What constitutes "Acceptable " performance

[5th element]

Great answer 5th, and yes! you are right I build for the sheer pleasure of the doing.

But it was a serious question, and there have been some serious answers on the subjective; perhaps; to paraphrase Robert Louis Stevenson, it is the journey itself which is important

The journey that's incredibly frustrating at times! Damnit why won't it work, scratches head for the 10th time that evening and nurses the burnt fingertips.



And then when it all, finally, comes together the sense of satisfaction = 100x that of just buying something off the shelf.

 

[nigelwright7557]

And then when it all, finally, comes together the sense of satisfaction = 100x that of just buying something off the shelf.

[/B]

It is the journey that is the best bit and when its done you wonder what to do next !

I build my own amps and speaker cabinets but its not for the faint hearted especially when things dont come right straight away.
However, its the problems that make us understand better what we have done.

 

[Cal Weldon]

Acceptable is certainly a vague, yet subjectively loaded word that can certainly be used in a variety of seemly contradictory contextual patterns.

Thank you Professor Olson. I always enjoy your writings whether I understand the big words or not.

"The music resides in the midrange, all the rest is mere adornment."

Not bad. Not bad at all

Except of course for the word "all" . I remember you teaching me that when the subject is quantifiable as 1, the resultant need not be quantified as more so the word "all" is not only unnecessary but redundant. Thank you again for that.

[Terry Olson, ca. 1980][/B]

Let's see 87-29= 58 years old. So the year I graduated, you were writing that sort of thing? Too bad we never talked audio back then. I might have become more by now. My life as a funeral director is rather unenlightening, which in itself is rather funny as lightening has been the cause of our most, uh, well, perhaps it's time to move on.

Are we happy with acceptable? Quite clearly not

We are if acceptable is used as a pinnacle rather than a mediocre. Acceptable, to me, means you are now happy with it.

And, when I contemplate that acceptable has an expiry date, I have a better understanding of why I'm hooked on this sort of thing. Like many hobbies, it has a snowball effect.

Well...it's either that or we have no money and no real life so we hang out on computers and discuss half finished projects, plywood boxes and what we're gonna do next...you know, after payday.

 

[5th element]

We are if acceptable is used as a pinnacle rather than a mediocre. Acceptable, to me, means you are now happy with it.

Acceptable to me means I am happy with it, but I know I could have done better.

Almost every part of my hifi has been acceptable at one point or another. Ergo change comes about!

I suppose it depends where you set your standards for something being acceptable. Most of the simply "acceptable" parts of my hifi at the moment are purely cosmetic, I can live with raw MDF, others could not.

 

[Moondog55]

I'm a chef by trade, to us acceptable would mean worth the price being asked on the menu.

To me that means that I have done the best I can with-in the budget set, perfection ( or a close second ) would mean an unlimited budget, unlimited time and unlimited funds, none of which I have.
So as with life ??<Speaker building is the art of compromise>??

 

[Brett]

I'm a chef by trade, to us acceptable would mean worth the price being asked on the menu.

To me that means that I have done the best I can with-in the budget set, perfection ( or a close second ) would mean an unlimited budget, unlimited time and unlimited funds, none of which I have.
So as with life ??<Speaker building is the art of compromise>??

Just about all engineering work is about compromise. A really good one will chose the trade offs that most people won't notice or care about. A good DIY speaker is the one that meets your expectations.

I would love to order a heap more AE drivers, build some more subs and have every speaker in my 2CH/HT system controlled by a DEQX, but I can't afford the $ or space to house it.

 

[Moondog55]

Where do we draw the line between engineering and art?? because I notice that people are more willing to pay for "Art" than good engineering.

We both need bigger houses then don't we?? LOL

 

[Brett]

Where do we draw the line between engineering and art?? because I notice that people are more willing to pay for "Art" than good engineering.

I don't see there is a lot of 'art' to audio, just good engineering and experience or good hunches as to where to make the compromises.

We both need bigger houses then don't we?? LOL

I've bought a Unit, so limited space and I have a lot of stuff to sell as I'll have nowhere to store it.

 

[Moondog55]

Brett; I meant "ART" in the visual aesthetic sense, high class furniture to be looked at and admired as much as listened to.
My partner and I are moving too, how the heck did I accumulate so much stuff in only 5 years, I'll need to build a huge shed for storage and a workshop if we buy the house.

SWMBO is always asking why I need five separate sound systems when we only have parties about 3 times a year

 

[planet10]

What constitutes "Acceptable " performance?

Are your feet tapping? Enjoying the music? Wanna get up & dance?

dave

 

[Moondog55]

Does the symphony bring tears to your eyes when the hero dies, can you hear the wind blowing up the glen when the pipes skeel, cam i smell salt air when listening to "Fingles Cave"

 

[jerryo]

"Acceptable Performance"

To judge whether your hi-fi gear produces an acceptable performance is an entirely "subjective" judgement based entirely on "your own" experiences and interpretations of your senses.
We ultimately all just want to listen to our favourite music in the most enjoyable way possible, which ideally, would mean having your favourite singers/musicians playing in front of you in your own music room. This is of course virtually never possible unless you are fabulously wealthy. Anything less than this ideal will always be an electronic compromise!
One of the "engines" that drives our desire to chase that "acceptable" level of performance is the fact that every time that you introduce a new piece of equipment into your system your music sounds slightly or not so slightly different ,which makes us all get excited and get our best test discs out and listen to the music really intently again to see just just what you can hear "this" time.
Of course there are many "objective" parameters that can be defined, both electronically and acoustically in a factual manner, but these have still got to be "heard", by "ears" eventually, and as we all know every ear is different . The number of Threads and replies on this forum proves this.
I wish personally that I had a bigger house/music room and more money to use for searching for that "acceptable level performance", because I really enjoy my music and this search for acceptable performance is a great aid to that.
Happy listening. (currently listening to "Angel Brothers", do check them out)

 

[Brett]

Brett; I meant "ART" in the visual aesthetic sense, high class furniture to be looked at and admired as much as listened to.

For ME, it is irrelevant. In my new digs there is an area under the stairs that will house all the gear out of sight, except the speakers that is.

My partner and I are moving too, how the heck did I accumulate so much stuff in only 5 years, I'll need to build a huge shed for storage and a workshop if we buy the house.

SWMBO is always asking why I need five separate sound systems when we only have parties about 3 times a year

I hear you with that - man did I accumulate a lot of audio gear, as well as musical instruments.
Time for it to go.......

 

[Brett]

Does the symphony bring tears to your eyes when the hero dies, can you hear the wind blowing up the glen when the pipes skeel, cam i smell salt air when listening to "Fingles Cave"

I can get that on a clock radio if the mood is with me - the gear is secondary for that. However, I like designing and building stuff, so.....

 

[marchel]

I found another answer.

Acceptable is the opposite of unacceptable, Therefore, If you find your system is not "unacceptable" , Then it is acceptable.

 

[HK26147]

If you have the ability to hear recordings of music performances that you attended, I think that helps provide a basis for evaluation; provided that there wasn't a lot of creative editing and processing in between.
I find having a variety of recordings of shows I attended in relatively small halls to be invaluable...being very familiar with the acoustics and the performers.