The first step in planning any journey is to know where you're going.
That piece of wisdom might seem obvious but you'd be surprised how many folks make decisions of where to go next without ever knowing the end goal.
Imagine for a moment you are saving up for that next upgrade. Perhaps it's a new DAC, preamp, or loudspeaker. Which one will bring you the greatest level of improvement and musical bliss? Easier to identify if you know the end results you're looking for.
I recently found myself helping a frustrated audiophile along his journey. No matter what he tried to do he could not come close to the magic he had heard at a friend's house.
What to do next? Upgrade the DAC, the cables, maybe the network switch or fuse?
My answer surprised him. "None of the above until we figure out where we're going and why."
What was it about his system that was lacking? Frequency range? Soundstage? Tonal balance?
Turns out that what he was missing was that proverbial disappearing act I speak about so often. Closing his eyes, the speaker's position was always evident. He pined for the magic that so many of us hunger for.
Knowing where he needed to go made the task easy. No matter what upgrades or tweaks to his electronics or interconnecting cables we might throw at the problem, with those narrow-focus loudspeakers he had been using since the beginning, there was never a chance to get where he needed to go.
Like upgrading from economy to first class, an upgrade to a pair of Aspen FR10s got him to his destination in style.
Good to know where you're going.
