Topic: Thoughts on Equipment Matching

[cyberdraven]

They say building a home audio is like cooking!  To attain that signature taste of your dish, you need to blend different flavors and spices.  Parang audio din, you sometimes experiment and mix-match gears to have the sound you wish.  Sometimes we equate expensive gears into good sounding audio, but some would attest that the success is in the equipment pairing.  Some stays with the safe side of utilizing "straight" branding.  Kumbaga, iba iba paraan natin on equipment matching.

The questions are:
1.  How do you cook?  How do you do the selection of equipment?
2.  Can you please contribute good pairings of speakers-amplifiers?
3.  If you have an existing set, how do you determine which one needs to be replaced?

Thanks PDVD!

Paeng

[mykel18]

1. Usually based on reviews or if swerte based on auditions. I also based my decisions on what's usually being paired during shows. This is to have an idea on the sound I should be expecting.

2. Alam na.

3. Pag sawa na or nabibitin na. Or if it doesn't sound the same as before. Maybe time for a service or time to retire / replace na.

[cyberdraven]

I got these tips from audio afficionados:

1.  In amp, knowing the "era" it is made will give you a glimpse on their sound character.  Sabi nila, 70s-mid 80's are more of the "warmth" or "tubey" sound.  These amps are on the "lush" and "thick" midrange.  Come new millenium, the fad goes for being "neutral" and "detailed".

2.  Ung isa namang friend, his though in equipment matching is based on era din.  Rule of thumb niya is to match gears that are made in the same era para madaling mapatunog ng maganda.  Similarly, he believes that gears are made na bumagay sa "uso" nung panahong itoy ginawa, thus, he easily match gears of the same era.  Surprisingly, magaling siya mag pair ng amps and speakers.heheh

[CoolTOYZPH]

I guess one of the appeal of a tube pre-amp is it is more flexible to system matching. When you desire for a certain sound quality you can replace the tube instead of replacing the gear.

When sawa sets in replace the tube and achieve a new sound quality again.

[tony]

the first and most important of all, how much are you willing to spend?
when you know the answer to this question, then the rest follows...
it is really all about the money, or the lack of it.....