Question What is Hi -Fi: is best and full quality of sound

[JDL]

I think for me the points that other people, with the knowledge they have and their understanding of high fidelity audio systems, is what makes this such a wonderful forum. People like me who are quite new to actually understanding what the elements are that can make for a good product or system can learn an awful lot. And then that helps people have an idea what might be the right products to try out and buy.

 

[Al ears]

Oh excellent, I'm glad I'm not talking nonsense then, because I'm pretty sure that you're a guy who knows what he's talking about.👍🏻

Others might disagree, and have done....

 

[plastic penguin]

I think for me the points that other people, with the knowledge they have and their understanding of high fidelity audio systems, is what makes this such a wonderful forum. People like me who are quite new to actually understanding what the elements are that can make for a good product or system can learn an awful lot. And then that helps people have an idea what might be the right products to try out and buy.

The problem is hi-fi is very similar to printing, which seems strange. I worked in the litho business for over a decade and printing of any kind is an illusion. Hi-fi is a sonic illusion and that's one of the reasons we all hear something different.

 

[nopiano]

The problem is hi-fi is very similar to printing, which seems strange. I worked in the litho business for over a decade and printing of any kind is an illusion. Hi-fi is a sonic illusion and that's one of the reasons we all hear something different.

But nobody picks up a picture of a beach and thinks they can go paddling! I’m not sure I understand the analogy, pp.

 

[plastic penguin]

But nobody picks up a picture of a beach and thinks they can go paddling! I’m not sure I understand the analogy, pp.

Unless you've worked in the business, I wouldn't expect you to understand. There are brochures I could dig out of a holiday company and the sunset looks stunning yet hardly any printing has taken place, it's down to the type of paper used.

Of course you can't go swimming in a painting of a beach unless it's in 3D, then you might be tempted.

As regards sound our ears are tuned to certain frequencies, my daughter will hear something I struggle to detect and vice versa.

 

[James105]

Unless you've worked in the business, I wouldn't expect you to understand. There are brochures I could dig out of a holiday company and the sunset looks stunning yet hardly any printing has taken place, it's down to the type of paper used.

Of course you can't go swimming in a painting of a beach unless it's in 3D, then you might be tempted.

As regards sound our ears are tuned to certain frequencies, my daughter will hear something I struggle to detect and vice versa.

Isn't that just age related, don't we slowly lose our HF hearing as we get older? also don't females retain it for longer than males?

 

[Jasonovich]

I may have misinterpreted but I take it from OPs title, that he's referring to, what defines the perfect HiFi?

My understanding what defines the perfect HiFi.
It should not purport to be the utopian of audio listening, there is no such thing.
HiFi should be the girlfriend that makes you happy every time you see her with all her imperfections, you know it's more than good enough for you.

 

[nopiano]

Unless you've worked in the business, I wouldn't expect you to understand. There are brochures I could dig out of a holiday company and the sunset looks stunning yet hardly any printing has taken place, it's down to the type of paper used.

Of course you can't go swimming in a painting of a beach unless it's in 3D, then you might be tempted.

As regards sound our ears are tuned to certain frequencies, my daughter will hear something I struggle to detect and vice versa.

I don’t think I need to work in the business to feel it’s a strange comparison! Whether there’s hardly any printing, or lots, what has that got to do with sound? Stereo imagery is a sonic illusion, but good reproduction isn’t. Perhaps that’s where we are differing?

Our ears aren’t ‘tuned to certain frequencies’ either as far as I know (unless you can show me some evidence for it) as humans in general have hearing in a broadly similar range - 20Hz to 20,000Hz when we are younger.

Obviously many of us here have age related hearing loss, or maybe hearing damage from accident or injury, and females often have more acute HF hearing. And men have selective hearing when chores are demanded! 😉

 

[JDL]

The problem is hi-fi is very similar to printing, which seems strange. I worked in the litho business for over a decade and printing of any kind is an illusion. Hi-fi is a sonic illusion and that's one of the reasons we all hear something different.

I agree, but in the end we're all free to do our own research, some of us are free to go and audition products.
However, I believe that there are people on this forum, with far more knowledge and experience of audio products than me (as an example) and for me, the opinions and experience, expertise even, of some of the people here, is rather useful and helpful to me and possibly others.

 

[plastic penguin]

I agree, but in the end we're all free to do our own research, some of us are free to go and audition products.
However, I believe that there are people on this forum, with far more knowledge and experience of audio products than me (as an example) and for me, the opinions and experience, expertise even, of some of the people here, is rather useful and helpful to me and possibly others.

Absolutely. Ultimately it's down to the individual to research and demo prospective purchases, all we really do is to give you ideas or pointers on what could work within your system and environment.

 

[Edbostan]

Not so strange as it seems John.
As humans, we're especially tuned to every aspect of voice quality.
If a speaker can't reproduce voices accurately, then it's off to a bad start when it comes to any other sounds.

No good using his own voice, because he doesn't know the true sound - using the voice of someone you know well -is probably as good a test as you can give a speaker when it comes to accuracy👍

Some regard the piano as a good reference for accuracy

 

[Jasonovich]

Some regard the piano as a good reference for accuracy

There are a lot of instances where you can use natural sound as a point of reference, for me it's a number of things, voices, piano, acoustic strings, trumpet and oh I so love the saxophone.
With natural sounds, it's possible to gauge the ambiance and sense of space between instruments.

 

[JDL]

Some regard the piano as a good reference for accuracy

I certainly regard the piano as a good reference for accuracy. I've been through quite a few sets of speakers in the last six months or so.
I'm certain that my dissatisfaction wasn't arising as a result of my source component or my amplifier.
It is undoubtedly the speakers that present the problems for me.
I guess this is why it really is of the utmost importance to go and audition the speakers one intends to buy, if not all your components. Luckily for me after much research, my source component, a CD player was excellent on my first attempt. Then I upgraded it to another higher grade, same make and that was even better.
I already knew what amplifier maker I like, so the upgrades I've made there have been highly satisfactory.
Unfortunately for me, I hate driving long distances and I'm a hermit. So it's been a trial, of trial and error with speakers.
I believe I'm there now though. Being quite new to understanding speakers and what makes for a speaker that will suit me has been a difficult process. Furthermore, I didn't realise until recently, that one really ought to pay an awful lot of attention to the choice of speaker, as this is going to have a huge impact on the quality of what you hear and your satisfaction and enjoyment of your audio system.

 

[JDL]

It's what we're evolved to listen for, I watched/listened to "Springsteen on Broadway" earlier. I think its really well recorded his speaking voice and playing guitar. Of course it get over self indulgent but the first 20 mins are okay

Evolution? Adaptation in my view.