

My Name Is Shannon, and I'm here today to talk about I'm an Audioholic. And yes, I'm gladly practicing the 12 step program and continuing to buy more audio.😂

I also have a big problem with the fact that some are of the opinion that no matter what, you are not entitled to any kind of opinion on something you don’t own. This is so often confused with no experience. I have what can definitely be considered a fairly good sized car collection of 29 cars currently. I can talk about other cars than those I own. Why? Because I have been in a position to experience them. In the same way can I also say what I don’t like about Magico or B&W for example. I have many hours of listening experiences with both. I have helped friends set them up. I have had them in my room on my gear for testing and on loan. This means that I have experience with them. Do I have ownership experience? No. But that does not mean that I can’t tell that their house sound is not for me. I can visit a forum and talk about my experiences and they are equally valid to those of others. Do I know how it is to live with a Magico M3 for two years? No. But I do know how it is for two months. I know people with many types of systems, ranging from Sonus Fabrer, to Avantgarde, to B&W to KEF, to Dynaudio etc. Many people are in that situation. What does that mean? It means they have a base to build some kind of experience based opinion on. As much as it pains to tell you, your rant about who and who are not entitled to an opinion, is exactly why I meet people who look at me funny if I say I’m an audiophile. I get “that look” of oh no, here we go. And the result is that they don’t want to show me what music they listen to, show me their systems, or even talk music. I understand what you are trying to say. You cannot tell someone that a Lamborghini Aventador is a crap car to drive, if you don’t have some seat time. But you don’t need to own one for years to know just how awful it is. That you can find out by spending a day with one. And the same goes for something that is good.

You are correct about snake oil lol my biggest issue is the companies visual aspects trying to sell u on Kaleidoscape and streaming. Let me decide on how I want to listen to music or see my movies. Leave my physical media alone.

Jay your points were hilarious but so damn true lol

The amount of subjectivity that is present with in this hobby can get a bit frustrating and annoying. Lets not kid ourselves. We all don’t hear the same things or the same way. 😮

I hear peoples systems that finally sound great. Then they upgrade or change something and the system sounds bad. Its lost its magic. Sad.

An audiophile leads a solitary life. That's why my wife volunteered to get a boyfriend to make me happy

I'm distracted by the anger that seems to be out there - practically when it comes to cables - - I don't get why someone who doesn't think cables matter gets so upset with those that do, generally reverting to the "waste of money" argument.

There has to come a point in anything you love, that you wanna know its deepest inner workings and details on a scientific level. With that knowledge in HiFi, the snake oil guys will never touch you ; )

All these people hating on Mac but buying systems that are meant to go close to realistic as possible and then not liking their music. Buy a Mac and use their dac or get vinyl rig and then tell me how much you don’t enjoy your music. No it might not be the most technically capable but all the ambience of the music comes through, the emotion the way it was meant to sound will be there

Great points and I have been into SQ Car audiophile for years now starting my home gear build! Very simple stuff and no Snake oil!! Thaniks for the info! Semper Fi and Can Do (P.S. Lost my first Home SQ set up in a divorce after years of building in the Marines! Sic)

Spot on and very thoughtful

My wife is a foodie I am not. I am an audiophile and she is not. She is interested in audio systems as much as I am interested in food. That means she would get excited about going to a new restaurant or traveling far for a specific type of food where I would just eat it and say it taste good. She would listen to my system and say it sounds good.

Music is definitely more enjoyable when shared.

the $40k cable guy said sometimes prices shock him lol

Hifi Rose has Rosetube, which plays practically any music video ever, with high definition sound. The best to watch are the concerts.

I hate the audiophool snake oil aspect of the hobby. $50k audiophile ethernet cables being about the worst offender.

Jay, I’m rolling on the floor LMAO! That was the funniest thing I’ve ever heard from an audiophile, but it’s so true ! Staring into the abyss between a Loudspeakers sitting in the sweet spot! I agree it would be great to move my flatscreen against the wall! But the only wall I can place my system on faces west, my window 53” wide x 69” tall. I’d have to mount a piece of 7/16” or 19/16” plywood, same height as my TV to block out the sun’s heat from destroying the back of my 4K Vizio P series 55” TV. Now that I think about it, it’s a great idea and I’m gonna act on that. - Thank you It’s a lonely hobby ! I would say that it’s more like 95% of our friends have no interest, in this hobby that I’ve been enjoying since I was 19, that was 49 years ago.

The only time my wife sits down with me to listen to my system is when I’m playing the album Breakfast in America by Supertramp. As far as bad recordings, when I’m listening to music I really like but the quality of the recording is very poor I find myself switching to quality recordings of music that I may not like as much. I spent a lot of money on my system and of course I want to hear it at its best.

Great points.

The thing I hate most is I too often find myself focusing on the next upgrade or that I could lafford even more expensive equipment. I forget the most important part of the hobby, the music.

