We're all familiar with the theory of reaching a point of diminishing returns. According to this theory, time, effort and money spent on improving something may initially yield obvious, detectable and palpable results, however there comes a point where investing more time, effort and money stops making any detectable difference. We thus reach a saturation point, or a plateau.
Common wisdom dictates that the same principle applies when building one's audio system. First round of investment (i.e. getting the source, the amplification, speakers, interconnects and cables) is where one experiences the biggest gain. Following that, a second round of investment, such as upgrading a component or two, can yield audible gains, but never as dramatic as the first round. And so on, as we go down the upgrade path, with each round we tend to experience less and less of a gain until one day we stop short, scratch our heads, and realize "hmmm, looks like there isn't much else I could do to make this sound better." This orderly 'waterfall' methodology, while making all the sense in the world, doesn't corroborate with my experiences. A peculiar thing that I've began noticing is that, once I've reached a particular 'threshold' in my audio upgrades, further upgrades began making more and more dramatic improvements and gains. One example would be my latest (and of course, extremely controversial) upgrade from Nordost to Shunyata power cable. This seemingly ho-hum upgrade (replace Nordost with Shunyata? How can that result in any audible improvement?) has given me such an unexpected boon in my enjoyment of music reproduction, that I must confess I was completely taken by surprise. I now feel that there comes a time when you somehow manage to fine tune your audio system to the point where apparent minor upgrades carry the potential of making major inroads in terms of improved bass reproduction, lowered noise floor, lowered upper midrange glassiness and glare, more crisp and unwavering soundstage, etc. Raise your hand if you're with me! -- magiccarpetride ------------------------------------------------------------------------ magiccarpetride's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=37863 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=93154 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
