Engagement vs sound quality

The more I listen to gear I'm reviewing as well as other people's hi-fis-the more I believe in intangibles. One of these intangibles is the art of system building.

- BY ALEX HALBERSTADT

Permit me a brief thought experiment. Let's imagine that your long-lost uncle from El Paso, the one who did a little legal work for the Sinaloa Cartel, suddenly left you a car trunk full of cash. After getting over the shock, you apply this tax-free windfall toward renovating your kitchen or putting a child through college, but before long you visit an audio salon. Armed with some f*ck-you money, you can now afford a f*ck-you stereo. And so you order those five-way speakers that require four movers to maneuver into place, and the Swiss monoblocks that look like props from Fritz Lang's Metropolis, and maybe that moving coil cartridge carved from a wolf femur by a defrocked priest in the Dalmatian Hinterland. But what happens when it’s all sitting in your room? Does this assemblage of boxes, cables, and assorted doohickeys whisk you to the edge of the bandstand at the Village Vanguard, where you nurse a mojito and tap your foot happily? Judging by much of the sound one hears at audio shows and in retail showrooms, where these sorts of fantasy systems are the norm, the answer is very likely no. For one, most of us listen to hi-fis cobbled together from gear made by several manufacturers, each with their distinct philosophy and quirks. None of it is made to work together or, for that matter, in your particular room. And then there's the simple fact that not every component, to put it delicately, excels at delivering listening satisfaction.

What if someone else had done all the endless A/B-ing and even-perish the thought!-enjoyed it?