Point 1 is mostly the individuals fault, I'm more than happy to share my music and system with whoever is interested to spend 1h with me in the room. Do I spend a lot of my time researching, tuning, thinking of upgrades or ways to make my life easier when I want to listen, heck yeah! But if someone can't bring themselves to share, then it will be a pretty lonely journey - not really for me. Point 2 as much as I love listening, I do appreciate when it's possible to see the performance of what I'm listening, recent example would be me watching the Drumeo KZfaq channel, I had listened some of the music they have there (I'm talking about the sessions they do with drummers who perform on a song they never heard before) and after watching the videos, I decided the next day to play some songs on the system, and when I did it, I managed to understand what was causing certain sounds that I had heard before but had ignored - and I believe I ignored them because I didn't understand them. So, for me visuals are important, specially when I have no music background or understand music instruments. On the scamming, you really made me go on full research mode (I have commented on your video with more information on that scam). Music not sounding great, so true... but my question is: who is the responsible entity for the song to be out there without a good quality standards, and if there was issues with the song before, why not do a TRUE remaster when possible? I had an issue with the drums on a particular music, they sounded fake, and low and behold it was all done with virtual drums, the music is widely available but really, nobody has improved it since 2006... the tech is around, I'm sure someone could make the real drums... oh well Thank you for the video.

Bello.💖💖💖💖💖💖

only thing that I can relate to is the "listening mostly alone argument" Nobody has any time left these days to sit down and just relax and listen. Everyone is blown away when they first came and checking out what I have put together, but really rarely they are coming back for another long session. Most times they want to watch a movie together on that system

I have two observations that have been talked about ad nauseum, but the industry still does not seem to get it. I think the hobby would have a lot more female participation if manufacturers would make products that are easy to use and appeals to their sense of aesthetics. My bride loves music, but alas she never touches my main rig because it too much of hassle to fire up. So, she can enjoy her collection I set her up with an old school receiver, CD player, and speakers of modest size. It gets used because she can figure it out and she does not have 6-foot monoliths sitting in her living room. Second observation, I hate the fact the hobby is made up of primarily old farts like me. I would love to see more quality products at affordable price points as well as additional products that cater to how young folks listen to music. My 22-year-old coworker does not own even the most entry level of gear. He streams his music from his phone to a Bluetooth speaker. Nothing wrong with that IMHO, but what if the likes of Wilson made a powered speaker with airplay and Bluetooth capability to accommodate the way this young man and his significant other like to listen. The doors it might open down the road for wanting something a little more substantial as they get more established.

I'm hearing an Eric Carmen song...

I agree, I would like to see more female audiophiles. I think we should put a big effort into getting interested.

The first item.... The cause of audiophiles evaluating gear alone is that others (especially non-audiophiles) don't like hearing a select few music tracks repeated over and over again.... In the process of trying different components and/or tweaks to improve the system. In regard to opinions, I cannot count how many times a component has gotten rave reviews, only to try the component and be underwhelmed...... I personally don't equate "modern" recordings to better recordings...... I believe the the release dates of recordings have little correlation to how good or bad they sound. I've heard both good and bad from all eras. I do follow a female audiophile on "X"..... I initially didn't know she was an audiophile, I followed her for the live music clips she posts on the site... But later she posted some music clips from her stereo system, which included McIntosh...... Very impressive..... (Won't post names....) My pet peeve is Auto-Tune..... Especially classic recordings that initially didn't have it, but later remasters having it applied..... I believe Auto-Tune ruins the music, and my audio friend and I often reject new music for that reason alone..... I believe it is not only the single worst thing that has happened to music, but it has also caused some younger people to be disinterested in music.... And to others, quality sound reproduction seems totally pointless to them.

Dear Jay, your content gets more and more interesting and I can basically agree with all your comments in this episode, although some more than others. I appreciate that you bring matters like this to the table and hopefully doing so you have initiated change. Please continue pushing these discussions! Thanks!

Are you going to do a “ what I love about this hobby” video as well?

Actually, I sit with my eyes closed and imagining the scene on the stage.

I consider myself lucky my wife enjoys listening to music with me. The only observation I can relate to few women in this hobby is my wife doesn’t want to know what’s under the hood as long as it works.

I use Bang and Olufsen I have two spectate music sources and Beolab speakers and two BnO TVs with side and rears too . It blends into your home and YES it sounds great .

Actually, one has to find audio buddies owning the desired component to audition and make a judgment which will not be accurate because if the said piece is not inserted in your system in your own room, you will have no clue about the results.

Haha I see exactly what you mean and that's why I usually listen to a product reviewer online before I decide to purchase

Very intelligent!

Awesome insight - you nailed it!

Im not watching this one.. but I'm going to say .. when you make one about what you love and talk about positive stuff.. I'll tune in. Too much hate out there ..and mainly because it seems to be what people watch - but not me. Im not going to fallow trends in social media algorithms that end up making society a worse place. We ought to " lead by example " by acting and supporting what we love .. instead of using hate as a tool. ( imo )

1: I’m feel sad 😢 because my wife don’t like nothing about Highend she say we are crazy people -and she got a bose Bluetooth and she say she is happy just only with a small speaker 🔈. Just only if reproduces the sound that’s all. 2 I don’t have friends to talk about highend just me and my phone 📱 when I find you guys !!!! 😊 👍 thanks Jays (( just the only thing I see that I don’t like that people fight vintage is better than the new systems and streaming is better than vinyls and etc etc etc 👍 I like both if I have the possibility I wish one day maybe you can talk about vintage receiver 1 to 10 or talk about the story of one company .

