 There are those that buy a good stereo and use it for years without ever changing anything. And there are those that buy a stereo and keep changing components year after year. For those in between, this video is made. The writer Juval Noah Harari wrote in my words that the urge for new things is the basis for the success of the human race, for it drives us to improvement and innovations. Or the urge should not lead to unwise decisions, just to follow a trend or audio-religion. I have seen this happen frequently over the 50 years I am involved with audio. I have seen people trade in their torrents of TD124 for one of the early direct drive turntables. I have seen people trade in nice tower speakers for satellites and central woofer, often wrongly called subwoofer. I have seen people trade in their dual turntable for the first-gen CD player. The motivation, usually vague but most likely to be the first on the block, or a fast belief in technical progression, and sometimes because of the ease of operation or to please the aesthetics committee. The last two reasons are relatively rational, the others are not. If it pleases you to buy a new equipment or accessories because of any reason but the rational one, that's fine with me, really it is. But if sound quality is your drive, how do you stay away from purchases that don't bring better sound? How do you stay away from the delusion of the day? First be careful with forms and the like. There are really good forms but there are also forms that form the kingdom of one connoisseur that wants to spread his dogma as wide as possible. There often is one truth based on his or her experience. That can be an interesting read but it cannot be your sole source of information. The same goes for reviewers including myself. We all have our own vision, but most of us have years of experience working with audio on a daily basis and a journalistic approach. Quite different are the influences that base their review on the fact that they got the equipment for free in exchange for a positive review. The same goes for people that work with companies that offer a percentage if someone buys the product via a special link and aren't open about it. Anyway, use the web and YouTube as much as you like but be aware of the pitfalls. If it's too good to be true, it usually is. A 99 euro streamer might perhaps occasionally be better than a 199 euro streamer but it certainly isn't as good as a 1000 euro streamer, often using the argument that since the output is digital it can't be different. I sincerely hope that this ignorance would end some day. Have it demonstrated in a high-fi shop for its easily debunked end. If your aim is to improve sound quality, go about it in a structural way. You're saying the chain is as strong as the weakest link still holds, also for a stereo. Always start with the source since a stereo cannot be better than what's put in. Garbage in is garbage out. From there on work your way to the loudspeakers and don't forget the cables. The best way is to try the equipment at your own place, using music you play when enjoying music as opposed to enjoying the stereo. Often when you order gear online there's a money back screen if you don't like it. As soon as it arrives, connect it and have it play 24x7 for a few days, if you can. Having a good relation with a dealer often is even better. He or she can save your time by suggesting good choices and lend you that choice to try at home. Ask the dealer if that gear already is burned in, if not, again have it play for several days. In all cases when returning the equipment or accessories it needs to be undamaged and in the original packing of course. Time to go more in depth. The first choice you have to make is if you go for separate components or want it all just integrated. When chosen wisely there need not be a difference in sound quality between the two. But going for separate components lets you improve further by replacing just one component. You then pay extra for the separate housings, power supplies and the cabling cost. You also get added operational complexity. The choice also had to do with the type of source or sources you desire. Do you want vinyl, cd or streaming as source? Two of them? Of all three. Vinyl needs a phono input on your amp and depending on your turntail that must be either MM or MC compatible. MM stands for moving magnet and MC for moving cartridge. The letter is mainly found at higher prices. It outputs a very low voltage and thus needs more amplification. MM cartridges start at low prices but the high end types need not offer less sound quality than the equally priced MC types. Some amps come with built in cd players while today many come with integrated DAC and or streaming functionality. If you want streaming, what system matches your listening habits best? Blue OS, DNLA, Sonos, Squeezebox, Roon and so on. Many manufacturers use DNLA since it is easily implemented by using a third party add-in and made their own via batch engineering of the app. Blue OS is only available in Blue Sound and NAD equipment. Sonos only works with Sonos equipment. Squeezebox today is freely available through Logitech Media Server but there is no longer official Squeezebox hardware in production. Which means that you must rely on third party gear. Roon works with over 170 brands of streaming products. It even works with Sonos, Googlecast and Squeezebox but it's not free nor comes free with hardware. Blue OS and Sonos don't need a separate server program running on your computer. They just need a shared volume on a computer or NAS. Blue OS can even work with a USB drive connected to the streamer so there is no need to have a computer or NAS running. Squeezebox and Roon need to have a specific server program on a computer or NAS. Logitech Media Server for Squeezebox is free. Roon Server is not. DNLA and the functionally identical UPnP AV also need a server program on a computer or NAS but there are many DNLA server programs available from several software suppliers. Some are free, others cost