the source... and speakers.. and your mood of the day. psychology and peace of mind are 50 percent of musical enjoyment

Your book and CD helped me reposition my speakers slightly to make a sizable difference in the soundstage of my music system. Now that it’s set in place and it’s been more than 6 months of musical nirvana sitting in my listening chair, I have to shout out a giant thank you to Paul.

Thank you for the book & companion CD Paul. I set up my system per instructions and it made a distinct improvement to my ears. I passed them on to another audio enthusiast and so it goes - Building community 😊

I bought the book and CD, and low and behold my system was already properly setup within the constraints of the room. I did mark off two toe-in settings so that I can adjust for live music vs studio recordings, but ultimately, I find that it's the mixing and mastering that are the weakest link (or biggest factor) in whether you achieve a great soundstage. The speakers can't disappear if the mix places a high-hat (or any instrument) in only one channel with no spatial cues in the other channel. This leads you to a chicken and egg situation, since you can't tell if you have a great recording when your speakers are not setup properly, and you can't setup your speakers optimally without a great recording. The companion disk is a great head start.

Spot on, Room, acoustics, setup. Something I rarely see 👍🎵🤩

Great advice. Certainly consistent with my experience. Speaker set up, then source. Then all the stuff that can kill the micro details and timing. Volume controller, then amps, then cables. It all matters but if your source doesn't create the phase correct details then it does not matter how much the stuff filters.

I have a pair of 25 year old Klipch klf20s form 98, and a couple years ago my old INTEGRA receiver failed and I replaced it with a midlevel Yamaha AVR and an emotiva a2 for my mains, I worked in AV at the retail level for 30 years, been to all the trade shows and I gotta say the modern AVR should not be dismissed, mine was under 1k and has beautiful imaging and a huge soundstage for under a k

I have a small room that is hard to get speaker placement the way I want but it's sufficient enough. I replaced my AV Yamaha receiver with the little Vincent sv 500 and all of the sudden the Sound was Unbelievable! Preamp does make a difference. 👍

Its such a shame the UK Hifi show has been cancelled this weekend, was looking forward to meeting you.

I CAN CONCUR WITH PAUL…AFTER I SAVED UP 😅 I bought the book 📖 and the 💿 CD .. I FOLLOWED HIS INSTRUCTIONS AND NOW I AM ENJOYING THE BENEFITS 🤗😎💚💚💚

My take is that you want the speakers to "disappear " rather that get them to expand widthways...any system that can do that is pretty High Fidelity in my humble opinion

Regarding soundstage, u have to consider which speaker design were talking about? Every manufacturing makes compromises, when designing a speaker. Some sounds at their best, close to the front wall. Most speakers gain a lot from getting out in the room. Others works best in a corner, like some horn speakers do. It's all about what compromises there is taking, when a company makes the design. Of course every set-up needs attention, but not every design is focused on sound stage. ✌️❤️🇩🇰

Paul In 1826, Campau moved westward and established a trading post in what is today Grand Rapids. In 1831, he bought land for what is now the downtown business district of that city from the federal government for $90. Along with fellow pioneer Lucius Lyon, Campau is remembered as one of the founding fathers of Grand Rapids. Shortly after, Detroit-born Louis Campau, known as the official founder of Grand Rapids, was convinced by fur trader William Brewster, who was in a rivalry with the American Fur Company, to travel to Grand Rapids and establish trade there. In 1826, Campau built his cabin, trading post, and blacksmith shop on the east bank of the Grand River near the rapids, stating that the Native Americans in the area were "friendly and peaceable". Campau returned to Detroit, then returned a year later with his wife and $5,000 of trade goods to trade with the Ottawa and Ojibwa, with the only currency being fur. Campau's younger brother Touissant would often assist him with trade and other tasks at hand.

There aren't many houses or flats with floor plans that don't rule out a good setup. Add the 'spouse factor' and it is even more difficult.

_Which component is most important?_ The wallet! 💰

The preamplifier/phono stage then the source are the components that make music

Funny, I’ve never had a problem getting left, right, and center images from any stereo I’ve ever had. I don’’t know if that makes me lucky, not that picky, or just that I have common sense on how to place my speakers for my listening position, and the “appropriate” way to go about it for a particular listening space, which brings me back to “common” sense, 😆 which we all know it’s not that common in this century! 👨🏻

This blog is oh so correct…. I every 6 months get the bug to play the retest the set up..

