Hi Lindsayt
Thank you for taking the time to reply to my thread, You make some interesting points. Yes you are correct that price does not always make it better I know that for a fact when I bought the system I have, the only thing I will say is that as long as the components used are of a decent quality though. That's why I feel that a good quality pre-and power amp should not be more than 2½ to 3k at tops.
You speak of DIY systems does that mean you knowhow to make your own as I am afraid to say that's beyond me. But if you or anyone else knows for a fact good quality Hi-Fi integrated or separates at a reasonable price please list the make and model to help others (and me).
My understanding of DACs is that a poor one does more to alter the sound than tone controls and that good DACs are essential in good Hi-Fi. I am told these can be expensive and because they can alter the sound so much is why some companies are making analogue amps.
What you have said regarding of being able to tell what speakers where used when recording reminds me that I was once told that good recording engineers could tell who and where something was recorded without being told, so if that's true and they are all so different than is it pure sound. However as a friend of mine once said that's what makes a good recording one that might stand out from others and not a safe bet.
For me I still want tone controls (with a on/off button so best of both) and as an expert once said to me that as long as all the components are good then the difference is so little you would not be able to tell, well he said it a bit different to that but cant print what he said but yes he is a genuine expert.
Keith
Keith,
For DIY, systems, I have a long term DIY project to create a pair of Frankenstein (made from cherry picked body parts) 4 way high efficiency speakers. I'm expecting this to be a c £1500 project. If I wanted to do it in a hurry it would cost me £2000 to £3500.
Speakers are easy enough to DIY. It's not like you have to manufacture the drivers yourself. You can just buy whichever drivers you want. And then the crossovers are simple electronic items, and the cabinets you can make yourself or get someone else to make them for you.
In non Covid times there's a DIY event at Owston every summer that's highly inspirational.
For DAC's a £100 Topping is all you need to get a great sounding system. It's pointless aiming for a better DAC than a Topping if you haven't maxed out your speakers. The sonic differences between DAC's are minimal when you get to the Topping level. The sonic differences between speakers are significant. Especially if you are comparing a slimline ported low efficiency speaker with a full sized high efficiency speaker.
I'm confident I could win complete system bake-offs against systems with £10,000+ DACs if I'm allowed my choice of speakers plus a £100 DAC or £50 used CD player.
For tone controls I'd rather have an amplifier that's better at sounding as if there's nothing between the source and the speakers - and for getting such an amplifier at the lowest price I can.
It just so happens that the best amplifiers I've come across so far for sounding transparent at affordable prices have not had tone controls. And so therefore these have been the amplifiers I've stuck with and have been delighted to own and use.
The late Richard Dunn had a huge amount of knowledge and wisdom when it came to hi-fi. One of his sayings was "
Don't fix a problem in one part of your hi-fi with an inverse fault elsewhere. It's better to not have the fault in the first place."
This applies to some extent to tone controls.
21st century commercially produced music is almost universally over-compressed. Check out the DR database website. Neil Young and Bob Dylan are about the only mainstream artists to release new albums in the last few years that haven't been butchered by the compression machine. I'd rather listen to an uncompressed recording on a mediocre system than a red DR rating recording on the best system in the world.
Album list - Dynamic Range Database