Hifi Pig reader Michael Howell was born in England but now resides the good old USA. In this Readers’ Lives article he tells us how he personally goes about evaluating a system. 

Firstly, let me start by saying that when and if I am asked for my opinion on a particular component or system, there are a few factors involved that I may take into consideration.

• Is this my friends hifi, that he /she saved for weeks and weeks, if not months to purchase, and didn’t go on vacation just to be able to afford it?
• Am I attending a special unveiling of a new line of components or a separate, where my refreshments are kindly taken care of?
• Am I passing a trade show booth and making polite conversation with vendors?
• Am I in the market for myself, and about to spend money that could absolutely be put to better use?

The fourth bullet point will always win in my experience. Not that with the other considerations I’m not fully immersed into the experience, but whether you’re spending your own/or someone else’s green – you’re not going to be setting your “phasers on stun/polite”!

One instance I remember was back in the late ’80’s. Naim were releasing the “SBL” into the European market, and my brother had scored two tickets to the event. He had just spent approx. $12,000 (was about 6000 pounds sterling) on a Linn/Naim 2 -channel masterpiece, and had been put on the list as a potential buyer perhaps? Who knows?

So we dressed a little more socially acceptable as we normally did, caught the number 52 bus into Birmingham’s City Centre, and enjoyed an evening of free beer and great music.

Did the Speakers deliver their promise? Kind of I guess. We had just auditioned a pair of Linn’s Isobariks not too long before this event and our ears wanted more of that. However comfortable I may have felt, that last sentence would not have passed my lips if I had been asked about the SBL’s performance that evening. I would have strung together some choice buzzwords perhaps – timing, pace…….etc, thanked them profusely for the opportunity to be involved in their release in Europe and that I would look into them if I was in the market for such.

Now I’m not saying that I can’t be critical, there’s nothing worse than having an “Emperor’s New Clothes” stand point where I’m too scared to say anything, but I’m not going to flat out crap on anyone’s parade. I do try to stay positive with this hobby.

If I’m auditioning for myself, I’m almost always by myself, in my house with my other components. If it doesn’t work out with the audition I will have kind words for the vendor, keeps things positive. I’m not going to burn a bridge; it could always be synergy that’s causing the issue. I am not a fan however of “burn in times”, that has always been a cop-out in my opinion, for you just actually forgetting how your old component sounded before this new one was transplanted in. (I disagree – Ed)

Review positively, unless an unfiltered clinical view is requested.

Now that all of that is out of the way…phew.

This is what I personally do:

I find recordings that I am most familiar with – ones that you can air guitar, air drum, air violin…whatever, but at the best resolution you have.

Having “Bohemian Rhapsody” in a lossy mp3 format, like it was engineered by Ronald McDonald on crack, just won’t cut it. Just make sure it’s a high enough resolution – I prefer 24/96 personally, and it’s the same resolution as the one you’re used to listening too on your own system. Apples for apples as it were. You will only really listen to about 20-30 seconds anyway, my particular personality cannot handle much more…I’ll start to drift away!

Having an actual experience with multiple instrument types also aids in any review of sound. I play guitar – so I can tell if new strings are being used on an acoustic piece by their particular sound, also how a Strat’ sounds different from Gibson. I have grown up with drums around me, whether they be marching band, the band I was in, or the ear piercing sensation of my 7 year old smacking the skins like a “whack-a-mole” game and I have a pretty good idea how they sound. I use a cymbal’s decay frequently as a good starting point in assessing a system’s performance.

My friend played saxophone (alto, and tenor) when I was younger, I would go to his house and sit for hours listening to him and trying to help him practice. He would play a pretty good rendition of Courtney Pine’s “Sunday Song” which would promptly make me fall asleep and to this day whenever I hear that particular song I start yawning and craving coffee.

So basically the more instrument and sounds experience you have, the easier it is to find moments in a system’s or component’s ability to reproduce the music, and keep your foot tapping. Adversely, your brow may furrow as your ears have a quick conversation with your brain…eine minuten bitte!

Lastly, but maybe firstly – be aware of speaker placement and room acoustics.

Manufacturers vary in the preferred distances from side-walls and back-walls for speakers. I know that my Linn’s aren’t hurting too much when they are within the minimum distance from walls, some people like to have their speakers WAY out into the listening area, toed-in slightly too. Horses for the proverbial courses. You just have to talk to the person giving you the audition on what positions the speakers best perform. Be aware of acoustic treatments that are employed too, if it’s looking like a marquee tent from the movie “Lawrence of Arabia” then there’s a good chance that whatever you are auditioning sounds natively bright, and won’t transfer very well when you have them setup in your living room. (And I reckon room treatment is imperative to getting the best out of any system – Ed)

Fun stuff!

Michael Howell

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