Don't steal my idea haha so I'm a guitar player, obsessed with all things audio! Mainly recording and production. But I absolutely love a killer high fidelity home audio system. My idea is....not sure if someone has probably thought along the same lines. Why couldn't we develop a super high fidelity home audio system with tubes( in the amp) and amazing speakers to apply an Impulse Response of say I.E. sunset studio room A or in the control room through the monitors and apply that on the High Fidelity home audio system! You could do all kinds of high end studios like abbey road aswell. I hope that makes sense?! I've not heard of this tech yet or ideas in the home setting. But why not? Why not replicate the room of studio A @ sunset and apply that Impulse response to the music you are listening to? In my mind it will add that rooms reverb and what it would sound like with that music in the room. But where the sound is like the actual artist playing in that room as opposed to a recording being played..... food for thought

Last time I moved I had my stereo system in mind as to where it was gonna be positioned. Best thing I've ever done for the sound. Second best thing was to dump an entry level sub for some 'proper' musical ones. Amps and DAC are way down the list.

You'd think dealers would be exceptional at set up as they are selling the speaker and can charge as a service for proper setup. I easily got my panel isf by a pro.

Have your book and CD. They’re awesome. Especially the large format, large print book. By the way, does speaker budget include any Subwoofers or not? Thanks.

I’ve been putting off getting the guide, but I should have it as well. I’ve seen audiophile setups on KZfaq that use it during installations.

The book and CD are helpfull. On the other hand I could not follow all recommendations due to practical reasons that appear when listening in a living room ;)

The most important component is your music collection that you play through your hifi, and sometimes we forget this!

What are those color basketballs used for there in the factory? 🏀😆

*Neither* the speaker book or CD is on your website. Amazon lists the book (but not the CD), but when you click on it there is an error message.

Γεια σου Paul, another great video of yours, you always sell big, big is better? no complain about that, go bigger still!!! cheers ;))

Good recordings are one of biggest factors here .... how many really good recordings are there these days ... hardly any! You can get exceptionally good spatial separation from tv sound before recordings !

Speakers

Which component is the most important. Your Brain..

No Kindle Edition Paul?

I have ordered your book at amazon and cancelled it,i could not find you bloody cd that is supposed to go with, 1)Could the 2 be sold together 2) Could you write the title the of the said CD.all i get with all your referances is an error messge page not available and so on,Pls Ck,Bye,Lucien,

Hi Paul, I’m looking at buying your book for speaker setup but I haven’t got a SACD player apart from a Sony PS3 would this do ? Many Thanks Clive from England Would have loved to seen you guys at the Hifi Show live Event.

Which component? The program source!

What happened to the 2160p (4K) videos on this channel??

Paul. I have Audiophile Book and Reference Music CDs. What SACD are you discussing that goes with your Loudspeaker book? Thanks

The one that sounds the worst. Fix that first. Then when you get more money, do it again and again

Subliminal message, Paul is standing in front of his power re-generators...

Buy Paul's equipment (all of it A-Z) Buy Paul's music from Octave Records... Then buy Paul's setup books & DVDs... Then only then will you achieve Musical Nirvana

west makes big stuff, thats why i commented,,,paul tell me do you know audio quality? is big it?...take it as an email question

yes have both books need the sacd and also a Rel subwoofer

F30 vs Magico M9 ????

currently reading "The Audiophile's Guide, the stereo"

Is the set up the same with rear ported speakers and the front ported speakers.

Crutchfield

I want to buy your book and setup my speakers right but I dont have a sacd player

I see people with speakers up against the wall and 6 feet apart terrible, it doesn’t matter how much you spend

I listen to Bluetooth good sound from Sony

Hey man your belt is off to the left.

After the music? I would say the speakers

Apparently you've never been to Grand Rapids. A total misnomer. :-D

There are no *rapids* in Grand Rapids!!

How do I make my system sound better? Well sonny come sit down over here and I'll tell you a little story about my book I have for sale that will tell you and your family all you need to know about this here stereo system problem you're having. ☺️

Best wishes to the Royal Family for the loss of our Queen, long live the King

The bartender

Without watching this or reading the comments I will tell you it's the weakest link... the speaker

Your ears.

WHAT HAPPENED TO JESSICA ?

The room

The one between your ears?

You have this you tube channel is useless. Consistently refer to your ps audiophile book as your answer to the poeple's questions. The poeples just won't get straight forward answer from you Paul. I am very disappointed.