Welcome, so tell us of your journey's start !
My journey started a long long time ago...
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -- Lao-tzu
I took my first step with the realization that listening is a skill, and I'm still learning how to listen. Over time, I grew more confident in my ability to discern sonic details like sound stage and imaging, whereas I had not even been aware of these concepts originally. With this new skill, I began building my understanding of high-end audio.
I took my next step with the realization that I could no longer blindly trust audio reviews. Often times, I would find myself unable to reconcile my understanding of high-end audio with various reviews that I came upon. I resolved that the only way that I could get to the bottom of the discrepancy was to try the equipment for myself. Sometimes my preconceptions were proved wrong, and those were learning opportunities, but other times my view was only reinforced.
I distinctly recall a couple of particularly revelatory experiences where I was proved wrong. I had come to understand the benefits of various basic speaker cable architectures, but I had always been perplexed and intrigued by the relatively high-priced speaker cables from companies like AudioQuest. So, I auditioned a pair of their Type-4 speaker cables against what I had been using, and I was floored by the tremendous sonic improvement -- James Randi's $1 million speaker cable challenge be damned, though I'm generally a fan of the guy's work. I had my next big revelation when I became interested in computer audio, and I stumbled upon an equally controversial subject: HDMI cable. I had long held that there could not possibly be any sonic differences between HDMI cables since the audio signal was digital. Again, I was perplexed and intrigued by the relatively high-priced HDMI cables from companies like AudioQuest. So, I auditioned one of their Carbon HDMI cables against what I had been using, and I was again floored by the tremendous sonic improvement.
Ever onward!