money. For music I love Minimus Server since it has far more metadata fields than most. There is a limited free version and a paid full version. Streamers that use the DNLA system might not always offer a gapless playback, meaning that for instance live concerts and Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles will mute shortly in between every track. Almost all current players have this solved but you better check. Even if you use an amplifier with built in CD player or streamer you can usually still connect an external CD player or streamer to it, or any other digital source like the digital output of your TV, DVD player, Blu-ray player or game console. In essence a music server is a computer that shares a volume or runs a server program to play up music to your stereo. But if you use that music server connected directly to the DAC or amplifier with built in DAC, you might be disappointed in the sound quality. See my video Choosing your digital connection for more information. If you want to connect a music server directly to the DAC, you should use a purpose-built music server, which is a computer that is optimized for that. See my playlist Audio Servers for Reviews. If you use a network connection to your streamer or network bridge, a normal computer use this server will already sound fine, although in a number of cases a purpose-built music server might further improve the sound quality. Regardless whether you go for an amp with or without integrated DAC, streamer and or CD player, it does need to be able to drive the loudspeakers properly. It is hard to define which amp is suited for a given loudspeaker on figures only. It has to do with the loudspeaker impedance and the amp capable of delivering current. See my video How many watts do I need? Years ago the quality of the amp was often related to the weight of it, since large transformers weigh a lot. New technologies like switch mode power supplies and Class D amplifiers have changed that clearly. As said, listen to the combination of the amp and the loudspeakers for some time, playing music you normally play. In the two part video How to listen part 1 and 2 I explain a good strategy to judge equipment. The most important thing with loudspeakers is the room and the placement in that room. In small rooms monitor loudspeakers on stands possibly supported by a subwoofer might be the best choice. It is easier to place compact monitor loudspeakers for a good stereo image while the subwoofer can be placed elsewhere. See my video loudspeaker placement long version and subwoofer placement and settings. In a larger room a floor standing speaker might be considered. Funny enough my wife rather sees floor standing speakers than monitors on a stand, she calls them birdhouses on poles. From the technical perspective an important consideration when buying loudspeakers is the impedance. It's never the 8 or 4 ohm specified. The impedance, the resistance to alternating current, varies with the frequency and that can have a great effect on the current the amplifier has to deliver. Especially at low frequencies some amplifiers have trouble delivering high currents and that's clearly audible. See my video what about loudspeaker impedance for more information. Don't underestimate the effect cables can have on the sound quality but be very selective. Start with the mains cables. If you try them and you should, replace the standard cords on all the devices you listen to with audiophile quality cables that per device cost about 3% of your stereo. So if your equipment have cost you €4000, spend €120 per power cable. Transfer them from your dealer or order them online with the option to re-intern them if you don't like the result. If you don't hear any difference, don't buy them. Even if you like the looks of those garden hose like cables. Get used to the sound of the power cables then after a while do the same with interlinks. Again after a while do the same tactics for loudspeaker cables. Use the same 3% per cable rule as the starting ports for the interlinks. Loudspeaker cables might cost more since you need longer lengths. Depending on the equipment, more expensive cabling might sound even better. The 3% is only an indication. Again be very selective when choosing accessories. There are very good ones like audiophile network switches, USB reclockers and loudspeaker isolators. But again, try them and send them back if you're not convinced. And don't try to correct the problem one accessory causes by adding another. In general, if you think you need two of the same types of accessories in series, use none of them. There are still things in audio that cannot be explained from existing technical knowledge. Although some think that measurements tell you all. There still is no technology known that explains why some wines are appreciated more than others. There also is no technology that can technically explain why violins by Amati and Stradivari sound so much better. It therefore is important to know how to taste wine, how to listen to violins and how to listen to stereos. I don't know much about wine and violins but in my videos how to listen part 1 and part 2 and tell about listening to stereos. All videos and playlists I mentioned are listed in the description below this video in YouTube. Just press more to see them. Which brings me to the end of this program. See you next Friday at 5pm central European time. If you don't want to miss that, subscribe to this channel or follow me on the social media so you will be informed when new videos are out. Help me reach even more people by giving this video a thumb up or link to this video in the social media, it is much appreciated. Many thanks to those viewers that support this channel financially. It keeps me independent and lets me improve the channel further. If that makes you feel like supporting my work too, the links are in the comments below this video on YouTube. I am Hans Beekhuyzen, thank you for watching and see you in the next show or on theHBproject.com. And whatever you do, enjoy the music.