Episode 36

Hifi audio can be finicky. Quite a few things can get in the way of showing off the potential magic of a component, making the buying process a rather maddening endeavor.

Whether it’s that the component isn’t burned in yet, or it needs cabling with different electrical qualities, or whether, once inserted into a system, it then points to and shows off a weakness somewhere else in the chain.

Episode 37

There’s a good chance you’ve heard a 50-year-old recording in the last month, if not more recently than that. Plenty of recordings in the last century or even half century are still great to listen to on a hifi system, and worth revisiting even today in the 2020s.

Think of one vintage recording you like. Now imagine that recording taking place in today’s music scene, using today’s computer-based recording technology, with today’s engineers embracing modern concerns.

Episode 38

Taste is the reason we get into hifi audio, being the driver of our interest and also being held captive by our changing interests along the journey. The longer you spend in the audiophile hobby, or more specifically the more you improve a system and make it more revealing and resolving, the better the chance your tastes in music and perhaps sound character overall will evolve.

This is all part of the trip that is this gear-laden, expensive and dizzying hobby. A hobby where the goals change constantly, and where hitting moving targets is a necessary skill.

Episode 39

Does a stereo system have to present floating, 3D images in order to be considered truly hifi? Does it need to be called “holographic” in order to be enjoyable? Does a bear poop in a toilet? Holographic sound may be one major thing both of The Hifi Podcast hosts chase, but it’s not the only thing to love in a hifi system, by far.

Regardless, many in the audiophile hobby are after this sort of fun, and as Darren and Duncan discuss, the elements which can have an effect on the holographic presentation of a system come from many different places in a rig.

Episode 40

In the used hifi market, shipping skills pay the bills. Which bills? Who knows. Heartache bills, perhaps.

Seriously though, shipping knowledge specific to hifi (admittedly bizarre products that are fragile, heavy, delicate and absurdly weighted at the same time) can help prevent the abject tragedy of smashed hifi gear.

In this episode of The Hifi Podcast, Darren and Duncan talk about the challenge of buying and selling hifi gear on the used market, but specifically look at shipping challenges.