Good vid mate... I agree with all your comments

I watch hubble images while listening.

Totally agree about visual experience absence problem. When I see the artist perform in KZfaq, I understand the musical piece much better and that is a fuller experience. Unfortunately the sound quality on KZfaq is not satisfying the audiophile enthusiast.

Might want to consider getting a Kaleidescape and download lossless concerts. Do some research and see if that is what you are looking for to be engaged in the music.

I couldn't care less about others opinions.Qualified,or unqualified. Their experience may be borne out of brand biases,either positive or negative and at best they can only speak about what they've listened to within the context of the system they use. There are too many variables to hold so much faith in others views. The only time that can potentially be worthwhile is when the person who's voicing their viewpoint uses a similar system and you know that your tastes mirror theirs.Otherwise it's a bit of a crapshoot as they say. Poor recodings too are an unfortunate fact that no system irrespctive of status can remedy,sadly.

ADDED LIST: 1) Fanboys: I simply hate when some refuse to acknowledge if one of their brands, is not God's gift to humanity, it is okay if you are happy for a brand, but please understand that different opinions are also allowed. 2) Snobs: If the system does not cost at least XXXX then is it not worth anything, or if you do not use this technology, are you simply an idiot. It is often correct that things that are more expensive, tend to sound better, but you can find diamonds out there for less. 3) "Experts" if this "expert" is not able to hear it, detect it or measure it, then is it only idiots that can think differently. This hobby is about having fun and enjoying the hobby, and if I feel my sound gets better if I make a handstand and fart toward South, then please let me do so, it gives me joy and a better experience, no matter if anybody else can detect anything.

The irony is that this hobby is strange, but nothing more than any other hobby or sport where for example someone kicks a ball, music is a way of life and the one who embarks on this path has his own faith and joy in it, because at the end of the day something has to be done, so just spin all you zombies - the hooters and enjoy.

I don’t hate anything about this hobby but if I got so frustrated like you I would close my KZfaq channel and do something useful 😉

Listening to music at home is a solitary pursuit, it's emotional. When and what moves you in the moment to hear something is hard to share. I like eyes closed lights out, with other senses turned off easier to dive into. Like good sex, I may drift into sleepy town. Many moons ago when vinyl was dominant media, we all had a system of some sort, we would visit and expose each other to new music. As life changes, so does the priority of the musical experience for many. Tons of options, so I limit my endeavors to dealers within a 3 hour driving radius, fortunately I'm centered between many major metro areas which allows me to do so. From there I'll listen extensively for hours. A good dealer will understand. Don't need to own it, sure a year long demo would be great. An extended listening session properly set up will tell you all you need to know. That will include changing amps and sources. I will listen to the flagship, entry model, then zero in on what fits room, budget, & taste. Based on what I've heard over the years, the XVX still king of the hill for what my ears and taste tell me.

it looks a lot like my listening room,only i even have more components spread out, but you have there real good gear

My experience has been....if you have a whole room dedicated to things that you don't need, it is no longer a hobby. It is an obsession/addiction. An illness. I have an illness of my own. Not criticizing. I listen to the music, not the system. I like to sing along, play the air drums, air guitar. My cat loves the show. You'll find music more enjoyable. People just want to say they are audiophiles. Like everything else. Blah blah blah, specs specs specs, money money money.👍

I cannot stand the music snobbery. I hate the fact that some people are so consumed with listening to the “politically correct” recordings, that they stop listening to music and start listening to their systems. For me being an audiophile equates being a music lover, a music fan. That means I’m eclectic. Why should I limit myself because the audiophile community tells me that it’s “a sin” to listen to what I like on my system? I can spend an afternoon listening to high quality jazz or vocal recordings, and I enjoy that. But I can also enjoy a full blast heavy metal session, or I can spend a day pumping electronic music as part of the barn-up before wifey and I go clubbing. We have created a listening room which is also a living room. This means that the experience becomes a lot more social. It means that the system can entertain more than just the two of us. To me music is a social event as well as a time for isolation and contemplation. It’s also where wifey does her yoga in the morning. So the snobbery has no place in a well functioning audiophile community. I cringe and roll my eyes so hard when I see people talk a big game of “the right quality music” only to ask them if they mind showing me their Spotify playlist, only to be met with a slew of excuses ranging from “oh it’s my kids music”, or “I don’t know how that got there” etc. want to listen to Verdi? Do it. Want to listen to Pat Metheny? Do it. Want to listen to Amon Amarth, Judas Priest, Sara Landry or Armin Van Buuren? Do it! Stipe the damn music snobbery and just take ownership of what makes you happy!

Can you adjust the peaks and dips in the frequency response on your system? And have you taken any measurements?

Super great Video ! I can add that I didn't found too many honest Dealers ...

I agree with you Jay but the highlight of your video you showed a pic of a system with ATC speakers(4.01).❤❤❤